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Bh,M Cflttfritote inliicr, 
 
 BEING A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE REV. NATHAN- 
 IEL D. RENFROE, LIEUTENANT OF A COMPANY 
 IN THE FIFTH ALAPAMA BATTALION, OF 
 GEN. A. P. HILL'S DIVISION, WHO FELL 
 IN THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKS- 
 BURG, DECEMBER 13th, 1S62. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. J. 3: D. RENFROE 
 
 Be thou of go6d courage, and let us pray the 'more 
 
 " !l ies of our God : and the 
 
 good. 
 
 -LH5 IUUU VI g,V-"-l wunctg*, itMU id us J'lUJ 
 
 tor our people, and for the cities of our Go.u 
 
 Lord do that which geemeth him good. "—II Sam. 10: 12 
 
 l> 
 
 /~t ^-% <*\ 
 
[Prefatory Note. — It is hoped that the following 
 sketch of the. Rev. N. D. Renfroe will be read with in- 
 terest and profit by many of our gallant soldiers who 
 are now battling for our homes, our country, our liber- 
 ties. Such examples of devotion to religion and patriot- 
 ism ought to be preserved for the benefit of the living. 
 The withdrawal of one so young, so pure, so gifted, 
 from a sphere of usefulness to which the Master had 
 called him, is certainly a mysterious providence. It is 
 fitting that some memotial of departed worth should re- 
 main to fill the void. And who can more appropriately 
 perform this melancholy task than a surviving brother? 
 We shall be greatly mistaken if the reading of this tract 
 does not cause many a soldier's heart te thrill with still 
 higher emotions of patriotic Sympathy and Christian de- 
 votion. 
 
 The compiler has added an article written for thy 
 "Religious Herald," by an Editor of the Presbyterian 
 Church, a comrade of the deceased. — S*JL] 
 
• <\ ] rt j> 
 
 
 From tha South Western Baptist, 
 
 REV. N. D, RENFROE, * 
 
 Messrs. Editors : I have passed the saddest 
 Christmas of my life, and how lonely and sorrowful 
 the new year finds me! I have to perform the pain- 
 ful .task of communicating to you the intelligence of 
 the death of my only dear brother, N\ I). Ren i roe, 
 who "was killed dead on the battle-field of Fred- 
 ericksburg," the 13th ult. 
 
 N. D. Renfroe was. born in Macon County, Ala., 
 near the Montgomery line, about twenty-nine years 
 ago, of poor, but worthy and respected parents. .He 
 was reared to habits of industry and Jabor, and was, 
 in early youth, denied the privileges of school and 
 the benefits of education; yet, he was home-taught 
 the lessons of honesty, truthfulness and candor, tor 
 no parents ever strove with more care to implant 
 these qualities in the principles and habits of their 
 children than did his. lie was always a quiet, 
 steady boy. It seem e 4 to be his very nature — even 
 in childhood — to attend promptly to his own busi- 
 ness, ignoring that of others ; still he was ever kind 
 and obliging. 
 
 . in the year 1848, a gracious revival of religion 
 prevailed in that part of Macon County where his 
 father then resided. The churches under the pas- 
 
torates ol Elder* J. R. Hand and A. N; Worthy, 
 were abuudantly blessed with the outpouring of the 
 Holy Spirit ; these ministers then labored principal- 
 ly together in aid of each other. Great numbers 
 were converted to Christ, and by them baptized into 
 the fellowship of the churches. Among them, in 
 his fifteenth year, was^ the subject of this letter, with 
 two of his brothers and many of his youthful asso- 
 ciates. He was baptized by Elder J. II. Hand, into 
 the fellowship oi Elizabeth Church, in the absence of 
 I)r. "Worthy, the pastor. And from that day »to his 
 death he "witnessed "a good confession," "walking 
 worthy of the vocation wherewith he was called," no 
 man over daring to charge aught, against him. All 
 who knew him will bear him testimony, that he "kept 
 himself unspotted from the world," and so lived that 
 "no man despised his youth." 
 
