The Black Robe Regiment: The Pastor-Patriots of the Revolution

We need more Boanerges or sons of thunder in

the pulpit. ... If Satan rules in our halls of legislation,

the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become

so corrupt that the very foundations of government

are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.

Charles G. Finney (1792-1875)

"The Decay of Conscience"

Wineskins Contributor・03/05/19

ThomasJefferson (1743-1826), in a letter to William Stevens Smith dated November 13,1787, wrote, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time withthe blood of patriots." A true patriot is not one who flees from the foesthat would enslave his fellow citizens, but one who is willing to stand, fight,and die to secure freedom for all. At times of crisis, true patriots stepforward. They always have; they always will. Thomas Paine (1737-1809) wrote thefollowing memorable words in 1776: "These are the times that try men'ssouls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrinkfrom the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the loveand thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yetwe have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the moreglorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly; 'tisdearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a properprice upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial anarticle as Freedom should not be highly rated."

As Paine pointed out, there are "sunshinepatriots" who talk a good talk, but then slither away when the stormcomes. True patriotism is much different. Perhaps Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965)stated it best in a speech in New York City on August 27, 1952: "What dowe mean by patriotism in the context of our times? ... A patriotism that putscountry ahead of self; a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts ofemotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." Among suchpatriots, and Jefferson, Paine and Stevenson most assuredly had these in mind,were the godly men within the early American colonies known as The BlackRobe Regiment (aka: The Black Regiment), who truly epitomizedand personified the meaning of self-sacrificial love for God and country.

These men, and there were a great many of them,were not just patriots, they were pastors. They were the leaders of theircongregations, the moral motivators of the people, the spiritual shepherds ofthe flock of God in this new land. They were also a vital part of, indeed thevoice and soul of, the movement to secure liberty from British tyranny. Thus,many of the government leaders were also leaders in the churches. The same wastrue of those who later took up arms to defend the colonies. Pastors wouldoften go from pulpit to battlefield, leading the men of the congregation intowar with the British troops. Their sermons were filled with a call to liberty.As the American Revolution approached, it was the pastors who called theirmembers to take up arms, who would lead them in military drills following theSunday services, and who would lead them into battle. These church members, whocould be "ready in a minute" to confront the enemy, and who wererecruited and trained largely by their pastors, were known as the"Minutemen." Historians are quick to point out that had it not beenfor the influence of the early American pastors, both in their sermons from thepulpit promoting liberty, as well as their leadership on the field of battle, thehistory of our nation might very well have been written differently. Onehistorian, Tom Barrett, observed, "I do not consider it a stretch at allto say that were it not for the pastors and churches of colonial America, ourland would be a British colony today" [The Forgotten Holiday].

The British were only too aware of the power ofthe pastors in the shaping of public resolve against tyranny and in thepeople's thirst for freedom. Indeed, when the British troops landed in America,it was the pastors, whom they had disparagingly named "The Black RobeRegiment" (because of the black robes they typically wore in the pulpit),that they went after first. Dr. David C. Gibbs, president of the ChristianLaw Association, observed, "The colonial pulpit was a major source ofstrength and inspiration both before and during the Revolutionary War forIndependence. In particular, the ministers of New England played a pivotal rolein calling for independence and for godly resistance to British tyranny. ...The pulpits of New England were especially important in helping to bring aboutindependence. Long before the general population understood the threat toAmerican liberty, some colonial ministers saw what was coming and boldly spokeout about it from their pulpits" [One Nation Under God: 10 ThingsEvery Christian Should Know About The Founding Of America]. These men sawthemselves as the "watchmen on the wall" for God and country (Ezekiel3:17-21), and they took their calling seriously.

