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THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 ELLISON CAPERS 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. WALTER B. CAPERS 
 
 Bishop Capers' Son and President of 
 Columbia Institute 
 
 NEW YORK 
 THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 1912 
 
en 
 
 f3-'fgf5f- 
 
 Copyright, 1912, by 
 The Neale Publishing Company 
 
 
 • t 
 
 • • 
 
 
 
 
 • • 
 
 •. •. .". • 
 
To THE Memory of 
 
 CHARLOTTE PALMER CAPERS 
 
 This Volume is Lovingly Dedicated. 
 
 In every relation of life she nobly filled her 
 
 SPHERE, to her HUSBAND SHE WAS THE IDEAL WIFE : HIS 
 WISEST COUNSELLOR; HIS MOST SYMPATHETIC FRIEND; 
 HIS BEST CRITIC AND MOST HELPFUL CO-LABORER, SHE 
 EVER MANIFESTED A PERFECT UNDERSTANDING AND APPRE- 
 CIATION OF HIS EXALTED NATURE, AND THUS CON- 
 TRIBUTED TO HIS SUCCESS. 
 
 "they were sweet and lovely in their lives ; 
 
 AND IN their death THEY WERE NOT DIVIDED." 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 In presenting the life of Bishop Capers, it is a pleasure tc 
 acknowledge the assistance I have received from contributors 
 and friends. 
 
 To those bishops who knew and honored him and have 
 herein paid their tribute to his memory, expressing so beauti- 
 fully the love and esteem in which they held him — to them I 
 wish to record my gratitude and appreciation. Bishop Capers 
 ever cherished as sacred any expression of comradeship and 
 confidence toward him, whether given by the humblest or the 
 greatest of his fellow-men. But no experience gave him 
 greater happiness than such expressions from his brother 
 bishops. 
 
 To those whose names appear in the volume in connection 
 with memoirs, reminiscences, and anecdotes I also wish to 
 express my appreciation, both for the material furnished and 
 also for the spirit of loyal interest which prompted the con- 
 tributions. 
 
 It was at the suggestion of my brother, the Very Rev. Wil- 
 liam T. Capers, dean, Christ Church Cathedral, Lexington, 
 Ky., that I was led to undertake this work. By his many 
 admirable suggestions in regard to the method of securing 
 certain valuable materials, and also in regard to the work in 
 the last half of the book, I profited greatly. 
 
 Bishop Capers is survived by five sons and two daughters. 
 They are: Frank F. Capers (banker), Greenville, South 
 Carolina; John G. Capers (United States District Attorney 
 for South Carolina); Wm. T. Capers (clergyman), Lexing- 
 ton, Ky. ; Ellison, Jr. (merchant), Summerton, S. C. ; Walter 
 B. Capers (clergyman). Columbia, Tenn. ; Mrs. C. B. Sat- 
 terlee, Columbia, S. C. ; Mrs. Wm. H. Johnson, Charleston, 
 
8 FOREWORD 
 
 S. C. As soon as the preparation of this volume was begun 
 they promptly offered their assistance and forwarded to the 
 author all data in their possession bearing upon a theme 
 equally dear and sacred to them all. 
 
 My brother, the Hon. John G. Capers, had for a number 
 of years been engaged in collecting material for the prepara- 
 tion of a similar work. This material he generously turned 
 over to me, and throughout the preparation of the work has 
 rendered invaluable service both by practical suggestions and 
 scholarly criticisms in those chapters relating to the Capers 
 family. 
 
 With a grateful sense of appreciation for all assistance ren- 
 dered, I have thus been encouraged to complete the work, 
 which, though not without its discouragements, has had also 
 its inspirations, and will, I trust, bring its readers into that 
 sweetest of all experiences — the heart-touch of a man who was 
 as great as he was good. 
 
 Walter B. Capers. 
 
 Columbia, Tenn. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. The Capers Family 13 
 
 II. Childhood 24 
 
 III. Boyhood and Youth 31 
 
 IV. Military Life 40 
 
 V. Opening of the War So 
 
 VI. From Shiloh to Jackson 57 
 
 VII. The Nine Hundred and Eighty at Chickamauga .... 66 
 
 VIII. From Dalton to Jonesboro 75 
 
 IX. Military Reports 84 
 
 X. Gist's Brigade with Hood in Tennessee 99 
 
 XI. In the Days of Reconstruction 118 
 
 XII. General Capers Enters the Church 129 
 
 XIII. Nine Years at Christ Church, Greenville 143 
 
 XIV. Return to Greenville 155 
 
 XV. Nominated State Superintendent of Education .... 160 
 
 XVI. Election to the Diocese of Easton 178 
 
 XVII. Rector of Trinity Church, Columbia, S. C 187 
 
 XVIII. Bishop Ellison Capers i95 
 
 XIX. Labors of the Episcopate 203 
 
 XX. The University of the South 227 
 
 XXI. Bishop Capers Becomes Chancellor of the University of 
 
 THE South 235 
 
 XXII. Bishop Capers' Church manship 242 
 
 XXIII. Last Days 266 
 
 XXIV. Tributes from the Episcopate 276 
 
 XXV. Tributes from Clergy 289 
 
 XXVI. Tributes from Laymen and the Press 307 
 
 PART II 
 
 ADDRESSES AND SERMONS: 
 
 Commencement Address Before South Carolina Academy, 1886 . 318 
 
 Memorial Address at Greenville, S. C, 1890 33S 
 
 Speech at Unveiling of Confederate Monument at Chickamauga 
 
 Battlefield, 1901 348 
 
 Sermon on the Day Appointed for Prayer and Humiliation on 
 
 Occasion of Burial of President Garfield, 1881 3Si 
 
 Sermon at Consecration of Church in Selma, Alabama, 1881 . . 357 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Opposite page 
 
 Capers Coat of Arms ii 
 
 Magill Coat of Arms xii 
 
 The Soldier-Bishop, Ellison Capers, D.D frontispiece 
 
 Mrs. Ellison Capers 40 
 
 Lieutenant Ellison Capers 40 
 
 Brigadier-General Ellison Capers, C. S. A • 99 
 
 Christ Church, Greenville, S. C 155 
 
 Trinity Church, Columbia, S. C 187 
 
 Bishop Capers as Chancellor of the University of the South. 235 
 
opposite page xii. 
 
THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 ELLISON CAPERS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE CAPERS FAMILY 
 
 The Capers in their origin were probably English. However, 
 after diligent and careful investigation Francis LeGrand 
 Capers, of Pueblo, Colo., concludes the family name to have 
 been originally Capier, and that long years ago, when Flanders 
 was under the sovereignty of France, the Capers resided there 
 and were Huguenots. But it is in our opinion impossible to 
 trace definitely the origin of the family prior to 1689, when 
 the brothers Gabriel, Richard, and William Capers came to 
 America and settled on the seaboard of South Carolina. 
 Gabriel taught school, and later the Capers bought consid- 
 erable property on the mainland and became extensive planters. 
 From colonial days the Capers family seem to have been promi- 
 nent, influential, and wealthy, and "Capers Island" and "Capers 
 Inlet" off the coast of South Carolina bear the family name. 
 
 In his autobiography Bishop William Capers, father of the 
 subject of this volume, gives the following interesting sketch 
 of the family in the early days of South Carolina history: 
 
 "Our name. Capers, I suppose to be derived from France, 
 and the first of the name were Huguenots. Of this, however, 
 I am not certain, nor is it of any consequence. I remember 
 to have heard no more from my father about it than that he 
 
 13 
 
14 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 had never seen the name in any English catalogue of names. 
 My father's name was William, and that of his father and 
 grandfather, Richard. Of my father's father I know but little 
 more than he died in middle life, leaving two sons, George 
 Sinclair and William, and no daughters. After his death, my 
 grandfather having contracted an unhappy marriage, my 
 father's uncle. Major Gabriel Capers, of Christ Church Parish, 
 became his foster father, and did nobly by him. He had five 
 daughters, but no sons, and my grandfather became his son in 
 all possible respects. My great grandfather survived his son 
 many years, a large, fat, healthy man, of peculiar manners, 
 dressing in ornaburgs and plaids at home, and with broad- 
 cloth and silks, stiffened with excess of gold lace, and pow- 
 dered wig when he went abroad. 
 
 "A different kind of man was my father, whose name I can- 
 not mention without emotion after thirty-eight years since I 
 saw him buried. I have studied his character with intense 
 interest and honor his memory in every feature of it with my 
 whole soul. A chivalrous soldier of the Revolution was he, 
 whose ardent patriotism cooled not to the last hour of his 
 life. And yet after a few years in the legislature, following 
 the establishment of peace, he held no civil office whatever, 
 and was seldom seen on public occasions, except in his office 
 as major of brigade to muster his troops. He was a military 
 man ; the war of the Revolution made him so, and to muster a 
 brigade seemed his highest recreation. But no man I ever 
 knew was more a man of peace than my father was. Social 
 and unselfish, generous, kind, his nature was impulsive, but it 
 was the opposite of passionate. Benevolence supplied his 
 strongest incentives, and the serving of others seemed to be his 
 favorite mode of serving himself. I never knew him to be 
 involved in a personal difficulty but once, and then it was on 
 account of a wrong done by an unreasonable neighbor to one 
 of his negroes. 
 
 "My father's education had been interrupted by the Revolu- 
 tionary war, and was, therefore, imperfect; but he had a clear 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 15 
 
 and strong understanding, was fond of natural philosophy and 
 mechanics, wrote with ease and perspicuity, and in conversa- 
 tion was eminently engaging. He was born on October 13, 
 1758, just at the right time, he was fond of saying, that he 
 might have a full share in his country's independence. He fought 
 with the bravest and the best, first as lieutenant in the Second 
 Regiment, when General Moultrie was colonel, Marion a 
 lieutenant-colonel and Horry a captain, and afterward until 
 the close of the war, as one of General Marion's captains, and 
 was also his intimate friend. He was one of the defenders 
 of Charleston in the battle of Fort Sullivan; was in the battle 
 of Eutaw; was at the siege of Savannah, when Pulaski fell, 
 and not far from him at the fatal moment ; was at the battle of 
 Rugeley's Mills, which happened after his escape from prison 
 in Charleston, and before he had rejoined Marion. Indeed, 
 he was there in search of Marion, whom he expected to find 
 with General Gates, but found not, as he had gone on an expedi- 
 tion to Fort Motte. At Stono, where the lamented Laurens 
 fell, he was present and fought like himself; at Charleston he 
 was one of the defenders and accompanied Major Huger on 
 the service which on their return proved fatal to that gallant 
 officer, by the false alarm through the inadvertence of a senti- 
 nel, whereby many lives were lost by the fire of their own 
 countrymen from their own lines of defense. And in addition 
 to these services, he was engaged in numerous skirmishes, 
 which have never found a record in the books, though they 
 contributed no mean quota to the defense of their country." 
 
 The ancestry of William Capers has already been referred 
 to and therefore it is only necessary to state here that he was 
 born in Saint Thomas Parish, South Carolina, January 26, 
 1790. Receiving his early education in private schools, he 
 was prepared to enter the State College at Columbia, which he 
 did in 1805. He easily won distinction in his studies, but 
 voluntarily withdrew in his senior year, returning home to 
 begin the study of law in the office of Judge John S. Richard- 
 son, Statesburg, S. C. In 1807 he became a licentiate of the 
 
i6 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Methodist ministry and began his life's work by assisting the 
 Rev. Wilham Gassoway on his circuit. After two years of 
 such training he was given a circuit of his own, and from that 
 humble beginning he rapidly rose to usefulness and eminence. 
 He was perhaps the youngest preacher in his Conference, and 
 yet he was successively appointed to the influential churches 
 of Fayetteville, N. C, Wilmington, N. C, Savannah, Ga., 
 Charleston and Columbia, S. C. 
 
