Letter from Ellison Capers to his wife Lottie, March 15, 1863
Title
Letter from Ellison Capers to his wife Lottie, March 15, 1863
Subject
Description
Capers writes to Lottie that he has been put in command of General Walker's left flank and is very proud of this honor. The prisoners that they captured on Hilton Head gave no useful information but they expect an attack soon. He also writes that he has been given a horse and that he dined with Mr. Charles Lowndes and his wife.
Creator
Source
A1961.1, Box 3, Folder 8
Publisher
The Citadel Archives & Museum
Date
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/489
Date Valid
Audience
Text
[Page 1]
Sunday Night - March 15th
Ballouville.
My darling Angel
This has been a pleasanter day than the two days preceding. We are all very busy from one end of Gen. Walker’s long line to the other. I send you a copy of an order received this evening, which puts me in command of the forces in this Dist. I feel this is to be a very great responsibility, & a very high compliment. It puts me in command of the left Flank of Gen. Walker’s forces, & of both the Combahee and Ashepoo Rivers. The prisoners taken by Capt. Micklen on Hilton Head Isld. bring us no intelligence of any interest except to report that Gen Burnside, who is expected to supersede Hunter, has not as yet arrived. Gen. Walker seems to apprehend an attack shortly, but it seems to us quite improbable that the enemy will attack Pocotaligo. They have been twice repulsed & must know how strongly fortified it is. I think it more probable that they will attack the R.R. either near Charleston or Savannah. But of course we can’t tell where they are going to attack, & must keep up our constant watch all along the line. I have a great
[Page 2]
deal of work to do to put my district in a more defensive condition, & the two extremes of my line (Ashepoo Battery & Combahee Ferry) being at least 10 miles apart, it gives me all I can do.
The Q. M. at Green Pond has kindly loaned me a Sulkey harness & a horse, which gives me a much pleasanter way of getting along, & spells my noble little Hardtimes. By the by, darling, how did he get that name? I have been busy at the Ferry, most of the day, engineering. I took a late dinner with Mr. Chas. Lowndes, by invitation. Mrs. L. presided at the table. She is quite intelligent, but too affected in manner to please me. Lowndes is a very fine old fellow, & a genuine gentleman. His family are in Greenville, but Mrs. L. has just run down to see him for a short while.
I did not get a letter from you on yesterday, as I expected. I hope to get the letter tomorrow. I expect the drawers, too, tomorrow. I am so sleepy & weary, I feel like dropping right down on my bed. I dream of you, Lottie, nearly every night. And of Oddy, Pa and Ma. My dreams of Ma &
[Rest of letter is missing.]
Sunday Night - March 15th
Ballouville.
My darling Angel
This has been a pleasanter day than the two days preceding. We are all very busy from one end of Gen. Walker’s long line to the other. I send you a copy of an order received this evening, which puts me in command of the forces in this Dist. I feel this is to be a very great responsibility, & a very high compliment. It puts me in command of the left Flank of Gen. Walker’s forces, & of both the Combahee and Ashepoo Rivers. The prisoners taken by Capt. Micklen on Hilton Head Isld. bring us no intelligence of any interest except to report that Gen Burnside, who is expected to supersede Hunter, has not as yet arrived. Gen. Walker seems to apprehend an attack shortly, but it seems to us quite improbable that the enemy will attack Pocotaligo. They have been twice repulsed & must know how strongly fortified it is. I think it more probable that they will attack the R.R. either near Charleston or Savannah. But of course we can’t tell where they are going to attack, & must keep up our constant watch all along the line. I have a great
[Page 2]
deal of work to do to put my district in a more defensive condition, & the two extremes of my line (Ashepoo Battery & Combahee Ferry) being at least 10 miles apart, it gives me all I can do.
The Q. M. at Green Pond has kindly loaned me a Sulkey harness & a horse, which gives me a much pleasanter way of getting along, & spells my noble little Hardtimes. By the by, darling, how did he get that name? I have been busy at the Ferry, most of the day, engineering. I took a late dinner with Mr. Chas. Lowndes, by invitation. Mrs. L. presided at the table. She is quite intelligent, but too affected in manner to please me. Lowndes is a very fine old fellow, & a genuine gentleman. His family are in Greenville, but Mrs. L. has just run down to see him for a short while.
I did not get a letter from you on yesterday, as I expected. I hope to get the letter tomorrow. I expect the drawers, too, tomorrow. I am so sleepy & weary, I feel like dropping right down on my bed. I dream of you, Lottie, nearly every night. And of Oddy, Pa and Ma. My dreams of Ma &
[Rest of letter is missing.]
Collection
Citation
Capers, Ellison, 1837-1908, “Letter from Ellison Capers to his wife Lottie, March 15, 1863,” The Citadel Archives Digital Collections, accessed May 9, 2024, https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/489.