The Preacher's Tale

Booknews

Springer (1810-1892), a Union army chaplain stationed in Arkansas, kept a wartime journal that detailed his activities and also reflected on what he saw and experienced in daily life and in battle. At Fort Smith, in addition to preaching and ministering to the troops, Springer was placed in charge of refugees<-->widows, children, and contrabands. He also wrote articles and columns in the under a pseudonym. The volume includes historic photographs and reproductions of diary pages; appendices contain accounts of six military executions that Springer witnessed, the last letters home of two rebel soldiers executed at Fort Smith, and Springer's eulogy for Abraham Lincoln, his one-time neighbor. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

From The Critics

The Preacher's Tale: The Civil War Journal Of Rev. Francis Springer, Chaplain, U.S. Army Of The Frontier is an intimate, candid, revealing, deeply personal record of the Civil War which reveals 51-year-old Francis Springer's thoughts and experiences on the nature of war, the meaning of violence, and the role of religion. Enlisting with the Union Army in the fall of 1861, Reverend Spring was with the 10th Illinois Calvary and witnessed the Battle of Prairie Grove in December 1862. Springer was later named post chaplain at Fort Smith where, in addition to preaching and ministering to the troops, he was placed in charge of refugees and displaced victims of the virulent guerrilla warfare which took place in northwest Arkansas. He also wrote articles and columns in the "Fort Smith New Era" under the pseudonym "Thrifton". Springer's appraisals of life in the Army of the Frontier are honest, insightful, and informative. Enhanced with several never-before published photographs, and appendices featuring accounts of six military executions that Springer participated in as a Union Army chaplain, including of previously unpublished last letters home of two rebel soldiers condemned and executed at Fort Smith, as well as a eulogy for Abraham Lincoln, make The Preacher's Tale a very highly recommended and valued addition to the growing body of Civil War accessible memoirs and biographies.