 In the year 1819 the Missionary Society of the Methodist 
 Church was organized in New York City, and in 1821 Bishop 
 McKendree appointed Mr. Capers to the important work of 
 organizing missions among the Creek Indians in Georgia, their 
 reservations being then on the frontier of the Conference. 
 Leaving his family in Savannah, Ga., until April, Mr. Capers 
 set out on horseback on an extensive tour of appointments, for 
 the purpose of arousing public interest in the moral and 
 religious improvement of the Indians. He visited the Creek 
 Nation the following fall, and established permanent missions 
 among them. It was while engaged in this work thai he 
 became popularly known as "the Apostle to the Creeks." Mr. 
 Capers was a devoted missionary, and to him was due the 
 organization of successful missionary work among the slaves in 
 the South. The Methodist Church officially recognized him as 
 the inspiration and founder of her work among the negroes. 
 
 In 1825 William Capers became editor of the Wesleyan 
 Journal, and remained editor when at a later date the Journal 
 and Christian Advocate were consolidated. This editorial 
 work was done while he was successfully administering to one 
 of the largest congregations in Charleston. 
 
 At the General Conference held in Pittsburgh, Penn., 1828, 
 Mr. Capers was elected as the representative of the American 
 Methodist Church to the British Conference, which con- 
 vened in London, Eng. How well he filled his mission may 
 be inferred from the following quotations from resolutions 
 adopted by the British Conference : 
 
 "Resolve I. — That it is with the most cordial satisfaction 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 17 
 
 and sincere gratitude to God that this Conference has heard 
 the most interesting communication now made by the Rev. 
 Wilham Capers, respecting the extraordinary work of God 
 now carried on through the instrumentahty of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church in the United States of America. . 
 
 "Resolve IIL — That the cordial thanks of this Conference 
 are due to the General Conference in America, for their 
 excellent representative, Mr. Capers, whose amiable manners, 
 devout spirit, and acceptable ministry have greatly endeared 
 him to the preachers now assembled, and confirm their feelings 
 of respect and attachment toward their American brethren 
 at large. 
 
 "Resolve IV. — That the warmest thanks of the Conference 
 are hereby presented to Mr. Capers for the great ability, 
 Christian spirit, and brotherly kindness with which he has dis- 
 charged the duties of his honorable mission; and the Confer- 
 ence respectfully assures him that their most fervent prayers 
 for his welfare will attend him on his return to his native 
 country, and that he will long retain a high place in their 
 affectionate remembrance." 
 
 In 1835 Mr. Capers was pastor of the Washington Street 
 Methodist Church. Columbia, S. C. The State College was 
 then, as now, located in that city. By action of the trustees 
 Mr. Capers was elected to the chair of English in the college, 
 and it Avas about this time the degree of Doctor of Divinity was 
 conferred upon him by his alma mater. During a continued 
 absence of the president the faculty elected Mr. Capers to 
 preside over the institution. 
 
 When the Methodist Church divided North and South 
 (1844), the question of slavery was involved in the contro- 
 versy. Mr. Capers was a recognized leader in the debates, 
 and was found a champion for the rights of the Southern 
 section. A year later, as chairman of the Committee on 
 Organization, he was the recognized organizer of the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Church, South. At the first General Confer- 
 ence after the organization of the Southern branch of the 
 
i8 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Church he was elected Bishop. He administered the 
 affairs of his office with great abiHty, and is thus referred to 
 in resolutions adopted by the Spartanburg Conference, when 
 the news of his death reached that body then in session: "He 
 was distinguished for the possession of high powers of elo- 
 quent speech ; original thought and a captivating elegance of 
 manner in the pulpit; for business tact and management of 
 affairs at the Annual Conferences; for the charm of extraor- 
 dinary powers of pleasing in the social circle, and for the 
 urbanity of manners distinguishing the South Carolina gen- 
 tleman of the old school; all these elements of powers were 
 laid under contribution to the one great object and aim of his 
 Hfe." 
 
 The work of his bishopric frequently carried him into dif- 
 ferent sections of the South and Southwest, as far as Missouri, 
 Oklahoma Territory, and the State of Texas. Upon one of 
 his long journeys he heard and saw a great deal of the fearful 
 ravages of cholera, and he thus gratefully acknowledged the 
 merciful Providence that protected him. In a letter home 
 he writes : "In all my travels for more than forty years, on 
 horseback, by stage-coach, on railroad, by ship and by steam- 
 boat, no accident has ever happened to hurt me or anyone 
 else traveling with me, to this day." 
 
 This remarkable statement is of especial interest to us, 
 because his son of whom we write, after journeyings often, 
 in which there was an abundance of exposure and hardship, 
 never suffered a serious accident or mishap while engaged in 
 the work of his ministry and episcopate. 
 
 From the description his biographer gives us of Bishop 
 William Capers, his son Ellison closely resembled his tal- 
 ented father. The elder Capers was of somewhat smaller 
 stature, and his eyes and hair were dark, while the younger 
 Capers was six feet in height, and in the latter years of his 
 life weighed one hundred and ninety- four pounds. His hair 
 was light and his eyes a blue-gray. 
 
 "Bishop William Capers was of medium height, well 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 19 
 
 formed and a little inclined to corpulency in the advance of 
 life. His face was fine and its expression of combined intelli- 
 gence and amiability. His eye was black and lustrous ; it indi- 
 cated vivacity of temperament ; it seemed gifted with the power 
 of reading human character at a glance. The teeth were perfect 
 and the lips thin, indicating decision. The chest was round 
 and full, the voice clear in its ring and as melodious as a 
 chime of bells. Thus nature had given him the necessary 
 physique for an orator. His manners were those of an 
 accomplished gentleman. The ease, affability, the finish and 
 freedom from professional crotchets, arose from his native 
 kindness of heart, his careful early training, and the large 
 knowledge of the world to which his calling had naturally 
 lead him. Dignity of person and the various elements which 
 make up weight of character were added to an intellect dis- 
 tinguished for its keenness, vigor, and readiness. His mind 
 was well balanced, practical, and solid; awake to the senti- 
 ments of the beautiful and fitted by culture to appreciate and 
 enjoy this sentiment in nature and in man. His powers of 
 conversation were remarkable. He loved to talk, and in 
 talking shone without effort. A genial spirit of humor, racy 
 without coarseness; a vein of deep reflection; an unborrowed 
 fund of anecdote, all ready to be laid under contribution for 
 the instruction and entertainment of those who listened, made 
 his society very charming."* 
 
 Bishop Ellison Capers also resembled his father in that he 
 too was "a man of strong family feeling, and no one could 
 enjoy his home more than he." 
 
 From the following, written by Bishop Ellison Capers, it 
 appears that he differed with his father as to the origin of the 
 family : 
 
 "The name Capers first appears in South Carolina. All 
 of the name who have lived in other States or territories, 
 subsequent to the Revolution, went out from South Carolina, 
 and can clearly be traced to the South Carolina Capers, as, 
 for instance, the Capers in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, 
 
 *Whightman's Biography. 
 
20 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 and Missouri. The earliest record of the name that I know of 
 is here (Columbia, South Carolina) in the Secretary of State's 
 Office. In May, 1694, two grants of land from the Lords 
 Proprietors are on record, being two plantations sold by them 
 to William Capers. Sixty years ago there was a large house 
 in Liverpool, England, by the name of 'James Capers & Co.' 
 The name appears in the early records of the English Church 
 in this colony and State; and my great uncle and my great 
 grandfather were vestrymen of the Parish of Christ Church. 
 Taking these facts into consideration, I am of the opinion that 
 the original Capers, perhaps the William of record in 1694, 
 came from England. He paid a considerable sum on his 
 plantations, and by the terms of the sale he was to pay other 
 sums every six months, so that I conclude he had some money 
 in 1694, fourteen years after the establishment of Charleston 
 (1680), and twenty-four years after the first colony under 
 Sayle landed on the Ashley River. The Capers in South Caro- 
 lina in the last of the seventeenth century and in the eighteenth 
 were all on the coast, mostly in old Berkeley and Georgetown 
 counties, north of Charleston, and on the islands and in Beau- 
 fort county, south of Charleston, and were all planters or 
 farmers. The sons of my grandfather, my father and uncles, 
 were the first professional men, and were clergymen of the 
 Methodist denomination. Before my grandfather's conversion 
 to the Methodist, the name was always associated with the 
 Church of England. This appears in Dr. Dalcho's history of 
 the Church in South Carolina, and in the old parish registers. 
 I am satisfied our forefathers came over from England. If 
 they had been French people their names would appear some- 
 where among the names of the Huguenots, and they would 
 have been hostile to the Church of England, or at least Presby- 
 terians or Calvinists. There are Capers now in Liverpool." 
 
 Bishop Ellison Capers' conclusion that the family is English 
 finds its strongest support, in our opinion, in the fact of its 
 affiliation with the Church of England during the colonial 
 period, for, as he suggests, if the family had been French its 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 21 
 
 name would have appeared somewhere among the Huguenots, 
 and would in all probability have been hostile to the established 
 worship of the colony. But such was not the case. The Parish 
 Register of old Christ Church furnishes us with the most con- 
 vincing e\'idence that the Capers who founded the family in 
 South Carolina were not only identified with the Colonial 
 Church, but were also prominent officials in that historic parish. 
 Christ Church is six miles from Mount Pleasant, near Charles- 
 ton, and is one of the eight parishes established by act of 
 Assembly in 1706. The present building was erected after the 
 Revolution, the original church having been burned by the 
 British. Some years before the first church was erected the 
 following record appears in the parish register :* 
 
 BIRTHS 
 
 May 6th. 1696. Mary, daughter of William Capers and Mary 
 
 his wife. 
 December 15th, 1698. William, son of ^^'illiam and Mary 
 
 Capers. 
 June qth. 1701. Elizabeth, daughter of William and Mary 
 
 Capers. 
 April 28th, 1 71 2. Richard, son of William and Mary Capers. 
 
 BAPTISMS 
 
 June 8th. 1729. Mary, daughter of Thomas and IMary Capers. 
 
 MARRIAGES 
 
 January 9th, 1741. Richard Capers and Elizabeth Bouhoist. 
 
 spinster. 
 January 3d. 1753. Peter Leguieu and Amerlia Capers, widow. 
 
 BURIALS 
 
 April 28th, 1720. Mary Capers, widow. 
 
 July 15th, 1739. Ann, wife of Richard Capers. 
 
 March i8th, 1739. Mary Capers. 
 
 *The church was completed 1706. 
 
22 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 In the days of the Colonial Church the common law required 
 wardens and vestrymen to take the oath of office. We find one 
 William Capers subscribing to the oath as warden, 1708, 1709. 
 1712, and again in 1717 and 1718, and Richard Capers, son of 
 William, taking the same oath in 1 736. 
 
 From the establishment of the family in South Carolina, 
 1689, to 1794 (more than a hundred years), when Richard 
 Capers, grandfather of Ellison Capers, became identified with 
 the Methodist Church, the Capers family and all its branches 
 were Church of England people. 
 
 In his autobiography Bishop William Capers tells us of the 
 circumstances which brought his father to accept Methodism, 
 and this explains his own connection with that Church. He 
 says : "It was on the first introduction of Methodism into 
 South Carolina that, under the preaching of Henry Willis of 
 blessed memory, my father was awakened and converted and 
 became a soldier of the Prince of Peace. His name may be 
 seen in the original conveyances for the first two Methodist 
 churches in Charleston. After his removal to Georgetown, 
 1794, he became a pillar of the infant church, serving as 
 trustee, steward, and elder." 
 
