Letter from Ellison Capers to his wife Lottie, March 4 and 5, 1863
Title
Letter from Ellison Capers to his wife Lottie, March 4 and 5, 1863
Subject
Description
In his letter on the 4th, Capers writes of a visit to his friend Thomas Hanckels' plantation where Hanckel's tells him an account of how General Walker embraced God and the Gospel. He ends the letter by telling Lottie how tired he is of the war but that he is grateful to God that his family has not suffered as others have. In his letter on the 5th, Capers complains that on a day of Thanksgiving, he can find no one to join him in prayer. He then discusses how by keeping his own faith in God, even when others do not, makes him a stronger person and sets a good example.
Creator
Source
A1961.1, Box 3, Folder 7
Publisher
The Citadel Archives & Museum
Rights
Materials in The Citadel Archives & Museum Digital Collections are intended for educational and research use. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. For more information contact The Citadel Archives & Museum, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, 29409.
Relation
Ellison Capers Collection
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/488
Date Valid
Audience
Text
[Page 1]
Wednesday Night, March 4th 1863
My dear Lottie
It is right cold tonight, & has been so since day before yesterday. I was hurried this morning in closing my letter to you. How unsatisfactory it is to write hurriedly! I have been engaged today in superintending a detail of our men at work on an earth work, & rifle pits, some four miles from our camp, on Mr William Middleton’s place. My friend, Thom. Hanckel has a beautiful place just next, & I accepted his invitation to ride over & take lunch with him. His family are not now at home, but the old woman got us a very nice lunch. The house is a large, fine one, & the grounds very pretty. Jasmines, & Cloth of Gold roses run up the columns of the Piagga, & the yard and garden are tastefully laid out & planted. Hanckel is a gentleman & a Christian. There is a great deal of wealth in this section of the State. Rice is extensively planted, & yields these gentlemen, in times of peace, a splendid income. In conversing with Mr Henckel today, he told me that Gen. Walker had related to him the circumstances which had induced his embracing the Gospel, & the service of God. He had but a very small force of Cavalry, & per-
[Page 2]
haps a single battery of artillery here last spring. Against this small force he was notified, last May, that the enemy was advancing in much greater numbers. The Genl. says he felt he had no one else but the Almighty to depend upon, and he offered a prayer, that His Providence might shield the little band of Patriots at old Pocotaligo, & give them the victory. And so it was ordered, for our gallant troops drove back the invaders, & secured the Rail Road. The sentiment through which God moved our Genl. to His service sprang from this success. He said, that feeling himself in an extremity he had called upon God for aid, & he felt that the call had been heard, & therefore, in honor, he felt bound to continue in prayer to God. It happened, too, that the first passage of scripture which met his attention, served to deepen his impression. It was a passage in the Psalms, in which David blesses God for “teaching his hands to war, & his fingers to fight”. This reference to Genl. Walker reminds me of an opinion he expressed to me last week, that the war would be over this month! I do not agree with him, at all, but if we hold out in the west, and are
[Page 3]
successful on our coast this spring, in my judgement, we will have a cessation of hostilities in the summer. May God grant it, for I am weary, oh!, how weary, of this terrible war; of this long absence from you, my dear wife, and from my precious children. I wish I could join you tomorrow in returning public thanks to God for His past mercies to us. But I must not permit myself to indulge a wish, which I know cannot be granted. Whenever I feel myself becoming restless, or unhappy, I think of the suffering & afflictions of many of my friends, to which mine are not to be compared. God has been most merciful & gracious to you and I, Lottie, & we must “praise Him for all that is past, & trust Him for all that’s to come”. I have an abiding and strong faith in our reunion, & look forward to it, with as much anxiety & hope as we did to the birth of Kate. While I write this, I feel the nervous joy which filled my heart, & the anxious longing for the day, & the hour, which would bring us together again on that first absence. Do you remember it, my darling?
[Page 4]
I allude to the time you went down from Winnsboro to Mrs. Thomas’. Do you remember what you told me when we went to the chamber, upstairs? Blessed memory, I do. How beautiful you were then, my angel, in your pure, simple nature, and oh!, how fondly you clung to me! We will never forget those days, & yet, at times, you used to shed tears over them. They will come again, my love, & you & I, with our dear little Kate, the child of that love, in heaven, to watch over us, & Frank & Sue to bless us here, will be happy. Good night Lottie, the joy & hope of my heart.
