Abraham Baldwin, who represented Georgia at the Constitutional Convention, was a Yale Educated Clergyman and a Chaplain in the Continental Army. Educated primarily for a position in the church, he served in the Continental Army during the climactic years of the Revolution. Baldwin's continuing association with Yale College contributed directly to his entry into military service. The college became the major source of chaplains for the states Continental Army contingent. Baldwin apparently served as a chaplain with Connecticut forces on a part-time basis during the early stages of the war, and finally in February 1779 he succeeded the Reverend Timothy Dwight, another Yale tutor, as one of the two brigade chaplains allotted to Connecticut's forces. He was appointed as chaplain in Brigadier General Samuel H. Parsons' brigade, remaining with the unit until the general demobilization of the Army that followed the announcement of the preliminary treaty of peace in June 1783. The duties of a Revolutionary War chaplain were quite extensive. In addition to caring for the spiritual needs of the 1,500 or so soldiers of differing denominations in the brigade, Baldwin assumed a major responsibility for maintaining the morale of the men and for guarding their physical welfare. In his sermons and in less formal conversations with the officers and men he was expected to help the soldiers understand the basis for the conflict with the mother country and thereby to heighten their sense of mission and dedication to the Patriot cause.

Pencil drawing, by Robert Fulton (early nineteenth century); National Portrait Gallery

The Reverend James Hall of Iredell County North Carolina was elected Captain of a cavalry unit. He refused a promotion to General to stay with his unit and serve as its Commander and Chaplain. John Steele of Cumberland, Pennsylvania, also served as a Captain and Chaplain, while Dr. Latta of Lancaster, a militia Chaplain, enlisted as a common soldier when an unusual number of his parishioners were drafted into the army. Some, like David Jones, the Welsh Baptist from Pennsylvania, served both as a Chaplain and as a Surgeon and fought alongside the troops whenever the opportunity presented itself. Joseph Fish of Duxbury, Massachusettes, at seventy-six years of age, was too old to enlist, but told the assembled volunteers:

“Were it not that my nerves are unstrung and my limbs enfeebled with age, on such a call as you have, I think I should willingly quit my desk, put off my priestly garments, buckle on the harness, and with trumpet in hand, hasten to battle”.

Finally, “Tea Parties” were held all up and down the Atlantic coast and the one at Greenwich, New Jersey, on Friday, December 23, 1774, was lead by Andrew Hunter and Philip Fithian, two Princeton Theological students.

James Caldwell (1734-1781), a Presbyterian minister at Elizabeth, New Jersey, was one of the many clergymen who served as chaplains during the Revolutionary War. At the battle of Springfield, New Jersey, on June 23, 1780, when his company ran out of wadding, Caldwell was said to have dashed into a nearby Presbyterian Church, scooped up as many Watts hymnals as he could carry, and distributed them to the troops, shouting "put Watts into them, boys." Caldwell and his wife were both killed before the war ended. "Reverend James Caldwell at the Battle of Springfield" Watercolor by Henry Alexander Ogden Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia

We reflect with pleasure that on May 4, 1776, two months before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Rhode Island, the strongly Baptist state, repudiated every form of allegiance to King George III. Baptist minister's were among the first and foremost to volunteer to serve the American troops as chaplains in the great war of freedom.