Early American Christianity: Chaplain Samuel MacClintock
ABSTRACT
The blog post details the author’s
analysis of the epitaph of Congregationalist pastor Samuel MacClintock,
specifically pertaining to MacClintock’s service as a military chaplain during
the American Revolution. To add context and historical depth, the article
briefly discusses the background and history of military chaplains from
antiquity through their adoption by the British army. Scholarly journals and works were consulted
for the historical details, and one of Reverend MacClintock’s noteworthy
sermons was employed to provide additional historical depth.
INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Good afternoon. Today I am writing on
an interesting facet of early American Christianity, Army Chaplains in the
American Revolution. The practice of priests following soldiers into battle
dates from antiquity, as evidenced by a passage from Deuteronomy 20: 2-4: And
it shall be, when ye are come night unto the battle, that the priest shall
approach and speak unto the people. And you shall say unto them, Hear, O
Israel, ye approach this day until battle against your enemies: let not your
hearts faint, fear not and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of
them: For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against
your enemies, to save you.[1] As is clear from
the passage, the priest had a unique role in the army, ministering to the
spiritual needs of the soldiers, and encourage them before battle by prayer and
exhortation before battle. The practice of military clergy carried over into
the European armies and was imported into England during the Norman conquest.
By the sixteenth century, the Tudor regime codified the requirement for
appointing a chaplain to each infantry regiment. Duties were delineated as well:
morning and evening services and prayers, and “on Sundays [the commander] will
compel all soldiers not on guard to go the Colonel’s tent to hear prayers and
sermon.”[2]
Thus, the practice of appointing chaplains in militia units was naturally
carried over into the colonial settlements in America. The role was poorly
defined, varying depending on the desires of the regimental commander. The process of selecting chaplains varied by
town and even by colony. For one
expedition in 1690, the General Court of Massachusetts selected chaplains from
within the colony by vote. Of interest, fewer historical evidence exists for
chaplains in the southern colonies, which were dominated by the Church of
England (Anglican Church). There, the
power to appoint chaplains rested solely with the bishop, who was in London; thus,
few Anglican chaplain appointments were done due to the distances involved.[3]
CONTINENTAL ARMY CHAPLAINS
After the outbreak of the American
Revolution, pro-Patriot preachers issued sermons supporting the American cause,
citing Scripture to decry the tyrannical nature of the British government. Given their centrality to American life,
pastors greatly influenced the opinions of their congregation concerning civil
and religious liberties. When war came, many ministers left the pulpit to
enlist, often recruiting their own units from within the men of the
congregation. In most instances, the
preachers joined their militia regiments as chaplains, performing not only
ministerial duties, but caring for the sick and wounded.[4]
Historian Joel T.
Headly, writing some four generations after the Revolution, stresses the importance
of religious sentiment in the American army, and the centrality of the chaplain
in the regiment. “The office at the time
was no sinecure, nor unattended with danger, and men of nerve and force, as
well as piety, were sought after.”[5]
Headley also highlights an obscure influence exerted by New England clergy on
the revolution, the “election sermon” before the Governor and House of
Representatives. Only the best preachers
were afforded the opportunity, and the election sermon was not confined solely
to Scripture. Instead, many sermons dealt with the question of the natural
rights of man bestowed by God, and the proper balance of government in
protecting, and not infringing upon those God-given rights. By articulating
such subjects, pastors informed popular opinion and attitudes towards the
lawful resistance to British tyranny.[6]
When the Continental Army was
organized in 1776, one of General George Washington’s early acts as
commander-in-chief was to lobby Congress for commissions and pay for Continental
chaplains.[7] As
Washington saw things, establishing a corps of dedicated chaplains was a
hallmark of a professional and disciplined army. Chaplains would help instill
Christian virtues in the soldiers while in garrison, while on the field of
battle prayer chaplains would serve to sustain morale through prayers,
preaching, and ministrations to the sick and wounded. Washington issued orders
requiring all officers and soldiers not on duty to attend Sunday services, and
Sabbath observance was regulated with “pure and rational entertainment for
every serious and well-disposed mind.”
