Battlefield Ministry: Charles Alfred Humphreys’ Mission of Faith, Patriotism, and Peace Among the Soldiers of the Union Army
by John McConnell
“I feel so strongly that when war is seen in its true colors, it will not only lose all its allurements but excite a keener appreciation of the blessings of peace.”[1] Unitarian minister Charles Alfred Humphreys joined the Union Army in 1863 after studying at Harvard Divinity School. His Civil War account Field, Camp, Hospital, and Prison in the Civil War, 1863-1865, preserves a snapshot of one of the most dangerous periods in American history. Rarely out of danger, Chaplain Humphreys’ survival and spiritual resilience in the Civil War rested on three essential elements: his patriotism, surrogate intellectual and spiritual family, and his Unitarian faith.
Humphreys saw his military service as a spiritual journey and a patriotic duty. As chaplain of the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry, Humphreys was present at many of the most significant battles in the conflict’s final years. Experiencing the hardships of war firsthand, the chaplain worried about its effects upon his comrades, admitting, “the strain of our cause was too great for many.”[2] Humphreys’ concern was not misplaced. A pervasive sense of exhaustion and despair clung to the soldiers, an unshakable shadow of the war’s unrelenting toll.
As late as 1863, Humphreys noted that “a chaplain’s duty is not prescribed by army regulations except so far as to require him to hold service on the Sabbath when convenient, and to bury the dead.”[3] A man of action, Humphreys found “many ways in which a Chaplain can make himself useful in camp.”[4] The chaplain engaged with every soldier, transcending traditional perceptions. Serving without an agenda, he provided Catholic books to Catholic soldiers, Wesley’s writings to Methodists, and so on. Such pluralism under fire remains inspiring today.
Humphreys improvised worship services in tents, barns, or the open woods to meet the regiment’s spiritual needs. Once, he cleared a natural amphitheater for a brief service where soldiers Wesley’s hymn, “Love Divine, all love excelling.”[5] Unfortunately, the lovely space the chaplain worked hard to clean up was used only once. Such fleeting moments typified Army life.
Like many other Boston Unitarians, Humphreys believed in the Republic and jumped to assist in its preservation. His faith in the cause provided defenses against the realities of battles and their aftermaths, where chaplains often assisted surgeons with amputations on wounded soldiers, sometimes without anesthetic. During 1863 and 1864, when Humphreys served as a hospital assistant, lack of anesthesia was a problem. As a last resort, a surgeon might have a chaplain sit on a wounded man’s chest to keep the injured man immobile while the surgeon worked. I will stick my neck out and say no class at Harvard Divinity School, then or now, can adequately prepare a chaplain for the experience.
Remaining dedicated to peace, Humphreys writes in a way that recalls Greek epics and tragedies. His frantic descriptions of battles evoke the urgency with which he recorded the day’s events by firelight. Union and Confederate forces clashed in the Battle of the Wilderness from May 5th to 7th, 1864, leaving over eighteen thousand soldiers dead. Humphreys wrote, “You shudder to hear the desperate raging of musketry in the thick jungle where nothing is seen, only from out those gloomy depths soon comes a part of the ruin that has been wrought, in bleeding shapes borne in blankets or on stretchers, while a large part never returns – the silent, motionless shapes that lie in thick swaths along the front of battle, the ghastly harvest of death.”[6]
The Battle of the Wilderness concluded with fires throughout the woods that trapped many of the dying, injured, and unlucky within infernos Humphreys called a “frightful holocaust.”[7] One month later, he writes about passing through the battlefield. “I rode along this gloomy avenue between the intrenched (sic) positions, and there they lay still – some partially cremated, all unburied, ‘pleading in vain for a handful of earth,’ each in some position that told the tale of lengthened pain or momentary agony.”[8] Nevertheless, the chaplain from Harvard remained devoted to preserving the Union. He saw himself on the correct side of history, writing in a wartime letter his hope that the war would “end in a triumph of the right.”[9]
Patriotism kept Humphreys grounded, but it was only one element of his support system while he was at war. An educated diaspora of peers from back home in Boston had spiderwebbed across the theater of war, feeding Humphreys with the intellectual and emotional sustenance to help continue his ministry in locations that must have felt like Hell itself at times .
