John Hurt (1752–1824) was born in Virginia shortly before the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763). While the colonies were at war with the French and various Native American tribes, Hurt was being maneuvered to a more peaceful lifestyle: the ministry.
On Dec. 21, 1774, Hurt was ordained as a minister of the Episcopal Church. While he had been preparing for the priesthood, the colonies were again in an uproar, this time with those they had fought for in the French and Indian War: the British. An influx of taxes had been imposed on the colonists by King George III and Parliament, giving rise to the colonial protestations of “taxation without representation is tyranny.” A week before his being ordained, colonists had raided Fort William and Mary, absconding with weapons and barrels of gunpowder.
A few months before the ordination, one of Hurt’s close friends and fellow Virginians, George Washington, joined a meeting in Philadelphia for what would become the First Continental Congress. Hurt’s occupation appeared to be moving him in the opposite direction of conflict, but Washington would have another idea.
When war officially broke out and Washington was selected as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, the commander requested the now-Second Continental Congress to establish a chaplain corps in the army. The Congress, however, was unable to acquiesce to this request as it had no money to do so. Nonetheless, Washington wanted chaplains alongside his troops. Hurt was assigned personally by Washington to the Sixth Virginia Regiment, becoming the Continental Army’s first chaplain.
Hurt would fight with and pray for the soldiers of the Army. He would engage in numerous battles, including at Trenton and Charleston, and also ministered to troops during the harsh winter stay at Valley Forge. Hurt never ventured away from danger and in fact was captured by the British in 1781. While trying to gather intelligence as a British captive, he was removed to a British ship until his release.
His prayers and bravery in battle were inspirational, and so were his sermons. In his most famous sermon, “The Love of Our Country,” he inspired troops to do their duty and clarified how patriotic duty was connected with God’s calling, stating, “We see then how closely the kind Creator has connected our interest with our duty, and made it each man’s happiness to contribute to the welfare of his country; … indeed the name of Patriot implies, in its true sense, everything that is most great and godlike among men; it carries in it the idea of a public blessing; it implies a power of doing good, exerted and extended to whole communities; and resembles, within its sphere, that universal providence which protects and supports the world.”
By 1791, a decade after Hurt’s capture by the British, the Americans had won the war, a new constitution was settled upon, and Hurt was officially appointed as Army Chaplain. He would be the first in a long line of military chaplains who have served bravely in America’s conflicts, at times even making the greatest sacrifice for, as Hurt stated, “the love of our country.”