 In 1854 I became a head of a family and took him 
 to my house — a- poor, illiterate, but pious Christian 
 youth — and placed him in Cedar Uluff Academy, 
 Cherokee County, where he passed two years with 
 great profit 'to himself and satisfaction to his friends, 
 in the meantime he was licensed to preach, and often 
 accompanied me to my churches and aided in the 
 ministry of the Word, manifesting move than ordina- 
 ry gifts^ and commendable zeal in the cause of Christ. 
 After this, I was enabled, with the assistance of good 
 brethren, to sustain him four year.- in Cuion Univer- 
 sity, Tenn. ; where he proved himself an earnest and 
 proficient student, and by application and industry, 
 obtained a liberal education : failing to graduate, 
 
however, by five months, being called from college 
 by the pressing wants of a widowed step-mother, and 
 orphan relatives to whom he felt it his duty to giv, 
 immediate attention. While in college he p reached 
 often in the churches and destitute neighborhoods 
 around Murfreesboro'. and spent his vacations with 
 the Churches in Cherokee. Calhoun and Talladega 
 counties, Ala., where he was greatly useful in many 
 meetings and revivals. 
 
 At the close of the year 1859 — when he left col- 
 lege — he was invited to the pastorship of the Jack- 
 sonville church, was ordained to the full functions of 
 the ministerial office, by Elders jj. T. Smith, A. E. 
 Van Devere and the writer. This relation he suc- 
 cessfully maintained — being loved by his flock and 
 respected by all — until in August. 1861, he volun- 
 unteered in Oapt. Bush's company on the eve of its 
 starting to the seat of war in Virginia. This com- 
 pany forms a part of that gallant little 5th Alabama 
 Battalion, in A. P. Hill's division, "which* has nearly 
 worn itself out fighting, and yet is but little no- 
 ticed at home." The subject of this memoir met the 
 duties of a private for four months with a fortitude 
 and cheerful devotion common to soldiers fighting for 
 liberty, not only complying with every demand upon 
 himself, but frequently taking the place of the in- 
 firm and illy clad, when they were ordered en duty. 
 The first vacancy that occurred he was elected Lieu- 
 tenant almost unanimously, in which capacity he 
 served until his fall. 
 
 A few days before the memorable battles in front 
 
of Richmond, he left his company for the first time, 
 and went to the city sick. When the news reached 
 the city that those battles were about beginning, he 
 arose, contrary to the advice of his physician, and 
 hurried to the scene of strife, and failing to find his 
 own battalion — its position having been changed in 
 bivouacing the army for battle — he fell in with the 
 16th Ala. Regiment, and one of its companies being 
 without a commissioned officer — its officers were 
 absent sick — he oifered them his services, and led 
 the company through the terrible battle of Friday, 
 when Colonel "Woodward and so many good men of 
 that regiment fell, displaying, in the most hazardous 
 charges and under the most terrific fire, a coolness 
 and efficiency that got him the praises of that com- 
 pany. Then, learning where his own company were, 
 he went to them, and finding that one of their officers 
 had been that day killed and another wounded, he 
 took charge of them and commanded them to the 
 end of those seven day's sanguinary strife, and march- 
 ed back with them to Richmond. All this he did 
 when, to use the words of- his physician, "he ought 
 to have been in bed." He then relapsed with Ty- 
 phoid fever, and lay in the city at the point of death 
 several weeks ; but G-od raised him up, and when 
 able to walk he came home and stayed a short time, 
 until he was fif for service. 
 
 This prevented his participation in the hard march- 
 es and bloody battles of Cedar Run, 2d Manassas and 
 Sharpsburg, but he got back to the army just as it 
 retvuped to the Southside of the Potomac, by a walTc 
 
of one hundred miles, fully restored to health and 
 reacfy for duty, and has had charge of the company 
 most of the time since. 
 
 In a letter — the last he ever wrote me — speaking' 
 .of the march to Fredericksburg, he says: ;< Wo 
 have just completed another march of one hundred 
 and seventy miles, crossing two awful mountains in 
 the time. We were twelve days on the march. 1 
 had no wagon, or horse, or any other means of trans- 
 portation, except my feet for myself and baggage ; 
 we rested only at night — risiDg at 4£ in the 
 morning and marching until sunset. I suffered 
 much — frequently thinking that I would fall out and 
 rest, but when I would look through the company 
 and see several men barefooted and still keeping up, 
 it would stimulate me, and I would press on. The 
 tramp finished my boot*, and both, my feet are on the 
 ground, and but little prospect of getting any shoes 
 soon. ]3ut it in my duty to bear a little hardness as 
 a good soldier of Jesus' Christ, and I submit to it 
 cheerfully and without a murmur in view of my 
 country's freedom and the honor of my religion. We 
 are certainly on the eve of a great battle here — it 
 will be a grand affair— *I may not survive the con- 
 flict, but, brother, if I dic,'I"shall fall at my post, and 
 I am ready to go.'" 
 
