The General Who Knelt Before a Country Preacher

After the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, Union General Oliver Otis Howard — a man who had just helped turn the tide of the entire Civil War — rode south through the Pennsylvania countryside. His troops had fought for three devastating days. The victory was his, but exhaustion clung to him like dust. Near a crossroads outside Emmitsburg, Maryland, Howard encountered a circuit-riding Methodist preacher named John Collins, who had spent the battle week tending wounded soldiers from both sides.…