There are some who believe that pastors shouldnever inject secular concerns into their preaching and teaching, that theirpronouncements from the pulpit should only be expositions of Scripturepertaining to spirituality. We are citizens of Heaven, they argue, and thusshould have no concern for what happens in some earthly nation. I believe suchthinking is dead wrong, and so did the members of The Black Robe Regiment.Jonathan Mayhew (1720-1766), a member of this group, and one of its mostprofound thinkers (a graduate of Harvard and the pastor for West Church inBoston), clearly opposed such thinking. Robert Treat Paine, who was a signer ofthe Declaration of Independence, and also an Attorney General of theUnited States, called Mayhew "the Father of Civil and Religious Liberty inMassachusetts and America." On January 30, 1750, Jonathan Mayhew preacheda sermon on Romans 13:1-7, pointing out that he firmly believed there was adivine imperative for pastors to speak from the pulpit about the ills ofsociety, and about tyranny and oppression. He declared, "It is hoped thatbut few will think the subject of it an improper one to be discoursed on in thepulpit, under a notion that this is preaching politics, instead of Christ.However, to remove all prejudices of this sort, I beg it may be remembered that'all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, forinstruction in righteousness.' Why, then, should not those parts of Scripturewhich relate to civil government be examined and explained from the pulpit, aswell as others?" The Scriptures speak of kings and governments, and theobligations of both rulers and those ruled. Thus, Mayhew reasoned,"politics" was just as appropriate a topic to be addressed from thepulpit as any other. An historian and pastor named Wayne C. Sedlak rightlyobserves, "The pulpits of that era were anything but neutral. And theycertainly did not subscribe to that error of reasoning so dominant in thechurches today which says that the only proper subject of concern for thepulpit pertains to individual salvation and one's personal preparation forheaven."

In the early days of our country, the pastorspowerfully proclaimed liberty from their pulpits. The Black Robe Regiment stoodboldly before the people and called them to throw off tyranny and embrace freedom.John Adams (1735-1826), our 2nd President, rejoiced that "the pulpitsthunder and lightning every Sabbath against King George's despotism," andpraised these pastors as being among "the most conspicuous, the mostardent, and the most influential" men of that day in the "awakeningand revival of American principles and feelings" that led to our ultimateindependence [The Works of John Adams, Charles Adams, editor]. ThomasJefferson (1743-1826) said, "Pulpit oratory ran like a shock ofelectricity through the whole colony." In 1864, the historian B.F. Morriswrote, "The ministers of the Revolution, like their Puritan predecessors,were bold and fearless in the cause of their country. No class of mencontributed more to carry forward the Revolution and to achieve ourindependence than did the ministers" [Christian Life and Character ofthe Civil Institutions of the United States]. In 1898, historian CharlesGalloway stated, "Mighty men they were, of iron nerve and strong hand andunblanched cheek and heart of flame. God needed not reeds shaken by the wind,not men clothed in soft raiment, but heroes of hardihood and lofty courage, andsuch were the sons of the Mighty who responded to the divine call" [Christianityand the American Commonwealth]. Yes, had it not been for these powerfulpastors and their preaching, our history might have been written differently.In many ways, they were both the soul and the voice of the American Revolution.

Again, the British were not unaware of thesignificant role the pastors and the churches were playing in the comingRevolution. In fact, in the British Parliament the War of Independence wasoften referred to as "the Presbyterian Revolt." The Presbyterian andCongregationalist churches were the leaders in this "sedition andtreason." Thus, as already noted, when the British troops arrived on oursoil they wasted no time seeking out the pastors for special punishment. Manywere rounded up and killed, and a great many of the church buildings wereburned to the ground. This was because the church buildings were serving asmeeting places for the Minutemen, who were made up of the church members, andthe church grounds were used as training fields for these fighting forces,which were being led and trained by the pastors and deacons of the churches. Infact, the pastors generally led their members into battle. It is stated that atthe time of the British surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, all exceptone of the Colonels serving in the Colonial Army were elders in the PresbyterianChurch. The spiritual leaders of the churches were also the military leadersduring our war for independence!

The American Revolutionary War began on April 19,1775 with the battles of Lexington and Concord, which were in Massachusetts.The pastor for the church in Lexington was Jonas Clark. His sermons calling forliberty had been powerful, and he had been urging his members to prepare forwar. Indeed, when the smoke of battle cleared that day in Lexington, theAmerican dead were all from his congregation. Thus, the first blood had beenshed in the cause of liberty, a cause promoted from his pulpit. "Theteaching of the pulpit of Lexington caused the first blow to be struck forAmerican Independence" [J.T. Headley, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution].James L. Adams observed, "The patriotic preaching of the Reverend JonasClark primed the guns" of the Battle of Lexington [Yankee Doodle Wentto Church: The Righteous Revolution of 1776]. When Paul Revere made hisfamous ride, he rode to the home of Jonas Clark. Samuel Adams and John Hancockhappened to be with Clark at the time, and when it was learned that "theBritish are coming," they asked the pastor if the people of Lexington wereready to fight for their independence. Clark replied, "I have trained themfor this very hour!" Indeed, when the first shots were fired, Jonas Clarkwas there with the Minutemen of his congregation taking the battle to theBritish invaders. One year later, to the day, Jonas Clark would declare in hissermon, "From this day will be dated the liberty of the world."

