William W. Bennett, A narrative of the great revival which prevailed in the Southern armies during the late Civil War

[50] as it was, it would have been certain death to procure a fresh supply. “In this condition,” says an eye witness, “this soldier drew from his pocket his Bible, and while the balls were whizzing about him, and cutting the grass at his side, quietly read its precious pages for a few moments, and then closed his eyes as if engaged in prayer.” This was not unlike the case of the poor little collier boy, the only son of his mother, and she a widow. A mine had fallen in, and buried a number of men with this poor youth; after several days the mine was opened and the bodies recovered. By the side of the boy was found an old tin box, on which he had scratched these words: “Dear mother, don't cry. We are singing and praying to the last, and God is down here with us.”

“ We were present not long since,” wrote an army correspondent, “when a chaplain, at the close of public service, announced that he had a prospect of being able to get a supply of Testaments for the portion of the men still destitute, and that those who wished a copy could give him their names after the benediction. Scarcely had the last words of blessing died on the minister's lips before the war-worn heroes charged on him almost as furiously as if storming the enemy's breast-works.”

Another narrates the following: “As some of the Confederate troops were marching through Fredericksburg, Va., with bristling bayonets and rumbling artillery, a fair lady appeared on the steps of a dark brown mansion, her arms filled with Testaments, which, with gracious kindness and gentle courtesy, she distributed to the passing soldiers. The eagerness with which they were received, the pressing throng, the outstretched hands, the earnest thanks, the unspoken blessings upon the giver, thus dispensing the word of Life to the armed multitude, to whom death might come at any moment-all made up a picture as beautiful as any that ever shone out amid the dark relatives of war. As a rough Texan ”