They read the same Bible and prayed to the same God, but they faced each other in battle with rage in their hearts. The Civil War not only pitted brother against brother but also Christian against Christian, with soldiers from North and South alike devoutly believing that God was on their side. Steven E. Woodworth, a Civil War historian, presents the first detailed study of soldiers'' religious beliefs and how they influenced the course of that tragic conflict. He shows how Christian teaching and practice shaped the worldview of soldiers on both sides: how it motivated them for the struggle, how it influenced he way they fought, and how it shaped national life after the war ended. Through the diaries, letters, ad reminiscences of common soldiers, Woodworth illuminates religious belief from the home front to the battlefield, where thoughts of death and the afterlife were always close at hand. Woodworth reveals what these men thought about God and what they believed God thought about the war.

The Religious Heritage and Beliefs of the Civil War Soldiers -- "In Such a Country as This" Christianity in America Before the Civil War -- "A Merciful Providence" The Actions of a Sovereign God -- "In the Light of God's Throne and the Presence of Jesus" The Life to Come -- "Peace with God" The Way of Salvation -- "His Grace Is Ever Sufficient for Me" The Christian Life -- The Civil War Soldiers, Their Religion, and the Conflict -- "We Are the Sword in the Hand of God" Northern Christians View the Early Stages of the War -- "God Has Favored Our Cause" Southern Christians View the Early Stages of the War -- "The Boys Love Him as a Father" Civil War Chaplains -- "To Labor for the Souls of Their Fellow-Men" Army Missionaries and the U.S. Christian Commission -- "In the Thickest of the Fight" Religion in the Camp and on the Battlefield, 1861-1862 -- "A Great Revolution Has Been Wrought" Religion in the Camp and on the Battlefield, 1862-1863 -- "If We Fall on the Field of Strife" Religion in the Camp and on the Battlefield, 1864-1865 -- "God Has Chastened Us" Northern Christians View the Concluding Stages of the War -- "The Lord Has Forsaken His People" Southern Christians View the Concluding Stages of the War -- "We Shall Not Easily Forget" The Soldiers' Religion and the Impact of the Civil War.