 Captain William Capers becoming thus identified with the 
 Methodists, it was but natural that his children should follow 
 their father into the Church of his adoption. 
 
 According to the family register of the Rev. Robert Magill, 
 of Millrow Presbyterian Church, Antrim Island, the family 
 of Ellison Capers' mother, Susan Magill, is Irish. James 
 B. Magill, after his marriage to Sarah Boyd, coming directly 
 from Antrim, established the family in Chester District, 
 South Carolina. Susan Magill was the daughter of William 
 and Ann Magill of Kershaw District, and the adopted 
 daughter of Mrs. Peter Horry, widow of General Horry, 
 the famous patriot and partisan leader in South Carolina 
 during the American Revolution. 
 
 We have sketched the ancestry of the Capers, and it will be 
 of interest to learn something of the forebears of Bishop 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 23 
 
 William Capers on his maternal side. His mother was Mary 
 Singeltary, daughter of John and Sarah Singeltary, of Cain 
 Hoy, on the Nando, near Charleston. In an old sermon 
 preached by a Mr. Hammet at the funeral service of John 
 Singeltary, the clergyman speaks of his well-known charity 
 to the poor, his unostentatious piety, and his noble traits of 
 character, and calls on his neighbors to emulate the deceased's 
 example. He had an only son, a gallant and spirited 
 soldier of the Revolution, who was killed in a skir- 
 mish with a troop of Tarleton's cavalry, under the fol- 
 lowing circumstances : In the engagement his horse became 
 unmanageable and carried him through the enemy's lines, and 
 while fighting his way back to his friends, single-handed, he 
 was surrounded and cut to pieces by the merciless foe. 
 
 The name Singeltary is not the same as the name Single- 
 tary so common in South Carolina. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 CHILDHOOD 
 
 I PROPOSE to put in writing in this book* the facts of my life 
 which will be of interest to my children. My father made such 
 a record of his life, which has given his children the greatest 
 satisfaction, for assuredly nothing which concerns our ances- 
 tors can be of indifference to their offspring. 
 
 The love and devotion which my children have ever shown 
 me makes this simple journal both a duty and a pleasure to me, 
 for while my life has not been such as to merit the distinction 
 of a book about myself, it has been an eventful one to me and 
 mine, and especially in its connection with our great civil war 
 will possess in after years a peculiar interest to my descendants. 
 
 I have been in the habit of keeping a journal, and especially 
 during the war I was careful to note the events in which I took 
 part, and these journals I will simply transcribe, with such 
 remarks as may make the circumstances more clearly under- 
 stood. 
 
 All the ofificial papers in my possession touching my services 
 as a Confederate soldier I sent to the War Department in 
 Washington, at the request of the Department, that they might 
 be published in the official records of the war, and filed in 
 Washington for safe-keeping, subject to my order if desired. 
 
 *In 1888, while rector of Trinity Church, Columbia, S. C, Dr. Capers 
 began a Journal, in which he proposed to record those facts and inci- 
 dents in his life which he felt would be of special interest to his family. 
 However, the overwhelming and constant demands upon his time pre- 
 vented him from going very much beyond the beginning of the war, 
 and while a part of this journal has been lost, we take advantage of 
 what remains to let him tell us for himself of his childhood and youth. 
 
 24 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 25 
 
 I had a copy of them made before sending them to Washing- 
 ton, and this copy I shall refer to hereafter in connection with 
 events related in my journal. 
 
 Having said so much about my journal, I will now begin 
 the record, assured that those for whom I write will read it 
 with interest, and prize it for my sake. 
 
 I was born in Charleston, on the 14th of October. 1837, at 
 my father's residence in Calhoun Street, then called Boundary 
 Street. The house is still standing on the north side of Cal- 
 houn Street, a few doors east of Pitt. 
 
 In my youth I often passed it in company with my mother, 
 and recall how often and how tenderly she would refer to it 
 as the place of my nativity. I never pass it without thinking 
 of that dear mother, and though I have no personal recollection 
 of the house as my father's residence, a feeling of grateful 
 respect and tenderness is sure to rise in my heart when I pass 
 this humble little home of my infancy. At the time of my 
 birth my father was editing the Southern Christian Advocate, 
 published in Charleston, but being appointed to superintend 
 the missionary interests of the Methodist Church in the South- 
 ern States he removed from Charleston in the summer of 1840, 
 and purchased a home in Oxford. Ga.. selecting that locality 
 because of the opportunity of placing my older brothers at 
 Emory College, situated in that place. 
 
 The home in Oxford is the home of my earliest recollections. 
 Incidents which seem too trivial to record possess for me a 
 sacred interest, and I often think of our Oxford home, and 
 recall the incidents of the two years spent there with increasing 
 interest. As a matter of some interest in noting the earliest 
 distinct records of memory I refer to this era in my life, for 
 I was not three years old when we removed to Oxford, and I 
 remember the old cars from Charleston to Hamburg, and our 
 arrival in Oxford, and the new scenes and novel experiences of 
 our country home, as clearly in my memory as if the whole 
 had transpired only a few years ago ! And yet I do not remem- 
 
26 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 ber the circumstances of our removal back to Charleston in the 
 fall of 1842. I remember only the circumstances of my walk- 
 ing from the depot in Charleston to our house in Rutledge 
 Avenue, with my uncle. LeGrand G. Capers, who met us on 
 our arrival. The house on the avenue I remember perfectly. 
 I believe it is still standing. My father sold his property in 
 Oxford, and rented his home in Charleston, occupying at dif- 
 ferent times houses in different parts of the city, until in the 
 fall (I think it was) of 1847 he removed to a comfortable 
 house in St. Philips Street which had been purchased and 
 given to him and my mother during their lives by the kindness 
 of friends in Charleston. The house stands on the west side 
 of St. Philips Street, about midway between Radcliffe and 
 Mary streets. Here I spent happy years of childhood, and by 
 way of indicating the spirit of that childhood I will transcribe 
 some lines written in the fly-leaf of a book given to me by 
 my father : 
 
 "Who more fond of having fun 
 
 Lessons said and sums all done, 
 
 Than this same boy, Ellison ! 
 
 But I tell you what, my son, 
 
 To be always having fun 
 
 And no sums and lessons done 
 
 Will not do for Ellison. 
 
 Have the fun of getting on 
 And being smart, my Ellison !" 
 
 About the same time he wrote in pencil, on the margin of 
 a little book he bought for my brother Oddy, called "The 
 Ladder of Learning," these lines : 
 
 "Step by step, go it, Oddy! 
 Step by step everybody 
 
 Goes it too ; 
 Go it, Oddy, 
 And let nobody 
 
 Outgo you !" 
 
 And nobly did Oddy mount that ladder of learning, graduat- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 27 
 
 ing at Wofford College in i860, with the first honor of his 
 class. 
 
 I went to school in Charleston to Miss Susan Thierce, to 
 Mrs. David Dewick, and lastly to the "Charleston High 
 School." In 1850 my brother Henry and myself were sent 
 to the Conference School at Cokesbury, in Abbeville County, 
 my brother-in-la\v, Professor George W. Stone, and after- 
 wards my brother, Francis W. Capers, being in charge. In 
 1852 my father having purchased a home near Anderson 
 C. H., Henry and I were put to school at the village Academy 
 in Anderson, taught by the Rev. John W. Carlisle. The 
 removal to Anderson took place in the fall or summer of 1852, 
 the house in Charleston being rented out. My father pur- 
 chased a small tract of land adjoining the lands and home of 
 my brother-in-law, Samuel B. Jones, and built his house and 
 outbuildings, giving us the delightful employment of cutting 
 down trees, burning brush, hunting rabbits and partridges, and 
 enjoying the experiences, so novel to us, of a happy country 
 life. He called his place "Box Cottage," and it was at Box 
 Cottage in 1852 and 1853 I spent the happiest days of my 
 youth. 
 
 In January, 1853, Henry entered South Carolina Military 
 Academy, of which my brother, Francis W. Capers, had been 
 elected superintendent, and Oddy and I were left at Box Cot- 
 tage with our mother and sister Mary. My father's duties as 
 a Methodist bishop required his frequent and protracted 
 absence from home, so that the oversight of his little farm and 
 the management of home affairs were left to our mother, 
 whose agent I became, now that Henry was away. And a 
 delightful occupation I found it, to look after the horses, cows, 
 goats, hogs, fow4s, with which my father had provided his 
 farm, and the novel employment of planting a crop and a 
 garden was to me a most entertaining occupation. I wish I 
 could write of my honored father so as to give my children 
 a vivid conception of his character! This I cannot hope to 
 do, but I will copy in part a letter received from him at the 
 
28 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 beginning of the year 1853, which will show his devotion to 
 his children and the pains he ever took to teach and direct us : 
 
 SuMTERViLLEj Jan. loth, '53. 
 My Dear Ellison : — 
 
 I too was sorry enough that I could not meet you with your 
 mother and take a day or two at home before coming hither 
 to Conference; but it is now past, and being so, only serves 
 to add one little instance to the thousands which had gone 
 before it, to show that we had always better be content with 
 only so much pastime as may consist with duty than sacrifice 
 the least mite of a positive obligation to pleasurable in- 
 dulgences. As far as you are individually concerned, I do 
 not know that I should have found more pleasure in seeing 
 you at home than I have felt in getting the present letter from 
 you; and I answer it in the midst of the business of a confer- 
 ence session that you may have some proof of my apprecia- 
 tion of it. Only don't write so fast, but take more pains 
 with your penmanship till you have, by use, acquired a fixed 
 hand. 
 
 I dare say, my son, you have done very well with respect 
 to the pigs and the garden, and many other things of that 
 sort. Suppose you make a calculation as to how much corn 
 it will take to feed a pig twelve months, allowing for his 
 growth and increase of food accordingly, and what will be the 
 cost of pork at 150 pounds to each pig a year old? The last 
 corn crop being a full one will make pork cheaper next win- 
 ter, so that what we produce ought not to cost us more than 
 four or four and a half cents, i^evertheless, feed the pigs, 
 for whether any of them be kept for bacon next winter or no, 
 we must have a chance at them in the scarce months of 
 March, April and May. By the way, when you see chickens 
 dressed for the cook, weigh them; or if you have the luck to 
 find a turkey ready for the spit, weigh it, or a duck, and see 
 how the price, at so much for each one, tallies with the price 
 of pork. Pork must cost us seven cents a pound, and I dare 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 29 
 
 say. that even as a matter of economy, chickens and hens at 
 10 to T2^/< cents may be preferred as beinio- cheaper, as well 
 as a pleasanter food. But enong-h of this. 
 
 You ask me where yon shall sro to school. My dear son. 
 the more important question : "^^^hat Avill von do when von 
 go to school?" You say. and you put it in larjo-e letters, that 
 you were never born to learn Latin and Greek. How do von 
 know? I am sure you were as well born as anv of mv chil- 
 dren, and I have no doubt born for as much. Your difficultv 
 in learningf Latin and Greek proceeds whollv from a want of 
 attention. You have not fixed your mind attentively on this 
 word or that, this rule or that (necessary to be known), to 
 retain them fixedlv in your mind, but it is the result of habit, 
 and this habit you must correct, or you will neither learn 
 Latin and Greek, nor anything- else. You are capable. Elli- 
 son, of learning anything, without this single impedi- 
 ment. 
 
