Though some American soldiers were devout and dedicated in attending church and so on, it’s not surprising that some were quite the opposite. Philip Vickers Fithian, a Connecticut chaplain who was serving in New York, wrote in his journal on August 11, 1776:
The Lords Day is come once more. But the Sabbath is scarcely known in the Army. Profaned is all religious Exercise. Dreadful is the thought that Man who expect an Engagement every Day with a obstinate, wise, & powerful Enemy, should dare be so ungodly. But the God of this World has blinded the Mind.
It’s worth noting that one reason Fithian considered religious observance important corresponded with what Washington had said to the troops about a month earlier — namely, that they needed the “blessing and protection of Heaven”, and in order to get it, they needed to “live, and act, as becomes a Christian soldier”.
Sources
- The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence, p. 171.
- “General Orders, 9 July 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-05-02-0176. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 5, 16 June 1776 – 12 August 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1993, pp. 245–247.]