Furthermore, Washington regularly issued calls for prayer and fasting,
and issued thanksgiving proclamations after battlefield victories.[8]
Although records are incomplete, at
least 219 chaplains served during the Revolution, 118 with American militia
units and the remainder with Continental regiments. The largest number, about 90, came from
Congregationalist churches in the New England Region. Regardless of Continental
or militia service, each chaplain was selected based on a personal relationship
with the commander, or senior officer within the regiment. Moreover, the
chaplain was selected based on the predominant church affiliation within the
regiment.[9]
CHAPLAIN SAMUEL MACCLINTOCK
A measure of the central importance
of chaplain in the moral and combat performance of the Continental army can be
found in an obituary for Congregationalist pastor Samuel MacClintock who died
in 1804 at 72 years of age. Son of first-generation Irish immigrants,
MacClintock was born near Medford, Massachusetts. After a primary education, MacClintock
completed his undergraduate work at the college of New Jersey (later known as
Princeton) in 1751.[10]
In 1756, MacClintock accepted the Congregational pastorate in Greenland, New
Hampshire, where apart from his Revolutionary War service, remained until his
death. MacClintock proved so influential
that several of his sermons were widely published.[11]
Although his obituary does not
mention the fact, MacClintock served as a volunteer chaplain for a regiment of
New Hampshire volunteers organized during the French and Indian War. In June
1775, Reverend MacClintock served as the chaplain for the 1st New
Hampshire Regiment as it marched to reinforce the Massachusetts militia
besieging Boston. Chaplain MacClintock was in the ranks on 17 June 1775
performing ministry of presence in the ranks. The New Hampshire men fought with
unexpected valor that day, driving three successive British attacks back down
Bunker Hill with disciplined musketry.[12] MacClintock’s presence atop Bunker Hill was
immortalized in John Trumbull’s 1840 painting of the battle, depicted in the
background holding a flag to rally the troops during hand-to-hand combat.[13]
Reverend MacClintock seems to have
demobilized with the New Hampshire militia after Bunker Hill and returned home
to his Congregational pastorate. Besides his own service, at least three of the
MacClintock sons died fighting in the Revolution. After the war, MacClintock continued
pastoring his flock and completed a Doctor of Divinity at Yale University in
1791. In 1784, MacClintock gave a
peacetime version of an election sermon marking the commencement of the New
Hampshire Constitution. His sermon was centered on Jeremiah 18: 7-10, where God
describes to Jeremiah how He would punish the willful disobedient nation but
bless the nation that repented and turned from wickedness. During the sermon
Reverend MacClintock expounded on God sovereignty exercised over the nations,
and the natural order. He then turned to recounting God’s hand during the
Revolution, doubtlessly seeing his own service at Bunker Hill in his mind’s
eye:
“That an army of freemen, voluntarily
assembling at the alarm of nature-men who had been nurtured in the bosom of
liberty and unused to slavish restrains, should be willing to submit to the
severity of military government…and patiently endure hardships that would have
overcome the fortitude of veterans…[detailed list of hardships]…when they could
not be animated to such patience and perseverance by any mercenary motives, was
a rare spectacle, and for its solution must be traced to a higher source than
mere natural causes-in a word, the hand of Providence evidently appeared in the
various incidents and secondary causes which concurred to secure to us
success.”[14]
Reverend MacClintock’s Revolutionary
wartime service was summarized in this obituary: “From constitution and
principle being opposed to all civil and religious impositions…he entered
warmly into the defense of his country’s rights, when threatened and invaded by
the claims of Great-Britain. When the dispute had progressed to the ultimate
resort, and the solemn appeal was made to the God of battle, being in the vigor
and activity of life, he once and again visited those, who jeopardized their
lives in the high places of the field, in the character of their chaplain; by
his exhortations, prayers, and example, encouraging and animating them to the
unequal conflict.”[15]
CONCLUSION
Based on the research and information
presented, Reverend Samuel MacClintock may stand as a typical example of a
Revolutionary War era army chaplain. Over 40% of the American chaplains were
ordained Congregationalist ministers, all men who left their congregations to
minister to soldiers in combat. As a
group, chaplains motivated by the righteousness of their cause, and served with
determination to do their part as God’s appointed representatives on the earth,
witnessing God’s hand working behind the scenes to secure independence for the
American states. MacClintock’s obituary shows that in addition to his lifetime
of Christian service as a pastor, he was equally effective as a chaplain in the
opening battles of the American Revolution.
