William W. Bennett, A narrative of the great revival which prevailed in the Southern armies during the late Civil War

[14] On a litter, in a soldier's little tent, the stricken warrior lay. “He would allow of no attendance but that of his wounded, gallant boy, On this, the last day of his life, General Outram came to see him. The two friends had often faced death together, and passed through trying scenes side by side, and a warm affection had sprung up between them. Outram approached the side of the dying hero and inquired how he was. Havelock replied that he never should be any better,” but, “he added,” for more than forty years I have so ruled my life that when death came I might face it without fear. I am not in the least afraid. I die happy and contented; to die is gain. “Finding himself rapidly failing, he left messages for his wife and children far away on the Rhine, and then told his son to come and see how a Christian could die.” “He sleeps on the field of his fame, and his lonely tomb, beneath the tropical grove, is hung round with unfading laurels, and never will the Christian traveller or soldier pass it without dropping one tear to him who sleeps beneath.”

Hedley Vicars was an excellent Christian soldier. In the midst of the dangers attending the hard service in the Crimea he was as peaceful and happy as if reposing quietly with his friends at home. In one of his letters from Sebastopol he says to his sister: “It is six months since I have been in reach of a house of prayer, or have had an opportunity of receiving the sacrament; yet never have I enjoyed more frequent or precious communion with my Saviour than I have found in the trenches, or in the tent. When, I should like to know, could we find the Saviour more precious than when the bullets are falling around like hail?” Again he writes: “I have often heard it said, ‘the worse man, the better soldier.’ Facts contradict this untruth. Were I ever, as the leader of a forlorn hope, allowed to select my men, it would most certainly be from among the soldiers of Christ, for who should fight so fearlessly and bravely ”