The Angel of Marye's Heights

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:11-20 ESV).

It was December 12, 1862, and the Battle of Fredericksburg was in full swing. The Confederate and Union troops were locked in fierce and bloody combat, with the confederates gaining the upper hand. They had staked out a solid position on a hill called Marye’s Heights. From there they were able to decimate the Federal troops. After two days of fighting, the fields were carpeted with the bodies of dead and dying soldiers, mostly from the Northern troops. The air was filled with the moans of agony. One young Confederate soldier, Sergeant Richard Kirkland, could not harden his heart to the suffering men in the field. Even though they were mostly the enemy soldiers, they were still human beings in his mind. Sergeant Kirkland wrestled with his conscience for as long as he could. Finally, he approached his superior officer with an unusual request: could he go out into the field and carry water to the suffering men? He was sent to General Kershaw, who was temporarily dumbfounded by his request. Didn’t Sergeant Kirkland realize that he would be shot as soon as he stepped out on to the field? Yes, Sergeant Kirkland said, but he was willing to take the risk. With reluctant admiration, General Kershaw agreed to his request.

Sergeant Kirkland filled as many canteens as he could carry and then proceeded, unarmed, over the wall into the open fields. At first, both sides held their fire out of sheer curiosity. They suspected that he might be going out to steal or desecrate the bodies of the enemy dead. But then they witnessed the tender scene, unheard of in the midst of the brutal war: a Confederate soldier offering a cool drink of water to Federal soldiers, his sworn enemies! Not a shot was fired while Sergeant Kirkland was on the field. The sound of exploding muskets was replaced with the sound of cheers, rising from both sides of the field. Whenever Sergeant Kirkland returned to his side to get water, shots were fired again. But as soon as he stepped on to the field to minister to the wounded soldiers, all fighting ceased. Repeatedly he filled his canteens, then returned tot he field, until all the soldiers who were still alive had been given a cool drink of water.

Sergeant Kirkland earned a nickname that day, “The Angel of Marye’s Heights.” Later he would be killed in the war. Those who witnessed his death said that he died a hero, thinking of the men under his command up until the very end. His story became a standard for all men teaching the value of compassion and selflessness. All of us can learn a lesson from this brave soldier. The real test of our faith is not in being “right” about an issue, as much as it is in being right in our relationships to those around us. Let your love and compassion for others be so apparent today that no one can miss seeing the love of Christ in you.