 Discipline is indispensable to knowledge, and when you have 
 acquired the power over yourself to stand still when you 
 want to run. to be silent when you want to talk, to rise 
 early when you choose to lie late in bed, you will have gotten 
 on the way to fix your attention on any subject which may 
 be presented to you for study. And in this way. as in most 
 all others, the advantage will be found to increase with the 
 line of progress. You will find a high satisfaction in the 
 knowledge you gain, and scarcely less in finding out that you 
 have only to try and keep on trying to accomplish just any- 
 thing you please. You may become at the age of your brother 
 Frank (and I say it with the greatest regard for his talents 
 and learning) as able a scholar and as smart a man in every 
 respect as he. Go where you may, or to whom you may, it is 
 not in school or teacher to do anything of any account for you 
 without yourself. And this is what you have to do for your- 
 self : You must discipline yourself to do what you dislike, and 
 to do it with attention, for the sake of the benefits to be 
 derived from the unpleasant and irksome duty. You must 
 
30 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 learn to study by learning to deny yourself. Fix your hours 
 (not too many, but a few in a day at first), and use to-day for 
 what it shall produce to-morrow. I would feel confident of 
 your making an able man, and an honor to all about you, if 
 you would but do this with respect to books and study. May 
 God bless you, my son. Let Oddy read this letter. Much 
 love and kisses to mother, sisters and all. 
 
 Your afifectionate father, 
 
 W. Capers. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 
 
 The following, from an affectionate and interesting memoir 
 of the childhood and boyhood days of Ellison Capers, is con- 
 tributed by his brother, Colonel Henry D. Capers, of Atlanta, 
 Georgia : 
 
 In his boyhood, indeed through the youthful part of his 
 life, Ellison was not noted for studious habits. Although 
 endowed with a very bright mind, he did not manifest any 
 great fondness for his text-books. Quick to perceive from 
 oral suggestions, he acquired knowledge more by a process 
 of mental absorption and in contact with persons whose narra- 
 tive of past events would interest him than by methods of 
 analysis. The objective method of instruction was pleasing 
 to his young mind, but such was the flow of his spirit that 
 he could not at this early period be held to any subjective 
 process of investigation. Always ready for some amusement, 
 his mind would break away from an irksome task and wander 
 to playgrounds, where he was always a leader among the boys 
 and sure to be a favorite with the girls. 
 
 Our father, the son of an officer in the Continental Army, 
 and later with General Marion's Legion of Partisan Rangers, 
 had often entertained his sons with the thrilling stories of the 
 Revolutionary War of 1776. The 4th of July was with him, 
 as with his sons, to be recognized as the anniversary of Ameri- 
 can Independence. His honored hands would often contribute 
 to aid us in devising such amusements as would fix in our 
 minds the spirit of the occasion. For days before the advent 
 of Independence Day we were getting ready to celebrate its 
 return with the zeal of young patriots. In the rear of his 
 large garden in our Philips Street home in Charleston he had 
 given us permission to construct on a small scale a crude imita- 
 tion of a fort. Such as it was, it served its purpose as a place 
 
 31 
 
32 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 at which we were to play the soldier when the 4th of July 
 should come to arouse our boyish spirits to the highest pitch 
 of patriotic enthusiasm. Some one of my elder friends 
 had given me the breech section of a musket, not more than 
 twelve or eighteen inches long, and neatly mounted upon a 
 block of oak wood. This was to serve as the gun that was to 
 defend our Fort Marion from all comers. Just behind the 
 wonderful earthwork we had erected a flagstaff, — a long fish- 
 ing pole or cane, — from the top of which floated the "Star 
 Spangled Banner" all were taught to honor. 
 
 At last the long expected day arrived. With its first dawn 
 we were up, keenly anxious to make a display of our patriotism. 
 This began with the firing of fire-crackers, and a salute from 
 our Fort Marion, whose single gun I had learned to load and 
 fire, much to the envy of the boys in our neighborhood. The 
 troops who were to garrison our fort consisted of three boys : 
 Henry, aged eleven, Ellison, nine, and Oddy, not quite seven. 
 Our uniforms consisted of blue flannel jackets, white trousers, 
 and cocked hats made from some one of the city papers, into 
 which had been inserted for plumes the tail feathers of an old 
 red rooster, that he had reluctantly parted with the day before. 
 When our army had assembled the question arose: Who 
 would be the commanding officer? I claimed the honor by 
 right of seniority in age ; Ellison claimed it by right of the 
 sword he wore. So matters stood, when Ellison's adroit 
 diplomacy settled the question. "Now, Henry," said he, "you 
 have a fine drum, and you can beat it better than any boy. 
 There can be no army without a drummer, and you zvill be in 
 front," and so on with persuasive pleading until I yielded, hav- 
 ing been led to believe that a drummer was about the most 
 important officer in an anny. Having formed his mighty host, 
 we were about to begin our march back to Fort Marion when, 
 hearing laughter from the upper piazza of the house, whom 
 should we see there at this early hour but our father and 
 sisters, who had been silently witnessing all that had transpired. 
 In a merry tone our father asked : "Whose army do you 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 33 
 
 belong to? Are you Marion's men, or do you follow Tarleton, 
 or are you Tories?" We had often heard from him all about 
 the Tories, and had often had our young minds excited by the 
 details of their plundering expeditions, and so of the blood- 
 thirsty Tarleton, while many had been the thrilling narrations 
 of Marion's heroism and the exploits of his men. Waving 
 his sword, our commander promptly answered : "We are 
 Marion's men, sir, and are going to his fort; old Tarleton 
 can't stop us either," and with a hearty cheer from our admir- 
 ing friends, away we marched to the thump! thump! of my 
 drum, our little brother Oddy, with a toy gun on his shoulder, 
 stretching his short legs to keep up with the longer steps of 
 his older brothers. 
 
 The siege of Fort Marion over, we marched to our tent 
 and found that our good mothers had placed a table upon the 
 platform, on which were a bountiful supply of substantial 
 food and all kinds of nice things tempting to the appetites of 
 hungry, roving boys. . . . 
 
 Having done full justice to our dinner, and drunk 
 lemonade and eaten cake and ice cream to our hearts' content, 
 servants came, and in a few moments our tent assumed the 
 appearance of a rostrum, from which Ellison was to deliver 
 the day's oration. From the house of our generous host came 
 the audience which was to honor our orator and his patriot 
 comrades with their presence, among them being our fathers 
 and mothers. When all had assembled our Captain Gregg 
 came to the front of the platform and stated that the exercises 
 would be opened with prayer by Bishop Capers. 
 
 I have often tried to recall the scene at this moment as it 
 presented itself to my wandering and unappreciative mind. 
 Many years have since given to me the experience of a father, 
 and developed the keen sensitiveness of those most mysterious 
 bonds of sympathy that unite a family circle about the shrine 
 of father's and mother's devoted loves. The inspiration of 
 this occasion, the genial waraith of a patriot's spirit, the pathos 
 of a father's prayer for God's blessing on the youth into whose 
 
34 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 keeping were ultimately to come the destinies of the country, 
 were then not realized by one of my tender years. 
 
 As this scene in the panorama of childhood's life now comes 
 before me, I can no longer wonder at the evident emotion 
 of my good father, as he made intercession to the throne of 
 Heaven's grace. 
 
 Next in order came the announcement of the orator of the 
 day, who was introduced as "Captain Capers of Fort Marion." 
 Ellison came forward with perfect self-possession and deliv- 
 ered the following address* with an easy grace of movement 
 and with a distinct and fervid utterance that in subsequent 
 years was to distinguish him as "orator nascitur" : 
 
 "My companions of the little boys' company of archers: 
 
 "This is a great day. It was enacted by great men. It is 
 celebrated by great men. Before the year 1776 the Fourth of 
 July was no more than any other day of any other month, but 
 on that day our grandfathers made the Declaration of their 
 Independence of Great Britain. They had tried all they could 
 to keep their liberties under her government, but found they 
 could not. They had no choice left them but the sword. They 
 appealed to Heaven for the justice of their cause, declared 
 the country free and independent, and pledged their lives, their 
 fortunes, and their sacred honor to maintain it. It w^as nobly 
 done and they stood up bravely to it. The British came and 
 our fathers met them. They met them at Bunker's Hill, at 
 Fort Moultrie, at Eutaw. They met them like men — as they 
 were — who could not be slaves. The struggle was long and 
 terrible, but America triumphed and the whole world cried out 
 'Well done.' 
 
 "My friends and companions, we have met here to celebrate 
 our country's independence. Yes, it is our country — it is our 
 independence; — and we feel it. What if we are not grown 
 up men ? We are the stuff that men are made of, and we mean 
 to make men. That we do ! True, we are only boys yet. and 
 
 *Spoken July 4, 1847, and written by his father. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 35 
 
 little boys at that, but we are American boys, and will soon 
 become American men. Don't we look like our fathers ? And 
 we feel like them. It won't be long before we shall take their 
 places as men among men, and we mean when that time comes 
 to maintain our country's virtue and our country's rights." 
 
 My brother possessed a nature highly sensitive to all that 
 is high-minded, honorable, just, and righteous. He abhorred 
 that which was mean, low, degraded, or debasing. He was 
 ever ready to applaud a noble deed, and to contemn that which 
 is ignoble. He could not bear to see another imposed upon, 
 nor would he permit an unjust reflection upon the character 
 of the humblest of those he knew to be innocent. I recall an 
 incident in his early schoolboy days that will somewhat illus- 
 trate this characteristic of the child, and which remained with 
 him in the mature years of his manhood. Sometime after 
 the Fourth of July celebration, hitherto detailed. Ellison was 
 entered at the school of a gentleman in Charleston, the first of 
 his experiences with a male instructor. This ''school teacher" 
 (as the pedagogue was called in those days) was a prim old 
 bachelor, whose rather petulant disposition was not such as 
 would bear patiently with the mischievous boys committed to 
 his care. He was quite a tidy person in his dress, and on the 
 warm summer day, when this incident occurred, was clothed 
 in a suit of white linen. 
 
 The boys in those days made a kind of plaything they 
 called "flippers." It was a simple contrivance of whalebone 
 fixed in the end of a short stick, throwing a shot or paper 
 wad with considerable force. Several times during the school 
 session shot had flown across the schoolroom, much to the 
 annoyance of the "teacher." Ellison and another boy occupy- 
 ing adjoining seats were known to have these flippers, and had 
 been reproved for shooting paper wads at other boys during 
 school hours. One long, dull, and sleepy day, such as we have 
 in the early summer, another boy, whose seat was the one just 
 behind that occupied by Ellison, made a large paper wad which 
 
36 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 he had soaked in ink. Watching for an opportunity when the 
 "teacher's" back was turned toward him, the boy shot his ink 
 wad. striking the teacher plumb between the shoulders, where 
 was left a large splash. Immediately the schoolmaster was 
 in a passion. Seeing that Ellison and his schoolmate were 
 in quite a laughing mood, and that the lx)y who had shot the 
 paper wad was apparently engaged with his book, he called the 
 former up and, notwithstanding their positive denials and 
 emphatic protests, proceeded to punish them. The mode of 
 inflicting punishment at that time was by striking on the open 
 palm with a rattan cane from three to five blows. "Hold out 
 your hand, sir," was the command, and if the boy refused 
 down came the rattan on his shoulders and on his back. The 
 other boy was the first of the two to receive a severe punish- 
 ment. He had refused to hold out his hand, and had been 
 cruelly whipped. When it came to Ellison's turn, with his face 
 flushed and an expression of the utmost indignation, he held 
 out his hand. Down in cruel stroke came the cane, 
 which he instantly grasped, jerking it from the hand of the 
 irate master, whom he then struck with all the force his young 
 arm could express, and then left the building. My seat was 
 among the larger boys, some distance from the one assigned 
 Ellison. Near me was the oldest and the largest boy attending 
 this school. His name was McBeth. He was quite a manly 
 youth, and among the boys an "arbiter maximus" in all dis- 
 putes such as children often have with one another. Rising 
 from his seat, McBeth spoke to the surprised and amazed 
 instructor about in these words : "Mr. Blank, you have whipped 
 the wrong boy; it was that cowardly sneak," — pointing to the 
 boy who had shot the ink ball — "who shot the wad and sat 
 quietly in his seat while you were whipping innocent boys." 
 "Can that be true?" the teacher inquired of the guilty boy, 
 whose confusion and mean expression betrayed him into con- 
 fession. Mr. Blank at once ordered the culprit to take his cap 
 and books and go to his home. He never returned to Mr. 
 Blank's school, at least while I continued there. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 37 
 
 Li his seventeenth year Ellison was entered as a cadet at 
 the South Carolina Military Academy. It was during this 
 cadetship that my brother first met the one who, of all others. 
 was to have the most potent influence over his future life. No 
 man can become superior to, nor can he possess the power to 
 control, the moral force acting constantly and directly on his 
 nature during the intimate relation he must sustain to a wife. 
 
