Chuck Baldwin (2021)
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    A Tribute To America’s Patriot Pastors And Stalwart Statesmen

    Published: Thursday, July 6, 2017

    In honor of Independence Day, I want to devote this column to the brave men of Colonial America who were most responsible for our country’s successful separation from Great Britain: namely, the patriot pastors and stalwart statesmen of 1775 and 1776. It was the pulpit as much as the politician and soldier that birthed this great country. Without the Black Regiment--the mostly Protestant pulpits of Colonial America--there would never have been a Lexington Green, Concord Bridge, or Bunker Hill. Of course, the moniker “Black Regiment” or “Black Robed Regiment” was given by the British Crown, which demonstrated how important and effective the Crown believed the pulpits of Colonial America were to the cause of independence.

    The names John Witherspoon, John Leland, Jonathan Mayhew, Isaac Backus, Samuel Cooper, and Ebenezer Baldwin are as important to the success of the American Revolution as are the names of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Josiah Quincy, Dr. Joseph Warren, John Hancock, and Richard Henry Lee.

    On the occasion of our celebration of Independence Day this week, I want to honor these great men by sharing with readers some examples of their nobility and sacrifice.

    Patriot Pastors

    James Caldwell

    James Caldwell was called the “Rebel High Priest” or the “Fighting Chaplain.” Caldwell is most famous for the “Give ’em Watts!” story.

    During the Springfield (New Jersey) engagement, the Colonial militia ran out of wadding for their muskets. Quickly, Caldwell galloped to the Presbyterian church, and, returning with an armload of hymnals, he threw them to the ground and hollered, “Now, boys, give ’em Watts!” He was referring to the famous hymn writer, Isaac Watts, of course.

    American Tories burned Caldwell’s house and church. He and his wife Hannah then moved to a farm house about four miles away. British troops murdered Hannah in the farm house as she sat with her children on her bed. They then burned down the farm house in an attempt to cover up their murder of Mrs. Caldwell. Later, a fellow American was bribed by the British to assassinate Pastor Caldwell--which is exactly what he did. No less than three cities, two public schools, and an entire school district in the State of New Jersey bear his name.

    John Peter Muhlenberg

    John Peter Muhlenberg was pastor of a Lutheran church in Woodstock, Virginia, when hostilities erupted between Great Britain and the American colonies. When news of Bunker Hill reached Virginia, Muhlenberg preached a sermon from Ecclesiastes 3 to his congregation. He reminded his parishioners that there was a time to preach and a time to fight. He said that for him the time to preach was past and it was time to fight. He then threw off his vestments and stood before his congregants in the uniform of a Virginia colonel.

    Muhlenberg later was promoted to brigadier general in the Continental Army and later to major general. He participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Yorktown. He went on to serve in both the US House of Representatives and US Senate.

    Joab Houghton

    Joab Houghton was a Christian attorney and judge and also a lay preacher at the Hopewell [New Jersey] Baptist Meeting House. Colonel Houghton was in the Meeting House at worship when he received the first information of Concord and Lexington. His great-grandson gives the following eloquent description of the way he treated the tidings:

    “[M]ounting the great stone block in front of the meeting-house, he beckoned the people to stop. Men and women paused to hear, curious to know what so unusual a sequel to the service of the day could mean. At the first words a silence, stern as death, fell over all. The Sabbath quiet of the hour and of the place was deepened into a terrible solemnity. He told them all the story of the cowardly murder at Lexington by the royal troops; the heroic vengeance following hard upon it; the retreat of Percy; the gathering of the children of the Pilgrims round the beleaguered hills of Boston: then pausing, and looking over the silent throng, he said slowly: ‘Men of New Jersey, the red coats are murdering our brethren of New England! Who follows me to Boston?’ and every man in that audience stepped out of line, and answered, ‘I!’ There was not a coward or a traitor in old Hopewell Baptist Meeting-house that day.” (William Cathcart, D.D., Baptists and the American Revolution, Second Edition, S.A. George & Co., Philadelphia, 1876, pp. 56-57)

    Jonas Clark

    Jonas Clark was pastor of the Church of Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775, the day that British troops marched on Concord with orders to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock and to seize a cache of firearms. It was Pastor Clark’s male congregants who were the first ones to face off against the British troops as they marched through Lexington on their way to Concord. When you hear the story of the Minutemen at the Battle of Lexington, remember those Minutemen were Pastor Jonas Clark and the brave men of his congregation.