 Yes, indeed, it "was a grand affair'' to bim! He 
 did not "survive the conflict," but he was ' 'ready to 
 go V He said, "I shall die at my post " Lieuten- 
 ant Mattison,of the same company, in a letter after 
 his death, said ; "He died at his post as a brave and 
 
Christian soldier, for a braver and better man has 
 * not farlen in the Confederate army." 
 
 Jin his letters he often expressed the greatest con- 
 fidence in his preparation to meet death. At the 
 end of a long march last Spring, he said : "I am 
 •wayworn and weary!' how sweet amid such toil 
 and excitement to look beyond these scenes of busy 
 wo and strife, and contemplate the 'Saint's Everlast- 
 ing Rest.' " Then he quoted the lines : 
 
 "Here in the body pent, 
 
 Absent from heaven I roam, 
 Yet nightly pitch my moving tent 
 
 A day's march nearer honie. 
 
 Nearer hume! Nearer home! 
 
 However dark and lonely 
 The path through which I roam; 
 
 This is a journey only, 
 And though I oft, affrighted, 
 
 Shrink back with sigh' and moan, 
 My campflre still is lighted 
 
 A day's march nearer home I" 
 
 In another letter lie says : "And now, my brother, 
 I have some reason to fear that you have not pre- 
 pared yourself to meet the news of such a fate as may 
 befal me. I know you &eJ lonely .without me. It 
 seems to me that if you should die first the world 
 would be without interest to me. But I have en- 
 tered the army to fight for you, and, if need be, to 
 die for you and yours. Let us be prepared for the 
 worst — nay, rather for the best, for, though life is 
 sweet, ffeaven it infinitely moeeterl I am willing to 
 
go when God calls, and*I am willing he shall call 
 me in any way that he pleases." __ 
 
 The last words he ever said to me, as he held my 
 hand. with the affectionate farewell grip, a few weeks 
 ago at the Talladega depot : "Well, brother, now we 
 part, and unless you visit the army soon, we will not 
 meet again on earth; but shed no tears for me — we 
 will meet in heaven." How often have these words 
 flashed through my memory, and carried solemn mu- 
 sic deep into my soul ! that joyous meeting in 
 heaven ! Thank God for the hope of heaven ! 
 
 His last day's work. He had offered up fervent 
 prayer to 'God, and with the dawn of day the battle 
 opened. He stood and acted* his part manfully nearly 
 to the close of the terrific scene. His Captain was 
 wounded in the early part of the day ; after this the 
 command of the company devolved upon him until 
 his fall. About three o'clock in the afternoon three 
 regiments of his brigade gave way and retired, leav- 
 ing a gap through whieh the enemy was moving rap- 
 idly to flank their position. Gen. Archer threw the 
 Battallion and first Tennessee regiment — who alone 
 remained in the battle at that point — -'into the breech 
 to hold the enemy in check until another brigade 
 could be brought up. The enemy rushed on and 
 Avere too strong. An order came to retreat. It is 
 supposed by his comrades that brother did not hear 
 the order. The first* Tennessee retreated, and the 
 battallion retreated, except a few of his company who 
 stood by him. The enemy fining up within a few 
 8tepg ordered a euiTender. Be turned to his few 
 
10 
 
 men, with a gentle smile, and said : "Boys, tHis is a 
 pretty hot place, and you must get out the best you 
 can." Then turning to the enemy with his Repeater 
 in hand he began to fire, and was unhurt, and firing 
 his piece with cool deliberation, when his "boys"" left 
 him ! And here he was found dead. No friend saw 
 him die. I do not say that he acted with the best 
 discretion, but I do claim for him that, in the last 
 moments he stood atone on that part of the field of 
 carnage with his lace to the enemy giving him 
 battle.* 
 
 ; - Coward's die a thousand deaths ! 
 
 Brave men die but one, 
 
 And conquer, though they die!" 
 
 His intimate friend, Lieut. Mattison, brought his 
 remains home. He reached my house the first day 
 of the new year — Oh, what a sad new year's day ! I 
 gathered my family around the cold and lifeless form 
 of one that we loved as dearly as life itself, and al- 
 lowed' my little children to shejl a tear upon the face 
 of an Uncle who had so often presented them to' that 
 God at whose feet he lived, and who finally died for 
 them. And on the 2d inst., after religious services, 
 •led by Elder E. T. Smith, who long stood side be- 
 side with him in the army, he was buried with the 
 "'honors of war" in the Talladega cemetery. "Turn 
 from him that he may rest" till the morn of the re- 
 surrection, when he will come forth in the glorified 
 image of the Son of God. 
 