Thanksgiving Morning - 5th of March.
My precious wife - I sit down to write you a few more lines, for I have no heart to talk to anyone else. The Society around me is becoming more & more ungenial, & now that it is a day set apart by the State Authorities to be devoted to prayer & praise to God, I find not one to join me in a proper appreciation of the obligations we are under to devote our time to God. The Colonel has gone with five companies to work, & ordered me to have an inspection of the remaining five at 10 ½, which will take up one half of
[Page 5]
the day. We ought to have a Chaplain, & this day should be devoted to prayer & Thanksgiving. But, perhaps, it is the will of my heavenly father that I should be so tried, that the trying of my faith might make me patient. It is to me, of all things, a happy circumstance when I am surrounded by sympathizing & congenial friends, but it makes my heart only the stronger if I hold first to my faith among those who do not appreciate it, for by so doing, the force of my example may lead them to the Gospel too. This subject of Christian example is always upper most in my mind. Christ calls His disciples “the light of the world,” & yet, how many of us, who profess to be of the Christ’s Kingdom, show so little of His spirit, & practice so much the contrary of His teaching, in our lives! This inconsistency in the practice of professing Christians does great harm to the Church of Christ, by destroying the confidence of its members in the piety of “the brethren,” & by furnishing “the world” with a most influential excuse for withholding its respect, & refusing to subscribe to the blessed doctrine of the Cross.
[Page 6]
I can not reconcile the conduct & life of many professors of Christ, with His sermon on the mount, or the example of his His life. Yet the effect on my faith, is not to weaken it in the Gospel, but in man. Jesus teaches us to rejoice under persecution; to love our enemies; to hold our passions under subjection; to keep the law; to resist not the evil done us; and to be “perfect”, even as our Heavenly Father is perfect. This is a high standard, & yet, I believe it can be reached, if we follow the example, & sincerely practice the spirit of Jesus. He forgave His enemies, & was “perfect”, & if men, who embrace His Gospel, neglect its teachings & do despite its law, it is no reflection on the beauty & reality of that law, but on the weakness of its professors; a weakness which Jesus teaches, & because of which He came to earth, to seek & save those that are lost. So, my angel, we must only be the better for the canons & sins of our brethren, & keep always in mind, that as Christians, we are exposed to the view of the world, just as a city is, which is set upon a hill. We cannot hide ourselves. May our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works, & glorify our Father, which is in Heaven. Ellison
Wednesday Night, March 4th 1863
My dear Lottie
It is right cold tonight, & has been so since day before yesterday. I was hurried this morning in closing my letter to you. How unsatisfactory it is to write hurriedly! I have been engaged today in superintending a detail of our men at work on an earth work, & rifle pits, some four miles from our camp, on Mr William Middleton’s place. My friend, Thom. Hanckel has a beautiful place just next, & I accepted his invitation to ride over & take lunch with him. His family are not now at home, but the old woman got us a very nice lunch. The house is a large, fine one, & the grounds very pretty. Jasmines, & Cloth of Gold roses run up the columns of the Piagga, & the yard and garden are tastefully laid out & planted. Hanckel is a gentleman & a Christian. There is a great deal of wealth in this section of the State. Rice is extensively planted, & yields these gentlemen, in times of peace, a splendid income. In conversing with Mr Henckel today, he told me that Gen. Walker had related to him the circumstances which had induced his embracing the Gospel, & the service of God. He had but a very small force of Cavalry, & per-
[Page 2]
haps a single battery of artillery here last spring. Against this small force he was notified, last May, that the enemy was advancing in much greater numbers. The Genl. says he felt he had no one else but the Almighty to depend upon, and he offered a prayer, that His Providence might shield the little band of Patriots at old Pocotaligo, & give them the victory. And so it was ordered, for our gallant troops drove back the invaders, & secured the Rail Road. The sentiment through which God moved our Genl. to His service sprang from this success. He said, that feeling himself in an extremity he had called upon God for aid, & he felt that the call had been heard, & therefore, in honor, he felt bound to continue in prayer to God. It happened, too, that the first passage of scripture which met his attention, served to deepen his impression. It was a passage in the Psalms, in which David blesses God for “teaching his hands to war, & his fingers to fight”. This reference to Genl. Walker reminds me of an opinion he expressed to me last week, that the war would be over this month! I do not agree with him, at all, but if we hold out in the west, and are
[Page 3]
successful on our coast this spring, in my judgement, we will have a cessation of hostilities in the summer. May God grant it, for I am weary, oh!, how weary, of this terrible war; of this long absence from you, my dear wife, and from my precious children. I wish I could join you tomorrow in returning public thanks to God for His past mercies to us. But I must not permit myself to indulge a wish, which I know cannot be granted. Whenever I feel myself becoming restless, or unhappy, I think of the suffering & afflictions of many of my friends, to which mine are not to be compared. God has been most merciful & gracious to you and I, Lottie, & we must “praise Him for all that is past, & trust Him for all that’s to come”. I have an abiding and strong faith in our reunion, & look forward to it, with as much anxiety & hope as we did to the birth of Kate. While I write this, I feel the nervous joy which filled my heart, & the anxious longing for the day, & the hour, which would bring us together again on that first absence. Do you remember it, my darling?