    On the one year anniversary of the Battle of Lexington (April 19, 1776), Clark preached a sermon based upon his eyewitness testimony of the event. He called his sermon “The Fate of Blood-Thirsty Oppressors and God’s Tender Care of His Distressed People.”

    On Sunday, April 19, 2015, I delivered this famous message by Jonas Clark to my folks at Liberty Fellowship. This message was delivered word-for-word as preached by Pastor Clark. I invite readers to watch this message. And when you do, you will see the kind of preaching Colonial pastors delivered to their congregations, and you will understand how the American colonists were spiritually and morally prepared to fight the War of Independence. You will also realize that it is the absence of this kind of preaching that is directly causing America’s current plight.

    Find my re-creation of Pastor Jonas Clark’s historic message “The Fate of Blood-Thirsty Oppressors and God’s Tender Care of His Distressed People” here:

    The Fate Of Blood-Thirsty Oppressors And God’s Tender Care Of His Distressed People

    Of course, these four brave preachers were not the only ones to participate in America’s fight for independence. There were Episcopalian ministers such as Dr. Samuel Provoost of New York, Dr. John Croes of New Jersey, and Robert Smith of South Carolina. Presbyterian ministers such as Adam Boyd of North Carolina and James Armstrong of Maryland, along with many others, also took part.

    So many Baptist preachers participated in America’s War for Independence that at the conclusion of the war President George Washington wrote a personal letter to the Baptist people saying, “I recollect with satisfaction that the religious Society of which you are Members, have been, throughout America, uniformly, and almost unanimously, the firm friends to civil liberty, and the preserving Promoters of our glorious revolution.” It also explains how Thomas Jefferson could write on April 13, 1809, to Albemarle Buckmountain Baptist Church in Virginia and say, “We have acted together from the origin to the end of a memorable Revolution.”

    Without question, the courageous preaching and example of Colonial America’s patriot pastors provided the colonists with the inspiration and resolve to resist the tyranny of the Crown and win America’s freedom and independence.

    I invite readers to visit my Black Regiment web page to learn more about my attempt to resurrect America’s Black Robed Regiment. Go to:

    The Black Regiment

    This is the fighting heritage of America’s pastors and preachers. So, what has happened? What has happened to that fighting spirit that once existed, almost universally, throughout America’s Christian denominations? How have preachers become so timid, so shy, and so cowardly that they will stand apathetic and mute as America faces the destruction of its liberties? Where are the preachers today to explain, expound, and extrapolate the principles of liberty from Holy Writ?

    Stalwart Statesmen

    George Washington

    Called the “Father of His Country,” George Washington was perhaps the most important man of the founding era. Supernaturally spared during the Indian wars, Washington became the military leader who held the Continental Army together when it was virtually impossible for any man to do so. Without his leadership at Valley Forge and elsewhere, there is absolutely no doubt that the Continental Army would have fallen apart and the fight for independence would have been lost.

    Equally significant is the leadership that George Washington demonstrated in the Continental Congress. Without question, Washington was the glue that held the political bodies of the colonies together. Then, add the fact that George Washington was America’s first President (whose leadership solidified the colonies into a new United States), and his value to the cause of American independence cannot be in any way overstated.

    Think of it: George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. And he led that inferior army to victory over the greatest military force in the world at the time: Great Britain. Afterward, Washington rebuffed a strong effort to inaugurate him as America’s king and led the fledgling nation to embrace republican government instead. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the US Constitution. He was America’s first President. Washington’s Farewell Address formed the compass and rudder of America for at least the next 75 years; and in many respects, its influence is felt even today. In my opinion, this address is the greatest political dissertation ever submitted to the American people.

