Mike and Alice,

You know, there are certain things that surprise you that you'd still have to prove to anyone. In just a quick internet search of "Union Army Church Desecration" and other similar searches. You quickly find, numerous references in published works, Southern church websites, etc., which reference such things as the Ames-Stanton act which authorized the Union army in cooperation with the Northern Methodist Church to sieze Southern Methodist property and church buildings. Andrew Johnson returned the Southern Methodist property, that wasn't a charred ruin to the Southern Methodists after the war. Here's an example of a paragraph from a Bovina, MS church site.

"St. Albans Episcopal Church was established in 1857 by cotton farmers living near the Big Black River. In 1858, a church was constructed along the railroad tracks southwest of the depot in Bovina. In the Civil War years, the church became a haven for civilians fleeing the Vicksburg siege, holding regular services until it was appropriated by the Union army for "military purposes".

"During the Civil War, the planters and their slaves continued regular worship at St. Albans, with the number of slave communicants eventually outnumbering the white. In the summer of 1862, St. Albans and the Bovina community became havens for the civilians who fled Vicksburg during its first bombardment. By May, 1863, St. Albans was "appropriated for military purposes", and rifle pits were dug all over the grounds during the siege of Vicksburg."

"On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg surrendered to Grant. Traditional accounts state that the church was used as a butcher shop, a dance saloon, and a stable. One traditional report states that the cornerstone of the church was used for bayonet practice, but contemporary study suggests it was rather used for rifle target practice. Another traditional account of the occupation suggests that the Army purposefully destroyed the church, but recent study suggests that the destruction was accidental. Regardless of the how or why, St. Albans lay in complete ruin after the occupation. All that remained was the mutilated cornerstone and a few pieces of glass from the windows which Mrs. Amelia Barr saved "for sentiments sake"."

Having grown up in the South, it was very evident that the majority of the older churches with historical markers had phrases like, "the original church stood on this site until 1863 when it was destroyed by fire. The present building was erected in..."

If either of you would like a list of sources, I will be happy to provide them. Books, "the Southern Claims Commission" and other reliable sources are full of this information.

I lived in the town of Germantown, Tennessee until 1996. There are about a half-dozen churches in this small community. The pews were dragged from the churches and burned and the sanctuaries were used as stables. The only church not to suffer this fate had a minister who was a Mason and when the Union commander, given the assignment of commandeering the churches arrived in the town, the men exchanged a secret greeting that saved the church. They celebrated this event in the 1880's when the Union commander returned to the city.

Undoubtedly, there are embellished Southern stories and some buildings must have been destroyed by accident or even by fleeing Confederates; however, the mountains of evidence show that the Union armies definitely used these buildings for military purposes, which some would describe as desecration and upon leaving many times fired the buildings or dismantled them for firewood.

Jim