“Cursed Be He That Keepeth Back His Sword from Blood”

Abstract

Americans turned to scripture to address various wartime needs in 1864. In the South, Confederates executed deserters while warning soldiers that the Jesus story was an execution story marked by betrayal. The biblical theme of loyalty came into play in the South as Lincoln tried to entice southerners into signing a loyalty oath in exchange for pardon. Loyalty and morale were not just southern problems, however. In 1864 Grant and Lee faced off in some of the war’s fiercest combat. Americans had seen Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg—surely the worst was over, they had thought. Yet the devastation of 1864 surprised them again with lists of casualties that seemed only to get longer as the months dragged on. Americans grew more war weary than ever, which prompted Frederick Douglass and others to call on the Bible to remind Americans of the war’s sacred meaning.