But such assumptions of the separation of clerical and military spheres are themselves artifacts of the enlightened era in which the Revolutionary War took place. One simple answer is that ministers generally don't take up arms-though the Revolution provides numerous exceptions-and churches don't prosecute wars. What accounts for this lack of connection between scholars' approaches to the war? At the same time, the war itself-the armies and navies, commanders, soldiers, spies, prisoners of war, campaigns, and civil violence-make barely an appearance in political and social histories.
While political and social historians argue that religious belief and affiliation were critical ingredients in the coming of independence and the forming of the new republic, major works on the Revolutionary War include few references to churches, creeds, clergy, denominations, religious movements, and even chaplains. Historians of the military conflict of the Revolutionary era have paid scant attention to religion.
