In recent years, American religious historians such as James Byrd and Bridget Ford have begun to take a new look at the impact of religion on the American Civil War. Steven L. Dundas’ book Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: Religion and the Politics of Race in the Civil War Era and Beyond is a part of this renewed historiography. Dundas covers the beginnings of American slavery in Jamestown, Virginia, the political machinations of late antebellum abolitionists and secessionists, the Civil War, and the foundations of the Lost Cause. Through that sweeping chronology, he weaves the concepts of race and religion into the established military history of the Civil War. Overall, Dundas’ book is useful for non-specialists looking to expand their knowledge of American religion during this time period.
Throughout this volume, Dundas contends that the history of the Civil War requires an understanding of American religion—specifically American Protestantism—in order to conceptualize the motivations of the military and political leaders in this war. He argues that past military histories of the Civil War ignore the importance of religion, slavery, and racism in this conflict and its later impact on American culture (xiv, 30). In a largely chronological narrative, Dundas moves from the first instances of slavery in the colonies to an overview of the relationship between religion and war, and then traces the inevitable march toward conflict from the 1830s until April 1861.
Dundas then covers the actions of men such as Robert E. Lee and Abraham Lincoln, explaining their understanding of both the war and religion. Finally, Dundas tracks the rise of the Lost Cause in small vignettes from the late 1870s until the Civil Rights Movement. This book does well in tracking the established military narrative surrounding the Civil War and in bringing that military history into conversation with American Protestantism. Due to Dundas’ background as a US Navy chaplain, his study of the troops and religious culture of the army is nuanced. In this way, Dundas’ book widens the scholarship on the Civil War and religion, an area which is slowly receiving more attention.
Dundas’ research for this book relies heavily on secondary sources from the late 20th century and early 2000s. Dundas draws from important historical scholarship of this period, such as James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom (Oxford University Press, 1998), Edmund S. Morgan’s American Slavery American Freedom (W.W. Norton, 1975), and George C. Rable’s God’s Almost Chosen People (University of North Carolina Press, 2010). Absent from this narrative is a critical engagement with more recent studies of American religion, or with studies of religious institutions beyond American Protestantism. There is little original archival research in the book, despite the plethora of digital and physical archival resources for the Civil War era. Dundas instead ably uses secondary sources throughout his book, bolstering his work with ample citations from seminal books in Civil War historiography. His use of almost entirely secondary sources is potentially due to the vast chronology Dundas undertakes, almost 400 years. Additionally, Dundas tends to focus much of his work on the white political and military leaders of this period, relegating discussion of Black soldiers and the institution of slavery to their own chapters, rather than threading discussions of religion and race throughout the entire narrative. The chapters on slavery and Black soldiers provide a solid foundation for further study into those subjects. The chapter on Black soldiers particularly gives a view into the agency of these men and their perspective on the Civil War. That being said, this separation potentially replicates the longstanding divide between most military history and studies of slavery and racism that Dundas calls attention to in the prologue and epilogue (xiv, 331-333). Finally, Dundas’ narrative would have benefitted from an additional copyedit, as numerous names of historical figures and scholars were misspelled throughout the book.
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory offers a glimpse into understanding the relationship between religion and race during the Civil War, particularly for non-specialists. Dundas writes a book which would appeal to the military historian of the Civil War, with its emphasis on the troops. In doing so, Dundas helps to make past scholarship on religion and the Civil War accessible to people outside of religious studies. By relating this history to a contemporary context at the beginning and throughout this narrative, Dundas works to connect Civil War history and the Lost Cause to the present day through discussions of the 2016 presidential election and the January 6, 2021, Capital Insurrection and the impact of white Christian nationalism on those events. Overall, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory is a helpful addition to a growing renaissance of Civil War scholarship in the study of American religion.
Devin Burns is a PhD candidate in American Religious History at Florida State University.
Devin Burns
Date Of Review:
July 30, 2023