[Page 4]
I allude to the time you went down from Winnsboro to Mrs. Thomas’. Do you remember what you told me when we went to the chamber, upstairs? Blessed memory, I do. How beautiful you were then, my angel, in your pure, simple nature, and oh!, how fondly you clung to me! We will never forget those days, & yet, at times, you used to shed tears over them. They will come again, my love, & you & I, with our dear little Kate, the child of that love, in heaven, to watch over us, & Frank & Sue to bless us here, will be happy. Good night Lottie, the joy & hope of my heart.
Thanksgiving Morning - 5th of March.
My precious wife - I sit down to write you a few more lines, for I have no heart to talk to anyone else. The Society around me is becoming more & more ungenial, & now that it is a day set apart by the State Authorities to be devoted to prayer & praise to God, I find not one to join me in a proper appreciation of the obligations we are under to devote our time to God. The Colonel has gone with five companies to work, & ordered me to have an inspection of the remaining five at 10 ½, which will take up one half of
[Page 5]
the day. We ought to have a Chaplain, & this day should be devoted to prayer & Thanksgiving. But, perhaps, it is the will of my heavenly father that I should be so tried, that the trying of my faith might make me patient. It is to me, of all things, a happy circumstance when I am surrounded by sympathizing & congenial friends, but it makes my heart only the stronger if I hold first to my faith among those who do not appreciate it, for by so doing, the force of my example may lead them to the Gospel too. This subject of Christian example is always upper most in my mind. Christ calls His disciples “the light of the world,” & yet, how many of us, who profess to be of the Christ’s Kingdom, show so little of His spirit, & practice so much the contrary of His teaching, in our lives! This inconsistency in the practice of professing Christians does great harm to the Church of Christ, by destroying the confidence of its members in the piety of “the brethren,” & by furnishing “the world” with a most influential excuse for withholding its respect, & refusing to subscribe to the blessed doctrine of the Cross.
[Page 6]
I can not reconcile the conduct & life of many professors of Christ, with His sermon on the mount, or the example of his His life. Yet the effect on my faith, is not to weaken it in the Gospel, but in man. Jesus teaches us to rejoice under persecution; to love our enemies; to hold our passions under subjection; to keep the law; to resist not the evil done us; and to be “perfect”, even as our Heavenly Father is perfect. This is a high standard, & yet, I believe it can be reached, if we follow the example, & sincerely practice the spirit of Jesus. He forgave His enemies, & was “perfect”, & if men, who embrace His Gospel, neglect its teachings & do despite its law, it is no reflection on the beauty & reality of that law, but on the weakness of its professors; a weakness which Jesus teaches, & because of which He came to earth, to seek & save those that are lost. So, my angel, we must only be the better for the canons & sins of our brethren, & keep always in mind, that as Christians, we are exposed to the view of the world, just as a city is, which is set upon a hill. We cannot hide ourselves. May our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works, & glorify our Father, which is in Heaven. Ellison
Collection
Citation
Capers, Ellison, 1837-1908, “Letter from Ellison Capers to his wife Lottie, March 4 and 5, 1863,” The Citadel Archives Digital Collections, accessed May 9, 2024, https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/488.