 *I state this upon the authority of his eomra<U«, 
 
11 
 
 Yet I feel sad and lonely. Only a few years ago 
 there were five brothers of us, and now I am left 
 alone. When the others passed away my heart drew 
 nearer this one. I loved with more than a brother^ 
 love : he was to me a brother and a son. He never 
 acted contrary to my wishes in anything, and yet I 
 always felt that in many things he was capable of ad- 
 vising me. From the day he joined the church I 
 never knew him to do a thing that I could oensure. 
 In the family he was beloved. It may be safely said 
 that he never boarded in a family but what gave 
 him up reluctantly when he left, and he boarded in 
 many. In school he was loved by his class-mates 
 and honored by the Faculty. In social life he was 
 a young man of few and prudent words. I question 
 whether any one car. refer to a single impropriety in 
 all his religious life. In private life he was a man 
 of study and of much prayer. In the cause of 
 Christ he was faithful and zealous, but his zeal was 
 tempered with more than an ordinary degree of mod- 
 esty. In the pulpit he was clear and gifted. He 
 loved the Sabbath school and the prayer meeting. 
 
 As a soldier, he was universally beloved by his 
 comrades. He was properly impressed with the im- 
 portance of the questions at issue, and there he was 
 determined t<T* 
 
 "Be up and doing, 
 "With a heart for any fate." 
 
 He preaohed to the soldiers as often as otl.er duties 
 and oiroumstances would allow, and lived up to his' 
 religion himself One of his fellow-soldiers, ia a Ut- 
 
ter to ine last summer, said, "Your brother is a liv- 
 ing, walking example of Christianity amongst us. — 
 He knows how go perform his duties as au officer 
 without conflicting with his religion. He is ready 
 at any and all times to get on his knees to pray for 
 the sick soldier, and has a word of. comfort and en- 
 couragement for all. His example is a standing ad- 
 monition and a constant finger board pointing out the 
 road to heaven. " 
 
 Another officer in his company eaya, "llis exam- 
 ple was worth more to us than the public preaching 
 of a dozen chaplains." 
 
 And yet, dear ''Crockett/' thou art gone for 
 the preseut ! How cruel is death ! But God is 
 just and mercirul. "Even so, Father, for so it seem- 
 ed good in thy sight," and I cheerfully submit, with 
 an humble confidence that the blow which has cast a 
 pall of sorrow over my heart will drive me closer his 
 bosom of love. Earth has Jost Qne of its strongest 
 ties to me, and heaven has gained an additional at- 
 traction ! 
 
 From the Religious Herald. 
 
 REV- N- D- RENFROE-' 
 
 "V. 
 
 Sirs: Permit us, through your m paper, to pay a 
 last sad tribute to the virtues of a young minister, 
 who fell in the recent battle of Fredericksburg, a 
 martyr in the cause of our country. We have known 
 
13 
 
 the falle* hero long and well, and loved him as a 
 man and a Christian. 
 
 Nathaniel D. Renfroe, after a course of theological 
 study in Tennessee, returned to Alabama about four 
 years ago, and as a licensed preacher, took charge 
 of a Baptist congregation in .Jacksonville. He was 
 remarkable for his studious habits and orderly walk, 
 and above all, for his humble and unostentatious 
 piety. But a- youth, he sooji won the confidence and 
 respect of the community, and was esteemed as a 
 model for young clergymen, and an example for old- 
 er men.* 
 
 We shall never forget, the solemn and impressive 
 scene of his ordination. In a neat and tasteful 
 church, in that mini village, located in a beautiful 
 and smiling valley, the i ' ion had assembled 
 
 on Sabbath niornirj in the worship of God, 
 
 and the consecration Of their beloved young pastor. 
 The spacious church was filled to overflowing with 
 earnest, attentive people, who* listened enwrapped to 
 the able and thrilling ordination sermon. A: the 
 close an elder brother of the young candidate, who 
 had long been in the service 
 ded from the pulpit to conduct the solemn 
 was a most touching scene. With ey( i \ tears, 
 
 and the deep, solemn tones of a voice trembling 
 with emotion, he examined his brother, administered 
 the vews r welcomed him into the great work, and 
 charged him as ; duties and august re- 
 
 sponsibilities. His manner united the affection of a 
 father wiih the tenderness of a mother, and his very 
 
u 
 
 heart-strings aeemed U vibrate ai he poured forth 
 fervent prayer to God to bless the ordination and 
 ^sustain the youthful minister in the arduous duties 
 of his holy vocation. The scene carried one back to 
 the days when some stalwart knight administered 
 the vows to his stripling brother, and harnessing him 
 in the panoply of war, sent him forth to battle for 
 the Holy Land. 
 