 My memory cherishes the peculiar features of our ante- 
 bellum civilization in the Southern States, especially in the 
 "tide water" or seacoast region of South Carolina. Before 
 me now comes the picture of wide-spreading limbs of a grand 
 live oak, from which in trailing festoons hangs the drapery 
 of moss, making this giant tree to appear as if one of the 
 gray-bearded indices of centuries. In the shade of one of these 
 monarchs of the forest I recall a picnic party, near Mount 
 Pleasant, where charming young ladies, daughters of the 
 planters of the vicinity, were met by gallant young men for a 
 day of joyous pastime. The happy hearts of lovable youth 
 made entrancing music for the soul in those days that knew no 
 shade of sorrow. Among these were Miss Charlotte Palmer, 
 of Cherry Grove Plantation, and Cadet Ellison Capers. 
 Whether in the dance, or in a ramble through the inviting 
 shades of sylvan bowers, or at the sumptuous feast that loving 
 mothers had provided, it was quite evident that Ellison and 
 "Lottie" were paired. I cannot say that this was their first 
 meeting. — they may have met before. — but let that be as it 
 may have been, the course of true love was running smooth on 
 this glad day, and so continued. Endowed with the high spirit 
 of her illustrious ancestor. General Francis Marion ; having a 
 face in which beauty and gentleness were happily blended 
 with an expression of mental strength ; graceful in her move- 
 ment, amiable in her disposition, she reflected then and always 
 the graces of social refinement and Christian culture. Such 
 was the Heaven-appointed arbiter of a devoted husband's 
 future life. 
 
 Oh, the merry, romping days of childhood ! "When 
 
SS THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the love of the soul was in leaves and flowers !" and the still 
 happier days of bouyant youth and young manhood, freed from 
 the cares, the anxieties, the perplexing doubts, and fears of 
 maturer years. 
 
 There were among the valued portraits adorning the home 
 of my brother, when I last visited it, two that were very attrac- 
 tive to me — one of his lovely wife, the other of himself, made 
 by a master of his art about the time of his marriage. If it is 
 possible for some competent artist to transfer these to some 
 page of his memoir, an appreciative person will find in their 
 faces all and more than I have attempted to delineate in this 
 imperfect sketch. 
 
 On February 24, 1859, Ellison Capers married Charlotte 
 Rebecca Palmer, the youngest daughter of John Gendron and 
 Catharine Couturier Palmer. The ceremony was solemnized 
 at "Cherry Grove," the plantation home of the bride's parents, 
 the Rev. Robert Johnston being the officiating minister. 
 
 Charlotte Rebecca Palmer's ancestry is a notable one. On 
 her maternal side were Thomas Broughton, Governor of 
 South Carolina under the Crown, and Nathaniel Johnson. 
 Governor of South Carolina under the proprietory govern- 
 ment; as well as the Dwights of Denham, Mass. Through 
 the marriage of Samuel Dwight to the daughter of General 
 Francis Marion's oldest brother, Isaac Marion, Charlotte 
 Palmer was the granddaughter of Marion's adopted son and 
 nephew, Francis Dwight, whose name was changed by request 
 of General Marion from Dwight to Marion. Francis Marion 
 had eight children, all daughters — not a son to perpetuate the 
 name of the great Revolutionary hero. 
 
 In the French emigration of 1689 one hundred and eighty 
 families came to America and bought lands on the lower Santee 
 from the warlike Santee Indians. There they settled James 
 Town, subsequently moving up the Santee into St. John's 
 Parish. One of these early French Huguenot settlers, Phillip 
 Gendron, is spoken of by the historian of the old places and 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 39 
 
 people of St. Stephen's Parish as "one of the pillars of the 
 church" (French Protestant) at James Town. His daughter, 
 Marianne Gendron, married John Palmer, of "Gravel Hill" 
 Plantation, a "gentleman whose successful enterprise in the 
 collection of naval stores has caused him to be remembered in 
 our days by the distinguishing appellation of "Turpentine 
 John Palmer." His son Richard was one of Marion's captains. 
 His commission is dated August, 1781, and signed by "John 
 Rutledge, Governor," and "Francis Marion, Brigadier-General 
 Militia." So Charlotte Rebecca Palmer's grandfather, John 
 Palmer, and Ellison Capers' grandfather, William Capers, were 
 both captains in the service of the distinguished Revolutionary 
 leader, Francis Marion. 
 
 Thus it is seen that in the converging lines of Mrs. Capers' 
 ancestry there were commingled the characteristic virtues of 
 Cavalier English, New England Puritan, and French Hugue- 
 not. In the war between the States her brother, Francis Gen- 
 dron, made an enviable record for himself as lieutenant- 
 colonel of the Holcomb Legion. The subjoined communica- 
 tion from Brigadier-General Gist indicates the esteem in which 
 this gallant soldier was held by his comrades in the Confederate 
 service. 
 
 Headquarters, James Island, St. Andrews, 
 
 McClouds, March 24, 1863. 
 Mr. Richard Yeadon, 
 
 Dear Sir: Not knowing the address of the relatives of the late Lt. 
 Col. F. Gendron Palmer, I have to request that you transmit to them 
 the inclosed order. 
 
 Battery No. 3 situated near Johns Island Ferry is an important and 
 admirably built Barbette Battery, and as you will perceive by the order 
 is called in honor of the gallant and lamented Lt. Col. Palmer of the 
 Holcomb Legion. 
 
 I feel assured from your connection with Col. Palmer that you will 
 be pleased to be the medium of transmitting to his relatives this com- 
 pliment to his memory. 
 
 I am, Very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 S. R. Gist, 
 Brig. Genl. Com'd'g. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 MILITARY LIFE* 
 
 In the following fragmentary memoranda of Bishop Capers' 
 "Military Life," we have an original account of General 
 Pettigrew's interview with Major Anderson, demanding his 
 return from Fort Sumter to Fort Moultrie, as given by one 
 of the principals, and here published for the first time. 
 
 "Having received an appointment from the Board of Visitors 
 of the South Carolina Military Academies as a pay cadet, I 
 entered the Arsenal Academy in Columbia. January i, 1854. 
 My application was made from Anderson County, where my 
 father was then living. My class numbered eighty-odd, but 
 before the year was out 'Distinction's fan, puffing at all, 
 winnowed the light away,' and we went down to Charleston 
 numbering thirty-nine. The "winnowing" process went on 
 until we received our diplomas, on the i8th of November, 1857, 
 when we numbered twenty. 
 
 "After being graduated, and at the meeting of the Board of 
 Visitors in December, my classmate, Teunent, — who took first 
 honor in our class, — and I were appointed 'Resident Grad- 
 uates,' with the rank of second lieutenant, and were ordered 
 
 *The Capers family of the South, and we believe it exclusively a 
 Southern family, made a remarkable fighting record during the late 
 war. From the album of a friend we send you the following as embrac- 
 ing the members of this family who were soldiers in the Confederate 
 Army under the red-crossed banner of Dixie : 2 brigadier generals, 
 I colonel of artillery, i lieutenant-colonel of artillery, 2 colonels of 
 cavalry, i major of artillery, i lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, 3 captains 
 of infantry, 3 sergeants, 2 chaplains, 3 surgeons, 14 privates; a total of 
 2,7. These were without exceptions brothers, uncles, or cousins. Nine 
 were killed in battle, 3 died of wounds, 2 died of desease, 13 were 
 wounded more than once, 7 were wounded once, and only 3 came through 
 safe. Eleven of the officers were promoted for gallantry on the field of 
 battle. — New Eclectric Magazine, May, 1869. 
 
 40 
 
LIEUTENANT ELLISON CAPERS, C. S. A. 
 (From a portrait, 1859.) 
 
 Opt^ositc (•age 40. 
 
MRS. ELLISON CAPERS 
 (From a portrait, 1859.) 
 
 Opposite page 40. 
 
42 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 God bless him all the way. I wish you would tell him that we 
 expect him to stay with us when he comes to town. 
 
 I saw just now the most interesting sight I have yet seen in 
 our little home. The weather being cool, I lighted our fire 
 to-night, and little Katie, my daughter, was very much 
 delighted with the blaze. Bess sat her up in her little chair, 
 held her in, and she was charmed. It was the first fireside 
 picture for me, and oh ! the memories that come thronging to 
 my heart! Think of your boy, who was so fond of fun and 
 joy, looking into the flame of his own fireside with his wife 
 and daughter ! 
 
 Lottie, Stevens, and I dined with "Tady" to-day. She was 
 as usual ; perhaps a little feebler. 
 
 I know of no news that would interest you. You are not 
 fond of political news, but I fear, my dear mother, you and I 
 will see the bitter fruits of a civil war before very long. I 
 regard the election of Lincoln full cause for a dissolution of 
 our Union, but if the concurrence of the Cotton States (1 
 despair of the Southern States) cannot be secured, I am most 
 decidedly opposed to the separate action of South Carolina. 
 I, however, will make her fate my fate. And may God deliver 
 us from the terrible issue. I sincerely trust that our sister 
 Cotton States may be awakened to a sense of their wrongs, the 
 imperative demands upon their honor, and to a proper apprecia- 
 tion of their danger. Viewing the political state of our section 
 as I do. I must think that the men opposed to disunion in the 
 event of Lincoln's election, — which I regard as certain, — are 
 slumbering over a smoking volcano, which may suddenly blow 
 the sleepers into inevitable ruin. 
 
 I wish you would show brother George this, and tell him 
 I ask him to write me and give me his opinion in reference to 
 the likelihood of Georgia's taking active measures. He will 
 greatly oblige me by so doing. Much love to brother George, 
 Sister "Tady," and the children. Lottie joins me sincerely 
 in this. Good night, my own mother, and may God bless you. 
 
 Your Ellison. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 43 
 
 Citadel, December 9th, i860. 
 My Own Dear Oddy : 
 
 I send you a portion of our departed mother's hair. Put it 
 carefully away until you can afford to have it put into a locket. 
 
 We are as usual here. A feeling of loneliness pervades my 
 heart. I am constantly impressed with the idea that our family 
 circle is broken up, to be no more united. We have no longer 
 a center on earth. But if we could only realize it, we still 
 have the same constant center in heaven. May we unite there ! 
 You must write to me often. 
 