Primary
Sources:
Samuel MacClintock, A Sermon on
Occasion of The Commencement of the New-Hampshire Constitution, 3 June 1784.
Accessed on 6 February 2021, https://www.consource.org/document/a-sermon-on-occasion-of-the-commencement-of-the-new-hampshire-constitution-by-samuel-mcclintock-1784-6-3/.
Additional
Sources:
Crowder, Jack D. Chaplains of the Revolutionary War: Black Robed American Warriors.
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2017.
Duval, P.S. Trumbull, John and Hoffy,
Alfred M. The battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17th, painted by
J. Trumbull; on stone by A. Hoffy. United States, 1840. [Philadelphia: P.S.
Duval Lithograph] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014645332/.
Headley, Joel T. Chaplains and Clergy of The Revolution, New York: Charles Scribner,
1864. https://go-gale-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Monographs&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=3028&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm¤tPosition=2&docId=GALE%7CCY0100232626&docType=Monograph&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=SBN-2005a&prodId=SABN&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CCY0100232626&searchId=R1&userGroupName=vic_liberty&inPS=true.
Samuel MacClintock entry, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and
Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper & Collins, 1870), Accessed on 6
January 2021, https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/mse/m/macclintock-samuel-dd.html.
[1] Deuteronomy 20: 2-4 (King James Version).
[2] Parker C. Thompson, From
Its European Antecedents to 1791: The United States Army Chaplaincy, Volume
1 (Washington D.C.: Office of the Chief of Chaplains, 1978), xiii.
[3] Thompson, xviii.
[4] Jack D. Crowder, Chaplains
of the Revolutionary War: Black Robed American Warriors (Jefferson, North
Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2017), 2-3.
[5] Joel T. Headley, Chaplains
and Clergy of The Revolution (New York: Charles Scribner, 1864), 16.
[6] Headley, 21-22.
[7] Thompson, 107.
[8] Munoz, Vincent P. “George
Washington on Religious Liberty.” The Review of Politics 65, No. 1 (Winter
2003): 15.
[9] Thompson, xx.
[10] N.M. Greenland, “Samuel MacClintock
Obituary.” In Alden, Timothy. A Collection of American Epitaphs and
Inscriptions: With Occasional Notes (New York, 1814), 256.
[11]
Samuel MacClintock entry, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and
Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper & Collins, 1870), Accessed
on 6 January 2021, https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/mse/m/macclintock-samuel-dd.html. See https://wellcomecollection.org/works?query=%22Macclintock%2C%20Samuel%2C%201732-1804.%22
for a listing of the published sermons.
[12] Jack D. Crowder, Chaplains
of the Revolutionary War, 101.
[13] P.S. Duval & Co, John
Trumbull, and Alfred M Hoffy. The battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17th,
painted by J. Trumbull; on stone by A. Hoffy. United States, 1840.
[Philadelphia: P.S. Duval Lithograph] Photograph.
https://www.loc.gov/item/2014645332/.
[14] Samuel MacClintock, A Sermon on Occasion
of The Commencement of the New-Hampshire Constitution, 3 June 1784.
Accessed on 6 February 2021, https://www.consource.org/document/a-sermon-on-occasion-of-the-commencement-of-the-new-hampshire-constitution-by-samuel-mcclintock-1784-6-3/.
[15] N.M. Greenland, “Samuel MacClintock
Obituary,” 252-3.
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