Josephine Shaw’s compassion and intellectual grace exemplify the companionship that fortified Humphreys’ spirit, embodying the network of ethical support that formed his surrogate family during the war. Humphreys observes Shaw speaking Italian, French, and German to injured soldiers in the camp hospital and praises her matronly care. Shaw’s New York Times obituary tells us she was a leading figure “in the cause of charity and reform”[10] for forty years when she died at age sixty-two.
Shaw owned the pedigree to back up her grace. Her family was one of the oldest in Boston. Her father was a major during the American Revolution, and her brother was Robert Gould Shaw, a Union Civil War Colonel killed by Confederates while leading that charge upon Fort Wagner, South Carolina, on July 18, 1863. Finding Colonel Shaw posthumously guilty of leading Black troops against Southern white men, the rebels tossed Shaw’s body into a mass grave alongside his forces. This intended disrespect had little effect on the Shaw family, who later said the colonel would have been honored to be buried alongside his men.
Once married, Josephine Shaw Lowell refused to leave her husband’s side when the army sent him off to war. This was when women were officially excluded from the Army, although women were not an uncommon sight in camp. Volunteering was okay, especially in jobs that men believed were beneath them. Humphreys was grateful for her presence and likened her to an angel.[11] Josephine Shaw Lowell’s dedication to humane reform and systemic improvement propelled her into the national spotlight later in life.
Her husband, Colonel Charles Russell Lowell, was Humphreys’ commander and spiritual companion during the Civil War. From a family of Boston elites, including his abolitionist uncle James Russell Lowell, Charles Lowell graduated from Harvard in 1854. A sharp intellect, Lowell often discussed philosophy and theology with Humphreys, even amid the horrors of war. These late-night conversations offered a brief reprieve from the chaos of war, deepening their bond and mutual respect.
Lowell’s battlefield heroics mirrored the moral resolve he showed his wife and chaplain. Steadfast until the end, the colonel refused to abandon his men while mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek. Aware that he was dying, Lowell remained calm while dictating messages to his loved ones.[12] Seeing Lowell’s courage at death’s door strengthened Humphreys’ commitment to his ministry.[13] “We all shed tears,” informed General George Armstrong Custer, “when we knew we had lost him (Lowell).”[14]
Chaplain Humphreys’ unwavering Unitarian faith, our third element, sadly reveals itself in personal loss. Walter Humphreys was born on July 4, 1842, four years after his elder brother, Charles. The Humphreys shared an upbringing grounded in Unitarian values that celebrated duty, integrity, and moral courage. Walter Humphreys displayed an early dedication to temperance and moral reform, reflecting the ethical convictions promoted by their shared faith, a foundation that Charles says Walter carried into adulthood.[15]
Private Walter Humphreys died a month shy of his twenty-second birthday at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Ulysses S. Grant’s biggest regret of the war.[16] Twelve thousand Union troops died during this engagement, seven thousand in a single hour the day after Walter Humphreys passed. No Union glory was realized at Cold Harbor, but a twenty-one-year-old private had not enlisted for glory. Chaplain Humphreys tells us his brother enlisted out of moral duty, aligning with the Unitarian ideal of service to humanity and a higher purpose.[17] As with Colonel Lowell, Private Humphreys also spent his last hours’ calmy writing home and solidifying a legacy of integrity. His chaplain and friends spoke of Walter’s moral living, noting he indulged in none of the vices in camp, and shared that they never once saw Walter panicked or nervous in the face of death, whose face they had been in the face of many times together, true testaments to Walter’s Unitarian foundation.[18]
Walter’s death was more than a devastating personal loss to Chaplain Humphreys. It became a spiritual turning point that reinforced Charles’ beliefs. Charles found resilience (or added to his resilience) through this traumatic event. Walter’s commitment to duty was a reminder of the power of faith in action. Chaplain Humphreys saw his brother’s legacy as more than inspirational. He took it as a reminder of the endurance required by faith and ministry.[19]
Strengthened, Humphreys returned to his duties amid war’s horrors, grounded in the spirit of Unitarian resilience. Reading his book, one finds Humphreys’ pain almost accessible and certainly understandable. Life as a Union chaplain must have been nearly unbearable at times. At other times, humor, albeit darker, found its way into their lives.
