Old Uncle Ike...and the other 49 slaves Sam never mentions

FIRST TENNESSEE INFANTRY – Maury Democrat 22 Oct. 1896
“The 1st Tenn. Regiment, whose Colonel was Hume R. Field (now of Obion County) was formed of 5 Nashville companies, one company from Rutherford Co., one each from Williamson and Giles and two companies from Maury – Co. Aytch and Brown Guards of Carter’s Creek. Capt. M.C. Campbell of the Spring Hill country and a member of the Brown Guards carried with him to the army a slave whose name was Ike. Now Bishop Quintard was Chaplain proper of the Regiment, but Ike was his coadjutor and did more singing, praying and preaching in one week than Bishop Quintard did during the war.

There were fully 50 others besides Ike who were in the Regiment, brought by their masters to cook, wash, etc. Most of the negroes of the Regiment had as well as Ike, a propensity to make a great show of their religion, and soon formed what they called the “Social Band,” they congregated nightly (when the regiment was not in camp, and not marching) not far away, generally under a tree around a big fire and whose brilliant light made a most unique and, picturesque spectacle of these worshippers.

Ike was the leader – in fact the Chaplain of the colored portion of the Regiment. When all were gathered around the fire, Ike would arise and intone the following: “I looker to the east, and I looker to the west, and it appearer like the judgment day, and the poor sinner man that never prayed a prayer will want to pray a prayer dis day. Sinners you better believe; sinners you better believe.”

This was sung in the most Sonogambian tone, and was almost of nightly repetition. At the hour when those gatherings took place was the time when at least one-half of the men were playing cards. Old Hay of Knob Creek, now a good Christian, was then a master card player…When Ike had finished the above song in his droning dreary tones the next order of religious exercises was prayer. He never failed to ask the Lord to look down on dem white men over yonder and snatch the cards “outen” their hands. He hardly ever failed to pray for Wash Webster, who he would say was “going on to hell as fast as the car wheels go.” Wash was one of his fellow servitors who would not come to these meetings. Ike after prayer would take a text and he preached a sound morality. Ike one night appealed to the audience to serve the Lord, if not for the love of the Lord, then to grieve the devil, that the devil hated more than anything else to see men serving God. When the sermon was over then the services really commenced, singing, praying and shouting in a voice that could be heard miles away. The main song was the “Social Band” and it was a grand one as sung by Ike and his followers in thundering tones. Ike lead, commencing with the chorus…

But the time came when Ike was no longer to be heard. At Bardstown just before the battle of Perryville, Mack Campbell, John Miller and mess waited one morning for breakfast. Ike was gone. He went to the Yankees and became an evangelist in Palmer’s division of Rosecran’s army, the same Palmer we now hear so much about. As Horsley says in the words of Tennyson, “So strange, so sad the days that are no more.”

Jill K. Garrett and Marise P. Lightfoot, The Civil War in Maury County, Tennessee, 241

Picture- "The Sunny South - A Negro Revival Meeting - A Seeker 'Getting Religion' Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Aug. 9, 1873.