Welcome to my personal web site! This is where from time to time you can veiw some neat photos. Hopefully you will be moved to explore your families past as I have done down through the years. It has been an interesting and good trip so far!!!!

The ol Chaplain takes a break from the rigors of "Living History" by taking out his favorite pipe for a smoke.

Upon viewing my web page, you may be asking yourself just what is a CSA Army Chaplain; well I am here to tell you! I am a "War Between the States" history buff, and occasionally I participate in the growing hobby of re-enacting. I also attend and promote a number of Living History events throughout the Central Texas area.

Confederate States Army Chaplains were primarily men from the ranks of the many religious congregations of the day, also there were men who having religious convictions took up the cause to become Army Chaplains. Chaplains were for the most part educated men and often were older than the average soldier. Due to their education they could read and write, a skill many of the soldiers of the time did not possess. Chaplains held regular religious services and conducted baptisms, and otherwise tended to the mens spiritual needs. Army Chaplains often were attached to field hospitals to act as attendants to the wounded, thus offering help in the form of rudimentary nursing skills. This position naturally put them close at hand to help the men cope with the rigors of battle. They often took notes from wounded and dying men in order to eventually provide their families with some sense of their loved ones loss.

Chaplains often wrote loved ones at home regarding the tragic circumstances of their sons death. Death was a frequent visitor at many a war camp and was not always in the form of a lead ball, cannon shot, or by the slash of a saber, but instead were quite often from the many diseases of the day. Army Chaplains were asked to write letters home by those soldiers who could not read or write, additionally they often were seen sorting and obtaining mail for the men. Field commanders used Chaplains as couriers for the many field dispatches and communique needed during field service. Chaplains were generally regarded as non combatants by the opposing forces and as a result usually enjoyed some degree of protection for their elected service. This was not always the case however, as all men are made from flesh and blood, and in the heat of battle, many a Chaplain being witness to the horrendous carnage all around, picked up the arms of their fallen comrades and took the battle to the enemy.

To see a web site for the small town in Tennessee my family came from, click here.