Combat chaplain : the life and Civil War experiences of Rev. James H. McNeilly, Army of Tennessee / M. Todd Cathey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cathey, M. Todd, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

McNeilly, James H. (James Hugh), 1837 or 1838-1922.

McNeilly, James H.

Confederate States of America. Army--Chaplains--Biography.

Confederate States of America.

Confederate States of America. Army.

History.

Chaplains.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Chaplains--Biography.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

197 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Macon, Georgia : Mercer University Press, 2017.

Summary:

Born 9 June 1838, James H. McNeilly grew up near Charlotte in Dickson County, Tennessee. At age thirteen, McNeilly was sworn in as deputy circuit court clerk of Dickson County. Raised in a devout Presbyterian home, he received his undergraduate degree from Jackson College in Columbia, Tennessee. Just as the Civil War broke out, he had earned his Doctor of Divinity from Danville Theological Seminary at Danville, Kentucky. As McNeilly returned home to Dickson County in the summer of 1861, he preached on Sunday and recruited troops for the Confederacy during the week. In October 1861, McNeilly traveled to nearby Fort Donelson, where he offered his services to the South. In September 1862, he was detailed as chaplain for the 49th Tennessee Infantry and went into battle with "the boys." From Port Hudson to the campaign for Vicksburg, to Jackson, to the slopes of Kennesaw Mountain, to Ezra Church, to Franklin where the regiment lost more than 73 percent to casualties including his brother Thomas, to Nashville and beyond, McNeilly was with the men every step of the way, enduring what they endured. This book shows the connections between personal faith, the everyday life of the chaplain, and his deep relationship with the men to whom he ministered on a daily basis as he shared privation, hardship, humor, and combat as one of them. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Family Background 1

Chapter 2 Boyhood 10

Chapter 3 Young Adulthood 29

Chapter 4 Early War 39

Chapter 5 Port Hudson, Vicksburg, Mobile 53

Chapter 6 From Dalton to Kennesaw Mountain 81

Chapter 7 The Battles for Atlanta 97

Chapter 8 The Tennessee Campaign 117

Chapter 9 The End of the War 152

Chapter 10 Postwar 170.

ISBN:

9780881466379

0881466379

OCLC:

994509576