"CHRIST IN THE CAMP"
JOHN Wm. JONES was born in Mineral Virginia in 1836. He was ordained in the Southern Baptist Convention in 1860 and was headed to China as a missionary when the War Between The States broke out. He enlisted in the 13th Virginia. Within a year's time he received a commission as the unit's chaplain. Because of the lack of competent chaplains he resigned as the unit chaplain and became the first Baptist evangelist-at-large in the Army of Northern Virginia.
After the war Gen. Robert E. Lee asked Dr. Jones if he would write a book on what God did in the Confederate army. This he did in 1877 and the book is entitled "Christ in the Camp." In this book Dr. Jones writes: "Any history of this army which omits an account of the wonderful influence of religion upon it-which fails to tell how the courage, discipline, and morale was influenced by the humble piety and evangelical zeal of many of its officers and men-would be incomplete and unsatisfactory."