In the fall of 1861, fifty-one-year-old Rev. Francis Springer enlisted in the Union army. The following spring, Reverend Springer, a friend of and one-time neighbor to Abraham Lincoln, rode away with the 10th Illinois Calvary. A witness to the Battle of Prairie Grove (December 1862), Springer was later named post chaplain at Fort Smith, where, in addition to preaching and ministering to the troops, he was placed in charge of refugees -- widows, orphans, and contrabands -- the displaced victims of virulent guerrilla warfare in northwest Arkansas. Springer also wrote articles and columns in the...
In the fall of 1861, fifty-one-year-old Rev. Francis Springer enlisted in the Union army. The following spring, Reverend Springer, a friend of and one...