 Earnestly and bravejy did the young minister de- 
 vote himself to his calling — reproving wickedness in 
 all forms and places, instructing the young and the 
 ignoraut, comforting the afflicted, and teaching the 
 great truths of everlasting life. Manfully he battled 
 against sin and iniquity, while he tenderly led the 
 weak and stumbling. Of hinn it might be truly said, 
 he pointed his flock to heaven and led the way. 
 
 A year passed and a new scene of strife awaited 
 the young Christian warrior. Our country ' as in- 
 vaded, our liberties assailed and our homes . an 1 fire- 
 sides were desecrated ; society upheaved, and the 
 great interests of civilization and religion were all 
 about, to be buried in the ruins. The South called 
 upon all her sons to rush to the rescue. The yc .ng 
 minister felt that he too was*called upon to defend 
 . his country against the ruthless invaders. He con- 
 sulted with his congregation, and with his ministerial 
 brethren. What agony of mi»^ he suffered between 
 conflicting duties ; how often he went to God in fer- 
 vent prayer for light and strength, may not be told ! 
 
 But the young minister soon laid his aside clerical 
 robe3 and bade adieu to his weeping congregation — to 
 fathers he had 'bo often instructed in the duties of reli- 
 
^-** 
 
 gion — to mothers be had consoled in afflictions — and 
 to the little children, that he had gathered weekly 
 around him -at the .Sabbath school. He shouldered 
 his musket and hied him to the battle-field to defend 
 that government that could alone secure his people 
 the rigjit to worship God according to the dictates 
 of conscience. 
 
 In the camp, on the march, around the bivouac 
 lire, or on post, young Renfroe discharged his duties 
 as faithfully and zealously as he had in the pulpit or 
 at the Sabbath school. Fearless in the battle-field, 
 he was not afraid to frown vice in the camp, and ex- 
 emplified beautifully the true character of the Chris- 
 tian soldier. Modest and unassuming, he influenced 
 ethers more by his good example and amiable man- 
 Tiers than by obtrusive advice or reproof. - He was 
 truly as brave as a lion, yet gentle as a woman. 
 
 He soon gained the confidence of all around him ; 
 and the first vacancy that occurred among the offi- 
 cers of his company, his wild young companions 
 chose the Christian soldier as a leader in the hour of 
 danger and amid the perils, of the battle-field. In 
 common with his companions in arms, Lieutenant 
 Renfroe went through many privations, his company 
 taking part in several of the most fiercely contested- 
 battles that have been fought during this eventful 
 year. Through all he maintained ' his exemplary de- 
 portment and lovely Christian character. 
 JJJIn the progress of the war, the invader again mar- 
 shaled his hosts and came down to pillage and 
 slaughter. The din of the conflict at Fredericksburg 
 
ibuud young Renfroe at his post. * * * But 
 the stormy day of battle has passed. The surging 
 hosts that swayed to and fro through that awful am- 
 phitheatre of blood and carnage, from morning till 
 night, amid the roar of artillery, hissing shot and 
 shrieking shells, -have ceased their strife. All have 
 sunk down — • • 
 
 '•'The weary to rest and the wounded to die/' 
 Alone, yet not all alone, a young hero lies in the 
 dark wood, pierced with a death wound. His life- 
 blood is ebbing slowly away, and no friend near to 
 staunch it, no kind hand to cool his parching thirst 
 with a drop of water. It is the young minister. — 
 Where now is that devoted flock that used to gather 
 around him to catch his words of kindness, or follow 
 hie accents of prayer? Far, far away in Alabama. 
 Perhaps they pray for him, looking with joyful an- 
 ticipation to the time when he shall return and 
 again go in and out before them, and teach them the 
 ways of righteousness. Alone with his God, while 
 the bright stars gleamed from above, and angels look- 
 ed down from heaven, the Christian hero breathed 
 out his spirit in prayer for his people and his country. 
 Sabbath morning breaks, brighi and beautiful, over 
 the lovely vale in Alabama. The Sabbath-bell peals 
 forth through the peaceful village, and wakes echoes 
 from the neighboring mountains. The innocent and 
 prattling children gather at the sanctuary to unite their 
 tender voices in praises to God, and their young hearts 
 in prayer for I return of their minister. But 
 
 where is he? \ Stiff aad stark in death he lies on the 
 heights above the ravaged city, the purest and most spot- 
 less sacrifice offered on the altar of liberty. ' ' 
 
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