Father Ryan became a battlefield Chaplain for the Confederate States, ministering to the wounded and dying of both Union and Confederate forces. Since the South lost its war for independence Fr. Abram Joseph Ryan has been a household name in the former Confederate States. His famous "Conquered Banner" written just after the Civil War was taken up by the Veterans and women and children of the defeated South as they idolized their struggle against the industrialized North. Until recently School children in the South learned Fr. Ryan's "Conquered Banner", and other of Father Ryan's poems by heart as part of their school work. His poetry gave hope for the future and recognized the heroism of the Confederate Soldier as the South sought to rebuild herself from the destruction of Union forces and advanced the Catholic Faith in the South with his poems of Faith.