General John Peter Muhlenberg, who was also aLutheran pastor in Virginia, preached a sermon one Sunday on Ecclesiastes 3,saying, "In the language of Holy Writ, there is a time for all things, atime to preach and a time to pray, but those times have passed away. There is atime to fight, and that time has now come!" At that point in the sermon heremoved his black robe. Underneath he was wearing the uniform of a Colonel (hewould later be promoted to the rank of General) in the Continental Army. Hesaid he was leaving the pulpit to defend the cause of freedom, at which pointmany in his congregation chose to do the same (they would become the famed 8thVirginia Regiment). That moment in history, by the way, is to this daycommemorated in a statue of Muhlenberg that stands in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.The General/Pastor would later lead his brigade against Gen. Cornwallis at theBattle of Brandywine. Even the wording of our great Declaration of Independenceis almost verbatim from the teachings of a pastor with the Black Robe Regimentnamed John Wise. For many years he had been preaching and writing about thevery issues that would find their way into that document. In 1864, historianBenjamin Morris stated that "some of the most glittering sentences in theimmortal Declaration of Independence are almost literal quotations from thisessay of John Wise," which was "used as a political textbook in thegreat struggle for freedom." President Calvin Coolidge, in a speech hedelivered in Philadelphia in 1926 (at the 150th anniversary celebration of theDeclaration of Independence), affirmed the same: "The thoughts in theDeclaration can very largely be traced back to what John Wise was writing in1710." Thus, this pastor, and others like him from the Black RobeRegiment, through their many sermons and writings, "laid the intellectualbasis for American Independence."

One of the accounts that shows the spirit ofthese noble men is of James Caldwell (1734-1781), who was known as "TheFighting Chaplain," and also "The Fighting Parson of theRevolution." He was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church inElizabethtown, New Jersey. His wife was shot and killed during one of thebattles. His real fame, however, comes from his actions during the Battle ofSpringfield in June, 1780. As supplies were running low, Caldwell and hisAmerican forces, who were greatly outnumbered, needed wadding for theirweapons. Caldwell grabbed some of the hymn books from a nearby church, rippedthe pages out of these hymnals, and passed the pages to the troops for wadding,which prompted James Caldwell to cry out, "Give 'em Watts, boys! Give 'emWatts!" (the hymn book was filled with the hymns of Isaac Watts, oftencharacterized as "The Dissident Hymnist"). Inspired by this action,the Minutemen pushed back the British, winning the battle that day.

The reality is, and many Americans today aresadly unaware of this fact, "ministers were intimately involved in everyaspect of introducing, defining, and securing America's civil and religiousliberties" [David Barton, Wall Builders]. Many books and articleshave been written about these men (the now famous Black Robe Regiment), and asearch of the Internet will produce a wealth of knowledge about this group. Forthose who might be interested, I would highly recommend the two volume set byDr. Ellis Sandoz titled "Political Sermons of the American FoundingEra: 1730-1805." Yet another excellent work describing thesermons of the Black Robe Regiment is "The New England Soul" by Dr.Harry Stout of Yale University.On May 9, 1789, in an article titled "TheImportance of the Protestant Religion Politically Considered," whichappeared in the Washington, D.C. newspaper Gazette of the United States,we find this glowing endorsement of these brave pastors: "Our trulypatriotic clergy boldly and zealously stepped forth and bravely stood ourdistinguished sentinels to watch and warn us against approaching danger; theywisely saw that our religious and civil liberties were inseparably connectedand therefore warmly excited and animated the people resolutely to oppose andrepel every hostile invader. May the virtue, zeal, and patriotism of our clergybe ever particularly remembered." Maybe John Wingate Thornton (1818-1878),an attorney and historian, summed it up most succinctly in the followingstatement from his book "The Pulpit of the American Revolution"– "To the pulpit, the Puritan pulpit, we owe the moral force which won ourindependence." We enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today due, in large part, tothe pastors who motivated our forefathers to rise up and break free from theirbondage to British tyranny, and who then willingly laid their lives on the lineby taking up arms and leading their congregations in fighting for that freedom.May God raise up a Black Robe Regiment today with the same courage ofconviction to stand boldly in their pulpits and call the people to freedom inChrist and freedom from tyranny, both religious and secular. A nation is lost whenits pastors fail the people from the pulpits!