Letter from Ellison Capers to his wife Lottie, May 19, 1863
Title
Letter from Ellison Capers to his wife Lottie, May 19, 1863
Subject
Description
Capers writes to Lottie of the few mementos he has of her and their children. He repeats part of a letter back to her and thanks God that he has been kept safe. He mentions a leg wound that he has is healing well and that since all communication has been cut off, she may not have received his letters.
Creator
Source
A1961.1, Box 3, Folder 13
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/493
Date Valid
Audience
Text
[Page 1]
Sitting in a Piazza at Mr. Suber’s
Tuesday evening, May 19th 63
My own angel Lottie
Just now while I was lying in bed, I opened your dear picture, & the precious words of a little note I keep there, with a lock of Frank’s hair, & a few violets from your bed at Cherry Grove made my whole spirit bless you, & I have got up to sit a while & write to you. “Dear Ellie, wherever you go may God be with you & preserve your precious life. xxxx. My prayer & thoughts, my darling, will be ever with you.” Thus you wrote your Ellie more than a year ago, & though the danger expected then, was not experienced, yet that sweet prayer was heard & has been mercifully answered. He has kept me “as the apple of His eye.” & His gracious providence, has saved my life, & by that same providence, when we meet, I hope to tell you, my devoted love, in your own dear arms, how grateful I am. I bade you good bye on the 6th, with a great struggle, but I never felt more trust than then. I felt that away here, in the far West, the arms Jehovah would encircle me, & I took my long journey, with only the pain of heart, which the prospect of long absence from you, my sweet wife, so naturally inspired! Oh! to believe & trust is peace of heart & mind! I am getting on, by God’s blessing, as well as I can under the circumstances. My wound now gives me no pain & is healing rapidly. God willing I hope to spend Frank’s birthday with you. If nothing prevents I
[Page 2]
expect to start the day after tomorrow, or the following day. The evacuation of Jackson cut off our communication, & it was not until yesterday, that I was enabled to start my first letter & dispatches to you. I sent you another dispatch today by the way of Canton, some 16 miles from this point. It has given me, my precious Lottie, the deepest anxiety to know that you were in suspense, for I know not what sort of reports may have reached you. But I know your calm, trustful spirit, & I have prayed that you might be sustained. Without worshipping you, my Lottie, my spirit has constantly dwelt with you. For fear that you may not get my first letter, I will repeat here my wound is through the muscular portion of my right leg, below the knee. The bone is not injured, though slightly grazed, the point of the ball happily bending, as it struck it, & glanced off.
Wednesday Morning,
Good morning, my dear Lottie, and our little angels - Sam and I have just dressed my wound, & I feel very well. No pain at all, & my lost strength coming back. I am hurried off with my letter, my dear angel, so good bye, for this time. May God continue to bless us all.
Your Ellie
Sitting in a Piazza at Mr. Suber’s
Tuesday evening, May 19th 63
My own angel Lottie
Just now while I was lying in bed, I opened your dear picture, & the precious words of a little note I keep there, with a lock of Frank’s hair, & a few violets from your bed at Cherry Grove made my whole spirit bless you, & I have got up to sit a while & write to you. “Dear Ellie, wherever you go may God be with you & preserve your precious life. xxxx. My prayer & thoughts, my darling, will be ever with you.” Thus you wrote your Ellie more than a year ago, & though the danger expected then, was not experienced, yet that sweet prayer was heard & has been mercifully answered. He has kept me “as the apple of His eye.” & His gracious providence, has saved my life, & by that same providence, when we meet, I hope to tell you, my devoted love, in your own dear arms, how grateful I am. I bade you good bye on the 6th, with a great struggle, but I never felt more trust than then. I felt that away here, in the far West, the arms Jehovah would encircle me, & I took my long journey, with only the pain of heart, which the prospect of long absence from you, my sweet wife, so naturally inspired! Oh! to believe & trust is peace of heart & mind! I am getting on, by God’s blessing, as well as I can under the circumstances. My wound now gives me no pain & is healing rapidly. God willing I hope to spend Frank’s birthday with you. If nothing prevents I
[Page 2]
expect to start the day after tomorrow, or the following day. The evacuation of Jackson cut off our communication, & it was not until yesterday, that I was enabled to start my first letter & dispatches to you. I sent you another dispatch today by the way of Canton, some 16 miles from this point. It has given me, my precious Lottie, the deepest anxiety to know that you were in suspense, for I know not what sort of reports may have reached you. But I know your calm, trustful spirit, & I have prayed that you might be sustained. Without worshipping you, my Lottie, my spirit has constantly dwelt with you. For fear that you may not get my first letter, I will repeat here my wound is through the muscular portion of my right leg, below the knee. The bone is not injured, though slightly grazed, the point of the ball happily bending, as it struck it, & glanced off.
Wednesday Morning,
Good morning, my dear Lottie, and our little angels - Sam and I have just dressed my wound, & I feel very well. No pain at all, & my lost strength coming back. I am hurried off with my letter, my dear angel, so good bye, for this time. May God continue to bless us all.
Your Ellie
Collection
Citation
Capers, Ellison, 1837-1908, “Letter from Ellison Capers to his wife Lottie, May 19, 1863,” The Citadel Archives Digital Collections, accessed May 10, 2024, https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/493.