    Thomas Jefferson

    Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of America’s birth certificate: the Declaration of Independence. In my mind, there is no greater document of liberty ever written by man. When it came to the understanding of human rights, individual liberty, states’ rights, and enlightenment philosophy, Jefferson had no peer.

    President John F. Kennedy once held a dinner at the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.” He was probably right.

    Jefferson served in the Continental Congress; he was the first Secretary of State; he was the third President of the United States; he commissioned the Lewis and Clark expedition; he was the author of the Virginia Statute For Religious Freedom, which is regarded as one of the greatest declarations of religious liberty ever written; he could speak and read six languages; he knew and influenced virtually every man who would be regarded as a Founding Father today; and he wrote over 18,000 personal letters. Had not the British burned much of it in the War of 1812, his library would probably go down as the greatest personal collection of literary works ever collected by one man.

    Patrick Henry

    Patrick Henry was the colonies’ most ardent advocate of liberty--bar none. In oratorical genius, he has never had an equal. Henry was a farmer and lawyer, a devoted father of 17 children, and five-term governor of Virginia. Henry was the first Founding Father to defy British taxes and, in so doing, was the first who was willing to risk death as a traitor.

    Patrick Henry’s immortal speech at St. John’s Church in Richmond to a gathering of the Virginia legislators in 1775 is regarded yet today as the most influential speech ever delivered on American soil. Probably more people are acquainted with that “Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death!” speech than any other public address ever delivered.

    Henry’s contribution to the War for Independence cannot be overestimated. As Governor of Virginia (the richest and most populated of the 13 colonies), he supplied the largest share of arms and munitions to the outnumbered and poorly provisioned Continental Army. It was also Patrick Henry and his fellow Anti-Federalists who were primarily responsible for the Bill of Rights being added to the Constitution.

    Samuel Adams

    Samuel Adams is rightly called the “Father of the American Revolution.” He was a cousin to President John Adams and a graduate of Harvard. He was perhaps the most influential member of the Massachusetts State legislature. He succeeded John Hancock as Governor of Massachusetts. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He, along with men such as Dr. Joseph Warren, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, and Josiah Quincy, Jr., created the “Committees of Correspondence,” which became the principal conduit of articles and letters of pro-revolution, pro-liberty, and pro-independence communication between the colonies. Adams was also very influential in the now famous Boston Tea Party.

    Sam Adams was so hated by the British government that they used military force to try and apprehend him, which led to both the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770, and the “Shot Heard ’Round The World” at Lexington Green and Concord Bridge on April 19, 1775.

    James Madison

    James Madison is properly called the “Father of The US Constitution.” He was the fourth President of the United States and was the principal author of the Bill of Rights. Madison authored more than a third of the Federalist Papers. Thomas Jefferson referred to the Federalist Papers as “the best commentary on the principles of government, which ever was written.” Madison served as US Representative from Virginia and as Secretary of State under Jefferson. George Washington considered Madison to be the preeminent authority on the US Constitution in the entire country.

    Madison was a fervent proponent of the principle of divided power. He believed government (especially the federal government) could not be trusted with too much power and worked to ensure the separation of powers within the federal government. He also was a major proponent of states’ rights and sovereignty. Madison broke with Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton over Hamilton’s promotion of the State Bank and (together with Thomas Jefferson) formed what became known as the Democratic-Republican Party. Madison also co-authored with Jefferson two of the most prominent documents of liberty: the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.

    I trust and pray that each of us will reacquaint ourselves with the principles upon which the Declaration of Independence was written and upon which the United States of America was founded. And while we are doing that, let’s be sure we are passing these principles on to our children and grandchildren.

    P.S. Again, to order my my re-creation of Pastor Jonas Clark’s historic message “The Fate of Blood-Thirsty Oppressors and God’s Tender Care of His Distressed People,” go here:

    The Fate Of Blood-Thirsty Oppressors And God’s Tender Care Of His Distressed People  

     

    © Chuck Baldwin  

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