 I am very apprehensive of sad times in the future. I fear 
 our political troubles will end in blood. Hugh Legare said in 
 a speech, delivered in Congress in 1838, in reference to the 
 Abolition crusade, that if it was permitted to be carried on 
 "the sun of the Union would go down — it will go down in 
 blood." We shall live. I solemnly fear, to see the verification 
 of this prophecy. I desire the dissolution of the Union, but 
 I pray that it may be peaceable. We have no fight for glory in 
 this war. It will be, if it comes, a terrible carnage, in which 
 brothers will imbrue their hands in each other's blood; and 
 when it will end God only knows. I fear very much that the 
 cowardly policy of Mr. Buchanan will involve us here at our 
 forts before the first day of '61. God forbid it! Butif the worst 
 comes to the worst, I trust, my dear brother, that a noble 
 patriotism may bear us through the sad struggle, and that we 
 may be constantly sustained by a cheering consciousness that 
 we are doing our duty. 
 
 Yours devotedly, Ellison. 
 
 Again taking up the journal of his military life we read: 
 "In December of this year [i860] a regiment of rifles having 
 been formed in Charleston, composed of the five companies of 
 the city, I had the honor to be unanimously elected major of 
 the same, and accepted. The regiment was officered as 
 follows: Colonel, J. Johnston Pettigrew; Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 
44 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 John L. Branch; Major, Ellison Capers; Adjutant, Theo. 
 Barker; Quartermaster, Allen J. Hauckel, Louis Young; Sur- 
 geon. Geo. E. Wescot; Assistant Surgeon, Thos. L. Ogier, Jr. ; 
 Judge Advocate, Chas. E. B. Flagg. 
 
 "We made our first parade on the 20th of December, I acting 
 adjutant. The order for the parade was as follows: 
 
 Headquarters ist Reg. Rifles, 
 Charleston, Dec. i8th, '60. 
 
 General Orders: 
 No. I. 
 
 There will be a parade of the First Regiment of Rifles, for drill and 
 instruction, on Thursday, the 20th inst. 
 
 The line will be formed on the Battalion Parade precisely at 9 1/2 
 o'clock a. m. 
 
 Officers in command of the respective companies composing this Regi- 
 ment are hereby ordered to report with their commands to the Adjutant 
 on the Battalion Parade at 20 minutes past nine o'clock. The Non. 
 Com. Staff will conform to the same. 
 
 The commissioned staff officers will report to the Colonel at his resi- 
 dence, Tradd Street, at 20 minutes past 9 a. m. 
 
 The commanding officers of the First, Sixth, and the right center 
 companies will detail a sergeant, each, from their companies, who will 
 act as General Guide, and are hereby ordered to report themselves to 
 the Adjutant with the officers commanding their respective companies. 
 
 By order Col. J. Johnston Pettigrew, 
 E. Capers, Commanding First Regiment Rifles, S. C. M. 
 
 Acting Adjutant. 
 
 "In accordance with his order the regiment paraded on the 
 20th, marching up to Magnolia for drill. While on drill we 
 received the Ordinance of Secession which had been passed by 
 the Convention then in session in the city. The Ordinance 
 was read to the command by me, and received with the greatest 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 "Major Robert Anderson, commanding the United States 
 troops at Fort Moultrie, having attempted the destruction of 
 Fort Moultrie on the night of the 25th, and removed his com- 
 mand to Fort Sumter to prevent, as he said, a collision with the 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 45 
 
 troops of South Carolina, Governor Pickens sent his mihtary 
 aid, Colonel Pettigrew, over to Major Anderson on the morn- 
 ing of the 26th to demand that Major Anderson return to 
 Fort Moultrie and restore the status of the forts in the harbor. 
 By his request I accompanied Colonel Pettigrew. We went 
 over in uniform, in a small boat, rowed by negroes. 
 
 **T will give an account of this ofificial visit to Fort Sumter, 
 as I believe it is the first military interview of the Government 
 of South Carolina with 'foreign powers.' 
 
 "We were met at the wharf of the fort by the orderly ser- 
 geant. Captain Seymour. Colonel Pettigrew sent in his card, 
 and we were asked up. 
 
 "We saw Major Anderson in the presence of his offi- 
 cers in a room on the south front of the fort; everything 
 in and about the fort being in confusion. Aly attention was 
 struck by seeing a two-inch gun sunk in the parade, to be fired 
 as a mortar, and bearing on the city. In the interview Major 
 Anderson was polite and kind in his manner, and his officers 
 who stood around him were intently interested. Colonel Petti- 
 grew protested in the name of Governor Pickens against the 
 destruction of Fort Moultrie and the removal of the troops to 
 Sumter, saying that it was a violation of an understanding 
 between South Carolina and the United States Government, 
 and that Anderson must go back to Fort Moultrie. Major 
 Anderson explained in a most polite and conciliatory way that 
 his move was a precaution on his part to prevent a collision 
 with our volunteers, who he feared would attack him in Fort 
 Moultrie. He instanced our guard boats at night as seeming 
 to him a constant threat of attack, and as he was left without 
 orders from the Government at Washington, and was at liberty 
 to take up any of the posts he commanded in his district, he 
 took up Sumter of his own authority, and to keep the peace. 
 'In this contest between the North and the South my sympa- 
 thies,' he said, 'are with the South, but I am an officer of the 
 Government of the United States, and as such I must do my 
 
46 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 duty. My compliments to the Governor, and say to him I 
 cannot and will not go back to Fort Moultrie.' 
 
 "After some further conversation we bowed our respects and 
 left the fort, reporting our interview to the Governor and 
 Council at the City Hall." 
 
 The following afternoon the Union flag was raised over 
 Fort Sumter, and then Governor Pickens ordered the P'irst 
 Regiment of Rifles to take possession of Fort Moultrie and 
 Castle Pinckney. He instructed them to make a careful inven- 
 tory of all property and forward to him. Major Capers com- 
 manded a detachment against Castle Pinckney, and in after 
 years he was fond of relating this, his first experience in actual 
 war. He described the enthusiasm with which the company 
 received the order to "take Castle Pinckney," for, said he, 
 "the men believed that theirs would be the first guns to be 
 fired in the cause of Southern independence and Southern 
 liberty." With a keen appreciation of humor. General Capers 
 told of how, as a young and inexperienced officer, he deployed 
 his men, and with what caution they approached the fort. 
 On they went ! But the guns remained silent. Then the com- 
 mand "Charge !" was given, and the soldier boys dashed for- 
 ward and knocked in the doors of the fort. To their dismay 
 and chagrin they stood breathless in the midst of a deserted 
 post. The Federal soldiers had been withdrawn during the 
 night and only a few officers were left in charge, who made 
 a verbal protest. At their request they were transferred to 
 Fort vSumter. 
 
 In making his memorandum (1888) Rev. Mr. Capers did 
 not mention that his health was very delicate at the time 
 South Carolina took the momentous step which led her 
 Southern sisters out of the Federal Union, and that he 
 immediately offered his service to Governor Pickens. 
 However, his family physician and the regimental sur- 
 geon both advised against his entering the active service 
 of the army, giving it as their professional opinion that 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 47 
 
 the exposure in camp would inevitably prove fatal to him. 
 The surgeons were his personal friends, and one argument 
 by which they sought to dissuade him from enlisting was to 
 urge upon him the fact that as a teacher in a military school 
 he was not only exempt from military service, but he was 
 actually serving his State in training soldiers for the field. 
 Lieutenant Capers saw his duty otherwise, and determined to 
 enter the army. He felt, however, that he should report to Mrs. 
 Capers the result of the surgeon's examination. Returning 
 home, he found his wife eagerly awaiting him, anxious to hear 
 what the doctors had to say. Like many of the South's heroic 
 women, she had the Spartan spirit which urged their heroes 
 to battle and admonished them to return victorious or upon 
 their shields. When Lieutenant Capers told his wife of the 
 doctors' statements to him, she promptly replied: "Ellison, 
 you must go and do your duty, and we will leave the matter 
 of your health in God's keeping, trusting Him for that." Thus 
 she heartily concurred in his own patriotic sentiments, and 
 stifled, as promptly as he had done, the voice of the tempter 
 holding out the attractions of an honorable, but "bomb-proof 
 position" as professor in the State's military school. 
 
 Another opportunity for escaping the hardships of camp 
 life — which the doctors told him would destroy his health — 
 and at the same time act in an honorable position and in the 
 service of his country was tendered to Major Capers, at the 
 beginning of the war. The subjoined correspondence shows 
 him to have been offered the superintendent-ship of the famous 
 military school in North Carolina located at Hillsboro. This 
 was a great compliment to a military officer not yet twenty- 
 four years of age. 
 
 Wilmington, N. C. 
 
 May 29, 1 86 1. 
 Dear Ellison : 
 
 Can you and will you come up to Hillsboro and conduct 
 affairs for me as superintendent? Our second class, two in 
 number, has gone to the war, leaving only 3d, 4th, and 5th, 
 
48 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 in all about seventy, but increasing notwithstanding the war. 
 Gaillard will be there and some instructors for Latin who can 
 be readily procured. Now you have perhaps no great experi- 
 ence as superintendent, but you have good judgment and would 
 command the respect of the cadets, and I doubt not give ample 
 satisfaction; at any rate, if you can, I would like you to try it. 
 Richardson suffers so much from his eyes that he must 
 give up. 
 
 Lightfoot is appointed major in the North Carolina army. 
 Schaller is unserviceable ; your humble servant is senior colonel 
 of the North Carolina regulars, and the H. M. Academy is thus 
 in a fair way to "yield to the force of circumstances." I left 
 ii6 cadets there on April 17:6 have entered since, and there 
 are now, I think, 68. Having been myself appointed in the 
 most complimentary manner, first, to the command of this 
 fort, and then to the Second Regimental Infantry, I could not, 
 as a patriot, decline ; indeed I would decline no position in 
 which I could now be useful to the South. Meanwhile I think 
 the Academy would do good service to North Carolina, and 
 for that reason, as well as others which will suggest themselves, 
 I wish to keep it up. 
 
 I propose to offer for the first month $150, you paying travel- 
 ing expenses, and $125 for each subsequent month of the 
 academic year, ending November 26. I suppose that as there 
 are now fewer cadets than usual at the Citadel they can spare 
 you, and — Jones would consent to your coming. If you can, 
 please do me the service as a personal favor of a most important 
 nature. If it should happen that you can't come, please make 
 some suggestion. 
 
 As soon as Richardson leaves we could give you his quar- 
 ters, and make you right comfortable. 
 
 When you make up your mind, which please do at once, 
 telegraph to Colonel W. S. G. Andrews, Goldsboro, North 
 Carolina, if favorable, and say "Tell Col. Tew I will come." 
 I shall write to Colonel Andrews and he will understand, 
 and write to me. You can write as soon as practical. Di- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 49 
 
 rect your letter to Fort Macon, Morehead City, North Caro- 
 lina. 
 
 With best respects to Mrs. Capers and to your colleagues, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 (Signed) C. C. Tew. 
 
 Wilmington, June 5. 
 Dear Ellison : 
 
 I have heard nothing from you; do come; pay no object; 
 just name your amount. We are getting recruits, and can, I 
 am confident, run up to 80 or 90 cadets. Telegraph me here, 
 and write also. We can give you quarters. I am assigned to 
 the Southern Department of the Coast Defence of the State, 
 and will be here some time. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 (Signed) C. C. Tew. 
 
 Wilmington, N. C. 
 
 June 1 8th, 1861. 
 Dear Ellison : 
 
 I have just time to reply to your letter, which reached me 
 this morning. Of course I appreciate your position, and know 
 that you could only decline under the circumstances, though 
 it is a matter of great regret to me, as I am now about to issue 
 the order for suspension of the institution indefinitely. It is 
 a great sacrifice, but there is no help for it. ... 
 
