There’s a monument on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC identifying John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg (1746-1807) as “The fighting parson of the American Revolution.” The British disparagingly called patriotic pastors like Muhlenberg “the Black Robe Regiment.” They weren’t an actual detachment of soldiers but a growing number of preachers in their typical black robes calling for independence from English tyranny.
Peter was the most iconic figure associated with the Black Robed Regiment. He preached rebellion against tyranny as an act of obedience to God. He resigned his pastorate in Woodstock, VA to become a colonel in the Continental Army and worked closely with General Washington for the duration of the war. When a relative criticized Peter for abandoning his pastoral post, he wrote in response, “I am a clergyman, it is true, but I am a member of society as well as the poorest layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man. Shall I sit still and enjoy myself at home when the best blood of the continent is spilling? Heaven forbid it! Do you think if America should be conquered, I should be safe? Far from it. And would you not sooner fight like a man than die like a dog?” His brother Frederick, also a preacher, questioned Peter’s involvement in the war effort, “You have become too involved in matters which, as a preacher, you have nothing whatsoever to do.” Peter responded by calling Frederick a Tory (a British sympathizer). His brother fired back that you cannot serve two masters. A short while later, the British invaded New York City in the Battle of Brooklyn Heights and burned Frederick’s church to the ground. Frederick had a sudden change of heart and became a member of the Continental Congress.
After the war, Peter served three terms in the House of Representatives and a term in the Senate. Frederick joined him in Congress, acting as the first Speaker of the House. Jonathan Trumbull, another pastor turned civil servant, the Governor of Connecticut during the Revolutionary War, called for a day of fasting and prayer with words I have revised into a prayer: