The Great Visions of Ellen G. White

Second Civil War Vision

On August 3, 1861, less than eight months after the first Civil War vision, Mrs. White was given an updated view of the conflict while attending a conference of SDA leaders and members at Roosevelt, New York. That date was a day nationally set aside for “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” on behalf of the war effort. In “Slavery and the War,” subsequently published in the first volume of Testimonies for the Church, she made these particular points: GVEGW 83.2

1. Slavery was a “sin,” and laws upholding it were “in direct opposition to the teaching of Christ.” ³⁰ GVEGW 83.3

2. God was using the Civil War to punish both sides—the South “for [practicing] the sin of slavery“: and the North “for so long suffering its overreaching and overbearing influence.” ³¹ GVEGW 83.4

3. Those who still expected a short war, with the North “to strike a [decisive] blow and end the controversy,” would be both surprised and disappointed. ³² GVEGW 83.5

4. Both North and South were deceived concerning each other. Southerners, in reality, “are better prepared for war than has been represented,” with “most of their men” being “well skilled in the use of arms, some ... from experiencing in battle“: in this “they have the advantage of the North.” On the other hand, Southerners “have not, as a general thing, the valor and the power of endurance that Northern men have.” ³³ GVEGW 83.6

5. If the North had taken “active measures” when hostilities first broke out, “this rebellion would have been speedily crushed out.” As it had not, however, the South utilized the time to strengthen its position militarily, until “it has become most powerful.” ³⁴ GVEGW 83.7

6. Proslavery men and “traitors” in the North, professedly in favor of the union, were extremely influential in government decision-making circles; and some of the actions taken “even favor the South.” ³⁵ GVEGW 83.8

7. By far the most amazing revelation in this vision concerned the mysterious and “disastrous battle” at Manassas Junction, Virginia. This battle is known in Union military circles as the “first Battle of Bull Run“: among Confederates it is known as the “First Battle of Manassas.” ³⁶ (Many Civil War battles have two names; the Confederates tended to name them after the nearest civilian settlement, while Northerners generally preferred to name them after the nearest body or stream of water!) ³⁷ GVEGW 83.9