 Very truly yours. 
 
 (Signed) C. C. Tew. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 OPENING OF THE WAR 
 
 Elected major of the First Rifles, Ellison Capers entered 
 upon his career as a soldier in the service of the Southern Con- 
 federacy. The motives which actuated him when he threw 
 in his lot with South Carolina in that fateful struggle were the 
 same high motives that guided him through life — conscientious 
 devotion to duty, to God, and to his country. What the North- 
 ern historian, James Ford Rhodes, has said of Lee ("Hist," 
 vol. iii, p. 413), can fairly and truthfully be said of Ellison 
 Capers : "The course he took was, from his point of view, and 
 judged by his inexorable and pure conscience, the path of duty 
 to which a high sense of honor called him." "For Ellison 
 Capers to have sided against the South would have been, in 
 his case at least, to do dishonor to all the noblest affections of 
 his nature, all the traditions of his people, and the principles of 
 free government which from childhood he had been taught 
 to cherish."* 
 
 We have seen the part he took in the initial maneuvers pre- 
 ceding the bombardment of Fort Sumter. 
 
 During the short siege of the works Major Capers com- 
 manded light batteries on Sullivan's Island. Throughout the 
 ensuing summer he was with his regiment, engaged in erecting 
 defenses for the coast. When Colonel Pettigrew resigned to 
 go to Virginia, Major Capers was promoted Lieutenant- 
 Colonel of the First Rifles. In December, 1861, Colonel H. C. 
 Stevens (South Carolina Militia), and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Capers began to form a regiment for twelve months' sers^ice. 
 The Marion Rifles, of Charleston, Captain Sigwald command- 
 
 *Bishop Gailor. 
 50 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 51 
 
 ing, was the first company to agree to serve in the proposed 
 regiment. By special order No. 6, dated January 13, 1862, a 
 camp of instruction and organization was established by the 
 Adjutant-General of the State and located in St. Andrews 
 Parish, on the main line of the Savannah & Charleston Rail- 
 road. This camp of instruction was just four miles from 
 Charleston, and was placed under command of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Capers. Early in the succeeding February President 
 Davis called upon the Governor of South Carolina for five 
 regiments of infantry "for the war," and by the middle of 
 March all of the companies composing the Twenty-fourth 
 South Carolina Regiment had changed their term of service 
 from "twelve months" to "the war." and thus the Twenty- 
 fourth Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers, was fully 
 organized. On Cole's Island. James Island, Combehee, Ashe- 
 poo, Pocotaligo, and near Wilmington, North Carolina, the 
 24th South Carolina Volunteers did gallant service in 1862. 
 The Twenty-fourth remained on duty on Cole's Island until 
 the last of May, when, the island being abandoned by Gen- 
 eral Pemberton's order, the regiment was ordered to James 
 Island. 
 
 In the biography of his father. General Isaac I. Stevens, U. 
 S. A., Captain Hazard Stevens gives us a detailed account of 
 the operations by the Federal forces which precipitated the 
 James Island campaign, with the city of Charleston as the 
 coveted reward of success. It appears from his account that 
 General Hunter and General Benham adopted a blundering 
 plan instead of the more intelligent and more hopeful one 
 urged by General Stevens, with the consequence that there 
 was no concert of action by the Federal troops, and they were 
 rushing in by "piecemeal" against the formidable works the 
 Confederates had thrown up in front of Secessionville, with 
 the inevitable result of a humiliating defeat and the failure of 
 the campaign. We quote what Captain Stevens has to say in 
 regard to the landing of troops on James Island and the 
 engagement of June 3, as he too, though unconsciously, bears 
 
52 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 testimony to the conspicuous gallantry of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Capers upon that occasion. He says : 
 
 "The transports landed two miles below Grimball's planta- 
 tion and opposite a hamlet on John's Island, known as Legare- 
 ville. A strong picket was thrown ashore on James Island for 
 the night, it being too late to land the troops. On the 3d of 
 June they [the troops] were put on shore in small boats and, 
 General Stevens advancing with them, drove the enemy back, 
 who were in strong force, and after sharp action captured three 
 guns which they were moving to their inner line; and estab- 
 lished a permanent picket two and one half miles from the 
 river, running diagonally across the island from Big Folly 
 Creek to Stono River, near Grimball. Driving back the enemy. 
 General Stevens occupied the negro quarters with six com- 
 panies. 
 
 The enemy held the woods in front, and both sides 
 opened a brisk musketry fire across the broad intervening cot- 
 ton field. Soon afterward a column of the enemy, apparently 
 a regiment, which was in fact the Charleston Battalion, the 
 crack corps of the city, emerged from the woods and advanced 
 by the flank in columns of four headed by a mounted officer. 
 In this order they charged down the road and across the field 
 at the double quick, and notwithstanding the fire of the com- 
 panies stationed in the negro quarters actually penetrated the 
 huildings; our companies gave way, and for a moment they 
 [the Confederates] had the position." 
 
 This attack upon the One Hundredth Pennsylvania Regi- 
 ment, after it had driven in the pickets in front of Secession- 
 ville, and pushed them across the causeway at Rivers' Place, 
 opened the James Island Campaign of '62. The "mounted offi- 
 cer" to whom Captain Stevens refers as leading the gallant 
 assault was Lieutenant-Colonel Capers. As bearing upon Cap- 
 tain Stevens' account of the engagement of the 3d. and 
 for an accurate statement of the facts, the following quota- 
 tion from a letter written by Bishop Capers to Mr. Yates 
 Snowden is of interest. The letter bears date Columbia, S. C, 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 53 
 
 October 5, 1900. "In Mr. Stevens' account of the engage- 
 ment of June 3, he does not state facts. If you will read Gail- 
 lard's and my own reports of the affair ("War Records," vol. 
 xiv. ), you will readily see the exaggerations of Mr. Stevens, 
 
 "I led the charge on the negro houses and we captured the 
 whole force, but I was obliged to order a retreat and could 
 bring away only Captain Clina and about twenty of his men, 
 because re-enforcements were hurrying on us from the Bat- 
 tery Island side of the Island, and the guns in Stono 
 had opened on our men. The charge was not made by the 
 Charleston Battalion alone, but by three companies of the 
 Charleston Battalion and one of the Twenty-fourth South 
 Carolina Volunteers. . . . Chichester, in attempting to bring 
 his heavy siege howitzers over River's East Causeway, got three 
 of them badly bogged, and had to leave them. I was sent before 
 day on June 3, with part of the Twenty-fourth and a big rope, 
 to pull the guns out of the bog, and had no idea of a fight until I 
 got to Lamar's fort. There Lamar told me if I got the guns 
 I would have to fight for them. / did fight for them, and 
 drove the enemy back to Legare's negro houses and charged the 
 houses, and when we fell back, we fell back to a ditch way 
 
 beyond the and why the regiments, which by that 
 
 time came up and took position at River's, did not pull the 
 guns out of the bog I cannot say. They stayed there all day 
 the 3d, and were carried off that night, while our whole force 
 fell back to the lines and to Secessionville." 
 
 The poet Paul H. Hayne relates the following incident as 
 told to him by one of the soldiers who took part in the attack 
 upon the strong position of the enemy in the cabins just 
 referred to : " 'The Blue Boys' occupied a powerful position 
 behind some dense undergrowth fringed by an orchard, and 
 besides had possession of some negro cabins, which protected 
 them finely. It became imperative to dislodge the enemy, when 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Capers in command galloped to the front 
 of the Confederates exclaiming : T want volunteers to charge 
 the enemy in those cabins. Boys, who will go with me ?' In 
 
54 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 response one company of the Twenty- fourth and three com- 
 panies of the Charleston BattaHon stepped out. 'Forward!' 
 shouted the leader. 'God and our rights! Charge!' A 
 spirited attack ensued, splendidly led by the young colonel, 
 and the Yankees were driven pell-mell from their lodgment 
 in woods and cabins and fiercely pursued until the gunboats 
 were opened to protect them." Thus at the very inception of 
 his army life Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was modestly but 
 heroically proving himself worthy of his heritage as patriot 
 and soldier. 
 
 On the morning of June i6, at one o'clock, the Battle of 
 Secessionville on James Island was opened by what Colonel 
 Capers described as "the gallant assault of the Eighth Michi- 
 gan, Seventh Connecticut, Seventy-ninth New York, the Twen- 
 ty-eighth Massachusetts, the One Hundredth Pennsylvania, 
 and the Forty-sixth New York, with Rockwell and Stranham's 
 light batteries, and a company of engineers." In the battle 
 which ensued Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was detached by 
 Colonel Hagood's order to open and direct the fire of the two- 
 gun battery in front of Clark's house, on the west flank of the 
 work of Secessionville. 
 
 In writing to Mrs. Capers on the day following the engage- 
 ment he relates this, his first experience in war as artil- 
 lerist. (He inclosed a map to which the letters refer.) "It was 
 all important to open the battery at 'A' (Reed's Battery), and 
 Colonel Hagood (senior to Stevens and in command) ordered 
 me to gallop round via the cross roads 'B' and order the fire of 
 the battery on 'H'. (On this run I lost the nice haversack you 
 made me.) When I got to the battery I found a lieutenant and 
 ten or fifteen men, and in reply to my question why they had 
 not fired on the enemy just over the creek, the lieutenant said 
 that he and his men were green and had just come; did not 
 understand the ammunition, but were ready and anxious to do 
 their best. I loaded and pointed the right gun, which kicked 
 off the narrow platform and upset. Then I loaded and 
 pointed the other piece, double shelled, guessed at the distance 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 55 
 
 for the fuses, and put two willing fellows with hand and spike 
 to stop the recoil, and then let the rascals have it. By this time 
 the men took hold as if they had been drilled, and I ordered 
 them to drive the Yankees away from 'H'. I then galloped 
 up to Clark's house and reported the situation to General 
 Evans, who was upstairs in the window, looking over the 
 field. General Smith was there also, and they ordered me 
 peremptorily back to fight the guns. I went immediately, and 
 we kept our piece going as fast as we could load and fire. 
 Both the generals thanked me personally, and both of them 
 said that my gun mainly contributed to drive the enemy from 
 'H.' I am sure Ave contributed our full share in the gallant 
 fight, and with that I am satisfied, as I know you will be." 
 
 That this little one-gun battery did contribute its full share 
 to the victory is also attested by the frequent references Cap- 
 tain Hazard Stevens makes to the havoc it wrought among 
 his father's and other troops. In describing the attack of 
 the Federal troops he says : "For a mile to the right of Bat- 
 tery Lamar on the main line was Battery Reed, commanding 
 the twenty- four pounders and commanding the ground in front 
 of the Battery Lamar with a searching cross fire." And again 
 when describing the assault upon the works, the same author 
 says : "While the Highlanders were thus storming the work, 
 the left wing of the Roundheads and some of the Highlanders 
 were cut off and driven to the left by a terrible hail which 
 smote them, yet pushed determinedly on and dashed them- 
 selves against the fort. But here the front was well protected 
 by abattis, and afforded no opening, and the Battery Reed 
 raked them terribly. The men fell by scores, the line losi its 
 impetus, and the survivors threw themselves on the ground 
 behind the cotton rows for protection." And a third time he 
 comments on the effective work of this famous little battery, 
 when he describes the assault of the Pennsylvania, Rhode 
 Island, and New Hampshire troops: "For half an hour they 
 maintained the contest, sustaining unflinchingly a severe fire 
 from the fort and the Fourth Louisiana Battalion, which 
 
56 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 hastened to re-enforce it, raked by the Reed Battery on the 
 left, and smitten in the rear by Boyce's field battery." 
 
