Page 210 - Arkansas Confederate Women

The Bishops in the War 185

"Sir, you hold already a higher commission than that in
the church militant/'

"I am aware of that, right reverend sir ; and I do not intend

to resign it, but hope to hold it in the church triumphant."

"Well, the senior bishop did not give his consent then ?"

"Yes, he did," said Bishop Polk, with a twinkle in his eye
and a confident manner that was peculiarly his own. "Yes, he
did; I quoted scripture to him, and we talked the matter all

over thoroughly, and he finally told me if I felt it my duty to
myaccept, I had his full consent, and so say all the rest of

brethren/'

Most of these bishops were not chaplains, but fighting men.
Being soldiers of the cross seemed to have stimulated them for
the real fray. Bishop T. U. Dudley of Kentucky and Bishop R.
W. B. Elliott of Texas were immediately associated in the ser-
vice, and the latter was severely wounded. Bishop George W.
Petererkin of West Virginia was paroled at Appomattox, hav-
ing been first Lieutenant and aid to Gen. W. N. Pendleton of
Lexington, Virginia, an eminent Episcopal divine.

Bishop Samuel S. Harris of Michigan was a gallant soldier
from Alabama, and Leonidas Polk of Louisiana, mentioned
above, was a lieutenant general when killed at Pine Mount near
Marietta, Georgia. Reverend Dr. Martin Parks of North Caro^
lina resigned from the old army in 1828 to become a clergyman.

He was elected to a bishopric in Alabama, but declined.

Our own two beloved bishops in Florida were "soldiers of
war." Rt. Rev. Edwin C. Weed having been a cavalry soldier in
a Georgia regiment, and Rt. Rev. William Crane Grey having
served as chaplain in a Tennessee regiment. And thus

"The sons of God go forth to war,

A kingly crown to gain/'

—Note To the above may be added Bishop Ellison Capers

of South Carolina, who was a brigadier general in the Confeder-

ate army.