802 



UNITED STATES CHPJSTIAN COMMISSION. 



ton, Ky. ; Eev. S. D. Storrs, Atchison, Kansas ; 

 J. B. Eoberts, San Francisco ; Hon. James W. 

 Nye, Carson City, Nevada; lion. W. A. Buck- 

 ingham, Norwich, Conn. ; "Waller S. Griffith, 

 Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Samuel B. Caldwell, Brook- 

 lyn, N. Y. ; Eev. Charles Hodge, D. D., Prince- 

 ton, N. S. ; Stephen Colwell, Philadelphia ; 

 Horatio G. Jones, Philadelphia ; William Frew, 

 Pittsburg; Prof. M. L. Stoever, Gettysburg; 

 Et. Eev. Alfred Lee, D. D., Wilmington, Del. ; 

 Hon. Francis H. Pierpont, Alexandria, Ya. ; 

 Et. Eev. 0. P. Mcllvaine, D. D., Cincinnati, 

 Ohio ; Hon. Schuyler Colfax, South Bend, Ind. ; 

 Hon. John Owen, Detroit; Walter S. Carter, 

 Milwaukee ; Hon. Hiram Price, Davenport, 

 Iowa ; Eev. E. Lehman, Chaska, Minn. ; Eev. 

 S. Cornelius, Portland, Oregon; Hon. John 

 Evans, Denver City, Col. 



Mr. George II. Stuart, of Philadelphia, was 

 elected its President, and has served in that ca- 

 pacity up to the present time. Three or four 

 months were consumed in arranging its plan 

 of operations, in obtaining the approval of the 

 President of the United States, the Secretary 

 of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Gen- 

 eral in command, and the Surgeon General. 

 It was then deemed best to remove its head- 

 quarters to Philadelphia, and Eev. William E. 

 Boardman was appointed General Secretary. 

 There were added, in 1864, a Secretary of the 

 Home organization, and a Secretary of the 

 Field organization. 



The general character of the duties of the 

 Commission was defined at the meeting that 

 brought it into existence; its grand object as 

 avowed was to promote the physical comfort 

 and the spiritual welfare of the brave men of 

 the army and navy, in the field, in the hospital, 

 the prison, or wherever they may be found. 

 Like the Government it embraces within the 

 range of its influence the whole Union, and 

 provides for the material and spiritual neces- 

 sities of suffering humanity without regard to 

 race, creed, or position. It aims to save life in 

 the hour of peril, to ameliorate the condition 

 of our soldiers and seamen, to perform in the 

 midst of the war the office of a kind friend, to 

 supply, as far as possible, the place of home, to 

 furnish opportune and substantial relief when 

 required, to bind up the wounds, to pour in the 

 wine and the oil of love and peace, to speak a 

 word of sympathy and encouragement to the 

 suffering and depressed, to bring the influences 

 of the Gospel to bear upon those who are far 

 from home and its privileges, exposed to the 

 dangers and temptations peculiar to the camp, 

 to arrest the thoughtless in their course and 

 reclaim the wayward, to send forth the living, 

 practical teacher, to whisper Christian consola- 

 tion to the dying, the wounded, and heavy-laden 

 in heart. 



In addition to the general executive commit- 

 tee and its central office in Philadelphia, the 

 Commission has its agencies, its branch organi- 

 sations in the principal cities and towns of the 

 land, engaged in collecting stores antf procur- 



ing funds to carry on the work in the field. It 

 has its extensive bases of supplies for the dif- 

 ferent armies, and its carefully-organized corps 

 of permanent agents, thoroughly acquainted 

 with the wants of the soldiers and prepared to 

 forward stores upon a requisition given by 

 those in proximity to the scene of action. It 

 maintains a constant supervision over the camp 

 and field-hospitals, and when special emergen- 

 cies arise (leinnnding extraordinary activity and 

 energy, during and after every battle, its repre- 

 sentatives are present dispensing with a boun- 

 tiful hand whatever may contribute to the 

 comfort and immediate relief of the wounded. 

 It sends forth ministers and laymen, voluntary 

 agents, who labor without compensation to 

 distribute with their own hands, under the di- 

 rection of the surgeons, the stores gathered to- 

 gether, to circulate the Scriptures, religious 

 newspapers and tracts, reading of a moral and 

 instructive character, and lead men to repent- 

 ance and a Christian life. It aids the surgeon, 

 helps the chaplain, follows the army in its 

 marches, goes into the trenches, courses along 

 the picket-line, and ministers personally to the 

 suffering and the distressed. Its influence is 

 felt wherever the dying, the wounded, the sick, 

 and the afflicted are to be found. It furnishes 

 clothing to the destitute, nutritious food to the 

 sick, bocks for military hospitals, posts, and 

 gnnboats, a supply of paper, envelopes, ink, 

 pens, pencils, and the thousand comforts which 

 are gratefully appreciated by the soldier, and 

 which the Government cannot provide. It 

 cheers with the consolations of religion those 

 appointed to die ; and as the soul passes from 

 the body it receives its dying words, and com- 

 municates the sad record to the bereaved at 

 home. It administers Christian burial when 

 practicable, and marks the place of interment 

 for the satisfaction of distant friends. Besides 

 the more private appeals and personal instruc- 

 tions given by the delegates in the tent and the 

 hospital, public services are held from day to 

 day, especially during the whiter campaigns, 

 chapels are erected, and meetings for prayer, 

 conference, and preaching organized. The Sec- 

 retary of the Commission has compendiously but 

 clearly set forth its system and work as follows : 



I. DIVISION OF THE ARMY FIELD. 



GENERAL. 1. Armies near Kichmond. 2. Army iu 

 the Shenandoah Valley. 3. Army of the Cumber 

 land, etc. 4. Armies along the Southern Mississippi. 

 5. Armies in Missouri, Arkansas, and Kansas. 6. The 

 navy, southern coast, and gulf supplied from New 

 York. 



SPECIAL. Stations and corps organizations. 



A station in each great army centre when the army 

 is at rest, and a moving organization iu each corps 

 when the army moves. 



Out-stations to meet wants of various sections. 



Permanent stations in all great permanent centres. 



II. HEN AND WOMEN FOE THE FIELD. 



1. Agents. Permanent paid. 



One field agent for each general division, five in all, 

 with assistants in the larger fields. ' 



One station agent or corps captain for each station 

 or corps organization, with teamsters. 



2. Delegates for six weeks, or longer, unpaid ; from 