One night, Humphreys walked beside a wounded Captain Papini, slumped across his saddle, for four miles to reach safety. Ironically, Papini—son of a dancing master—was shot through both feet, prompting a soldier to quip, ‘I guess his dancing days are over.’ Papini recovered and later ran a Boston dance school, proving resilience amid absurdity. While Papini’s recovery later brought humor into the story, Humphreys admitted, “That night, things looked a little dubious about his pedals.”[20]
Looking back at Charles Humphreys’ Civil War service reveals the strength that comes from faith, connection, and commitment to duty. Humphreys was no mere chaplain, although this research time and again informs that no mere chaplains served in the Civil War. The job was physically and emotionally dangerous and claimed many victims. People broke. Minds broke. The chaplains took care of everyone.
After his discharge in 1865, Humphreys was ordained as a Unitarian minister, serving in Springfield (1865–1872), Framingham (1873–1891), and Randolph (1893–1899).[21] He married Kate J. Mattoon in 1868, and they had four children, though only two daughters, Sarah and Catherine, survived infancy. Upon retiring, he returned to Dorchester, Massachusetts, where he wrote his memoir, Field, Camp, Hospital and Prison in the Civil War, 1863–1865. He remained active in veterans’ organizations, delivering speeches and advocating for their rights. His pastoral career and family life reflected the same commitment to service and reform that defined his wartime chaplaincy.
Chaplain Humphreys carried his beliefs into darker places than most can imagine, finding purpose and peace in his service. His patriotism, spiritual friendships, and Unitarian faith were a foundation of bedrock stronger than the fiercest storms he faced. What might seem like lofty ideals in more comfortable settings became principles for survival that kept Humphreys alive and steady and reminded him and his comrades of the endless power of compassion. Humphreys’ time in the Union Army was marked by loyalty and purpose. Even in Death’s face, the chaplain’s commitment to others reminds us that courage and compassion bring light into humanity’s darkest moments.
Bibliography
Ancestry.com. “Josephine Shaw” in U.S. family records. Accessed October 27, 2024. www.ancestry.com.
Ancestry.com. “Charles Russell Lowell” in U.S. family records. Accessed October 27, 2024. www.ancestry.com.
Ancestry.com. U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles. Accessed October 27, 2024. www.ancestry.com.
Clarke, Ruth. “Charles Alfred Humphreys, 1838–1921.” Dorchester Atheneum. Last modified April 13, 2022. www.dorchesteratheneum.org/project/charles-alfred-humphreys-1838-1921-2/.
Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. Vol. 2. New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885.
Humphreys, Charles Alfred. Field, Camp, Hospital and Prison in the Civil War, 1863–1865. Kindle ed. Miami, FL: HardPress Publishing, n.d.
Humphreys, Charles Alfred. The Humphreys Family in America. Cambridge, MA: Press of Murray and Emery Company, 1883. Available on Ancestry.com. Accessed October 27, 2024. www.ancestry.com.
“Oct 13, 1905, Page 9.” The New York Times. Accessed October 26, 2024. www.newspapers.com/image/20525931/.
“Lowell, Josephine Shaw (1843–1905).” Harvard Square Library, February 17, 2014. Accessed [October 27, 2024]. www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/josephine-shaw-lowell/
[1] Charles Alfred Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital and Prison in the Civil War, 1863-1865, Kindle edition (Miami, FL: HardPress Publishing, n.d.), 1.
[2] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 4.
[3] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 4.
[4] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 4.
[5] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 13.
[6] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 38.
[7] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 38.
[8] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 48.
[9] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 15.
[10] The New York Times, “Oct 13, 1905, Page 9,” accessed October 26, 2024, Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/20525931/.
[11] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 11.
[12] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 179,181.
[13] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 187.
[14] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 187.
[15] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 187.
[16] Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. Vol. 2. New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885.
[17] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 307-308.
[18] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 307-308.
[19] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 314.
[20] Humphreys, Field, Camp, Hospital, Kindle, 243.
[21] Ruth Clarke, “Charles Alfred Humphreys, 1838–1921,” Dorchester Atheneum, last modified April 13, 2022, www.dorchesteratheneum.org/project/charles-alfred-humphreys-1838-1921-2/.
