Research

Learn more about U.S. military chaplains, past and present, with this growing list of sources recommended by staff and students from the Chaplains Museum.

Student Research

• Brophy, Timothy W. (2025). In Touch with the Lord: Army Chaplains of the Christian Faith in World War II. HIUS 530: American Christian Heritage, Liberty University.
• Johnson, Blake (2025). Faith and the Flag: United States Military Chaplains During the Spanish-American War. HIUS 340: Industrial America, Liberty University.

Resources

U.S. Military Chaplains – General History

All Chaplains

• Brinsfield, John W., “The U.S. Military Chaplaincy, Then and Now,” The Review of Faith & International Affairs 7, no. 4, 2009.
• Doyle, Robert C., Men of God, Men of War: Military Chaplains as Ministers, Warriors, and Prisoners, 2024.
• Otis, Pauletta, “An Overview of the U.S. Military Chaplaincy: A Ministry of Prescence and Practice,” The Review of Faith & International Affairs 7, no. 4, 2009.

U.S. Military Chaplains by Military Branch

Army

• Thompson, Parker C. From Its European Antecedents to 1791 the United States Army Chaplaincy, 1978.
• Norton, Herman A., Struggling for Recognition: The United States Army Chaplaincy 1791 – 1865, 1977.
• Stover, Earl F., Up from Handymen: The United States Army Chaplaincy 1865 – 1920, 1977.
• Gushwa, Robert L., The Best and Worst of Times: The United States Army Chaplaincy 1920 – 1945, 1977.
• Venzke, Rodger R., Confidence in Battle, Inspiration in Peace: The United States Army Chaplaincy 1945 – 1975, 1977.

Navy

• Drury, Clifford M., History of the Chaplain Corps United States Navy, Vol. 1 and 2, 1948.
• Nixon, Henry Jr. and Lorenzo Cooper York. From Sea to Sea: Stories by U.S. Navy Chaplains of African American Descent, 2022.

Air Force

• Jorgensen, Daniel B., Air Force Chaplains, Vol. 1: The Service of Chaplains to Army Air Units, 1917 – 1946, 1961.
• Jorgensen, Daniel B., Air Force Chaplains, Vol. 2: Air Force Chaplains, 1947 – 1960, 1963.
• Jorgensen, Daniel B., Air Force Chaplains, Vol. 3: Air Force Chaplains, 1961-1970, 1975.
• Jorgensen, Daniel B., Air Force Chaplains, Vol. 4: Air Force Chaplains, 1971-1980, 1986.

U.S. Military Chaplains by Era – Pre-20th Century

Revolutionary War

• Headley, Joel Tyler. The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution, 1864.

War of 1812

• Lawson, Kenneth E., Reliable and Religious: U.S. Army Chaplains and the War of 1812, 2012.

Frontier Wars (1817-1898)

• Johnson, James Daniel. The Chaplain During Reconstruction and the Indian Wars, 1865-1877 and 1865-1891, 1973.
• Lamm, Alan K., Five Black Preachers in Army Blue, 1884-1901: The Buffalo Soldier Chaplains, 1998.

Mexican American War

• Curran, Robert Emmett, “‘It Will Serve to Destroy Those Calumnies That Catholics Are Not Faithful Subjects’: The McElroy-Rey Mission and the Limits of Patriotism in the Mexican-American War.” U.S. Catholic Historian 38 (1): 49–74, 2020.

Civil War – General History Civil War Chaplains

• Brinsfield, John W., William C. Davis, Benedict Maryniak, James I. Robertson Jr., Faith in the Fight: Civil War Chaplains, 2003.
• Miller, Benjamin L., In God’s Presence: Chaplains, Missionaries, and Religious Space During the American Civil War, 2019.
• Miller, Robert J., Both Prayed to the Same God: Religion and Faith in the American Civil War, 2007.
• Woodworth, Steven E., While God is Marching On: The Religious World of Civil War Soldiers, 2008.

Civil War – Union

• Brown, William Young, The Army Chaplain: His Office, Duties, and Responsibilities, and the Means of Aiding Him, 1863.
• Maryniak, Bendict R. and John Wesley Brinsfield Jr., The Spirit Divided, Memoirs of Civil War Chaplains: The Union, 2007.
• Redkey, Edwin S. “Black Chaplains in the Union Army.” Civil War History 33, no. 4 (1987): 331–50.

Civil War – Confederate

• Brinsfield Jr., John Welsey, The Spirit Divided, Memoirs of Civil War Chaplains: The Confederacy, 2006.
• Confederate Chaplain William Edward Wiatt: An Annotated Diary, 1994.

U.S. Military Chaplains by Era – 20th Century

World War I

• Duffy, Francis Patrick, Father Duffy’s Story: Life and Death with the Fighting Sixty-Ninth – Irish American Soldiers in World War One, 1919.
• Harris, Stephen L., Duffy’s War: Fr. Francis Duffy, Wild Bill Donovan, and the Irish Fighting 69^th in World War I, 2006.

World War II

• Dorsett, Lyle W., Serving God and Country: U.S. Military Chaplains in World War II, 2013.

Korean War

• Wenzl, Roy, and Travis Heying. The Miracle of Father Kapaun: Priest, Soldier, Korean War Hero, 2013.

Vietnam War

• Johnson, James D., Combat Chaplain: A Thirty-Year Vietnam Battle, 2015.

U.S. Military Chaplains by Era – 21st Century

Global War on Terror

• Cash, Carey H., A Table in the Presence: The Dramatic Account of How a U.S. Marine Battalion Experienced God’s Presence Amidst the Chaos of the War in Iraq, 2005.

 

Periodicals Related to the U.S. Military Chaplaincy

• United States Department of the Army, United States Army Chaplain Board, and US Army Chaplaincy Services Support Agency, Military Chaplaincy Review, 1972-present.

Additional Topics for Research