 A few days after the battle of Secessionville Colonel Capers 
 was gratified to receive this well merited recognition from the 
 Commanding General, commending the splendid service of 
 the little battery and his own prowess and courage : 
 
 Headquarters, James Island, 
 
 June 22, 1862. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Capers, 24TH S. C, 
 
 James Island. 
 Colonel: In the absence of General Evans, first in command on the 
 i6th inst., allow me to thank you and the small detachment of North 
 Carolina Artillery under your command for the efficient and distinguished 
 service w^hich w^as rendered by the Battery Reed upon that date. Make 
 known to the detachment my thanks. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 William Duncan Smith, 
 
 Brig.-General Commanding. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Capers was already beginning to inspire 
 his men with that confidence and enthusiasm so essential to 
 successful leadership. Many evidences of this are at hand, 
 but we select as being perhaps the most natural expression of 
 this sentiment this description of the young officer, found in 
 a letter writter by one of his company captains, to the "home 
 folks," December 14, 1862. 
 
 "We are expecting to go to General Lee's assistance now 
 in a few days. Colonel Capers is in command, and I know 
 we will be led in a becoming manner. He is a splendid, gal- 
 lant, dashing fellow, not more than twenty-eight years of age. 
 Let him go where he will, I will follow him !" 
 
 It may be added that Colonel Capers was then not as old 
 even as twenty-eight, having celebrated his twenty-fifth birth- 
 day in October just past. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 FROM SHILOH TO JACKSON 
 
 Flushed with his success in the capture of Forts Henry and 
 Donelson, General Grant marched his army south. The Con- 
 federate forces under General Albert Sidney Johnston were 
 slowly withdrawn toward their rendezvous at Corinth, Miss. 
 By the 5th of April, 1862, the Federal Army was at Savannah 
 and Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee River. General 
 Johnston had moved out from Corinth, with a view of sur- 
 prising the enemy and fighting "the great battle of the South- 
 west." at Shiloh Church. Unavoidably delayed, his army "got 
 up" a day late, and Grant had made his dispositions to meet 
 the attack of his assailants. The battle was joined early on the 
 moming of the 6th, and was fiercely contested throughout 
 the day. By sundown the Federal army, driven to the inef- 
 fectual protection of their gunboats, and virtually routed, 
 escaped destruction only by the timely intervention of Provi- 
 dence. In General Johnston's death in this battle the master 
 hand was withdrawn. 
 
 The confusion and misunderstanding among officers after 
 Johnston fell prevented a forward movement of the whole 
 army and victory slipped from the grasp of the successful 
 Confederates. During the night Grant was re-enforced by 
 Buell's army. In the second day's fight his troops were vic- 
 torious, and, though not strong enough to pursue, they 
 remained in undisputed possession of the field. Shiloh brought 
 fresh laurels to Grant and gave prestige and power to his 
 name. The fame of him began to fill the land, his "lucky 
 star" was in the ascendency, and there were not wanting those 
 who even then looked upon him as the "Man of Destiny" 
 whose genius and devotion were to save the Union. 
 
 57 
 
58 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 In the popular mind Grant's reputation as a general chiefly 
 rests upon his campaigns in Virginia which culminated in 
 General Lee's surrender to him at Appomattox. If those cam- 
 paigns were his only contributions during the war he would 
 not deserve the high place assigned him among the great mili- 
 tary chieftains of history. 
 
 It is Grant's campaign against Vicksburg which furnishes 
 the best evidence of his military genius, indomitable persis- 
 tence, and undaunted personal courage. In this campaign he 
 reveals himself as a great soldier, a born leader of troops 
 and commander of men. We are not here engaged in writing 
 a history of this campaign, but are merely sketching the move- 
 ment of Federal and Confederate troops toward Jackson, 
 Miss., where Gist's brigade makes its first appearance in the 
 battles of the West. And yet we must pause to admire the 
 commander who planned and the soldiers v,ho executed the 
 details of this brilliant campaign. Vicksburg was the Gibral- 
 tar of the South. It was the all-important link connecting the 
 Confederacv east and we';^" of th*^ ^^i=<;issippi. As a strategic 
 point it blocked the complete navigation of the "Father of 
 Waters." In 1864 Sherman wrote to Grant: "Too great 
 importance cannot be given to the capture of Vicksburg, and 
 in the progress of time its capture will stand out as the great 
 event of the war." 
 
 Grant's efforts on the west side of the river, which occupied 
 his men most of the winter, were mere experiments and 
 availed nothing. The brilliant part of his campaign began 
 when he had finally succeeded in making a landing at Grand 
 Gulf, on the east side of the river, below Vicksburg. Hav- 
 ing planned to co-operate with General Banks in the capture 
 of Port Hudson, making New Orleans his base, and return 
 wath combined forces to the siege of Vicksburg; he learned 
 at Grand Gulf that Banks could not reach Port Hudson within 
 ten days ; and, further, that troops were being mobilized at 
 Jackson, Miss., for the relief of Pemberton in Vicksburg. He 
 therefore acted on the instinct of genius, and at once abandoned 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 59 
 
 the campaign against Port Hudson and as promptly conceived 
 and began the execution of his bold design to force his army 
 up between those of Generals Pemberton and Johnston, and 
 fight them in detail. To do this he had to abandon his base, 
 and while this relieved him of the task of keeping intact his 
 line of communication, it forced his army to the necessity of 
 living upon the country through which it passed. McCler- 
 nand's, Sherman's, and McPherson's corps were put in motion, 
 their formation running west to east, and practically parallel 
 to the railroad connecting Jackson and Vicksburg. Within 
 three weeks five battles had been fought and won, and Vicks- 
 burg finally assaulted from the east side of the river. 
 
 When Sherman's corps moved into position on Walnut 
 Ridge, where nine months before the Federal army had tried 
 in vain to make a lodgment from which to bombard the city, 
 the investment of Vicksburg was complete. 
 
 This campaign was indeed Grant's masterpiece, for while 
 it is true he fought in the sure confidence of ever-increasing 
 troops, until before General Pemberton surrendered, eighty 
 thousand Federal troops had (to use Grant's own expression) 
 "out-camped the enemy" ; yet it is also true that when he found 
 it would be ten days before Banks could co-operate with him 
 against Port Hudson, he did as Stonewall Jackson or Napoleon 
 would have done ; he appreciated the value of the time element 
 that enters into all military operations, and staked the possibili- 
 ties of ten days against the chances for success in a more 
 cautious policy of delay and preparation. He staked all and 
 w^on all. It is also true that when General Grant entered on 
 this bold campaign he did so with a full knowledge that cir- 
 cunistanccs must develop the details, and with confidence in 
 his own ability to meet contingencies as they arose. He real- 
 ized that his army must operate in a territory new to them, 
 where the inhabitants were naturally hostile to the invading 
 troops. For all this, and the manner in which the campaign 
 was brought to a successful end. General Grant deserves, as 
 he has received, unstinted praise. And yet from a retrospec- 
 
6o THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 tive point of view his task was not as difficult as it probably- 
 appeared to him, or as it has been represented. 
 
 The part Gist's brigade contributed toward making the 
 evacuation of Jackson a success furnishes a good illustration, 
 not only of how inadequate were the Confederate forces to 
 the task of "driving out the invader," but also of how skirmish 
 lines and detached forces were taken for and reported by the 
 enemy as "corps," "divisions," and "armies." A distinguished 
 soldier directs our attention to this particular occasion. He 
 says : "Looking back at the events it seems almost ludicrous 
 to read in the report of Major General McPherson, command- 
 ing the Seventeenth Army Corps, the account of the formidable 
 dispositions he made to attack the little brigade at Wright's 
 house. These dispositions are given in great detail. General 
 McPherson expresses his anxiety for the arrival of Logan's 
 division, which he wished to hold as a reserve. All of which 
 was done under the impression that 'the enemy was posted in 
 strong force under General W. H. T. Walker.' Thus, accord- 
 ing to his report, the accomplished General McPherson had six 
 brigades arrayed in battle against a little brigade of two bat- 
 talions, one regiment, and one battery of four guns, and com- 
 manded, not by General W. H. T. Walker, but by Colonel 
 Colquitt on the right and Lieutenant-Colonel Capers on the 
 left wing." , 
 
 This brings our narrative to the evacuation of Jackson, and 
 it seems well that the thread of our story be taken up where in 
 South Carolina Gist was preparing to join the army in the 
 West. 
 
 "In May, 1863, Joseph E. Johnston was ordered to the relief 
 of General Pemberton, besieged in Vicksburg, Miss., by the 
 army of General Grant. The Twenty-fourth South Carolina 
 Volunteers, with Gist's entire brigade, was among the troops 
 sent to General Johnston. The three regiments. Forty-sixth 
 Georgia, Sixteenth South Carolina, Twenty- fourth South 
 Carolina, and the Eighth Georgia Battalion marched to the 
 depot of the South Carolina railroad on Mary Street, embarked 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 6i 
 
 in freight and flat cars, and left Charleston in four sections on 
 the morning of the 6th of May, the head of the brigade arriv- 
 ing in Jackson on the evening of the 13th. after eight days 
 and seven nights of travel, transferring tents and baggage from 
 train to boat and boat to train six times."* 
 
 Along the entire route they were greeted at every station by 
 the people, who saluted them by waving flags, handkerchiefs, 
 and by every expression of patriotic approval. The men and 
 officers, crowded into unclean baggage cars or on open flats, 
 were cheerful and exultant, and responded to the enthusiasm 
 of the people by waving their hats and cheering lustily at 
 every stop. 
 
 This brigade was then in command of the ranking 
 officer. Colonel Peyton Colquitt, of Georgia. The Twenty- 
 fourth South Carolina arrived at Jackson, Miss., in advance of 
 the brigade, and in obedience to orders took possession of the 
 Clinton road, with a view of holding McPherson's corps in 
 check while the city of Jackson was being evacuated. On the 
 following morning, the 14th inst., the enemy attacked in 
 force, and the brigade made a heroic resistance, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Capers commanding the left from sunrise until mid- 
 day, when his horse was killed from under him, and, remount- 
 ing, he was severely w^ounded in the left leg. In his sketch of 
 Gist's brigade Colonel Capers gives the following account of 
 the engagement on the Clinton road, in w^hich the Tw^enty- 
 fourth South Carolina Regiment and its commanding officer 
 greatly distinguished themselves : 
 
 "The head of General Gist's brigade reached Jackson on the 
 night of the 13th of May, the Twenty- fourth South Carolina 
 Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Capers commanding (Colonel 
 Stevens being detained for twenty- four hours in Charleston), 
 and part of the Forty-sixth Georgia, Colonel Colquitt, General 
 Joseph E. Johnston and staff on the train ; Grant's army was 
 advancing on the city (Jackson), by the Clinton and Raymond 
 roads, and Johnston had about six thousand troops at his 
 immediate command. . . . The Twenty-fourth South 
 
 *Report Col. Capers. 
 
62 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Carolina and five companies of the Twenty-sixth Georgia, of 
 Gist's brigade, with the Fourteenth Mississippi, and Captain 
 J. A. Hoskin's Battery of four pieces, were ordered by General 
 Johnston to move out at dayhght on the 14th, under Colonel 
 Colquitt, and take position on the Clinton road at a point desig- 
 nated by Brigadier-General John Gregg, and check the enemy's 
 advance as long as possible, the object being to gain time to 
 remove stores from Jackson. 
 
 "The Forty-sixth Georgia (five companies) and the Four- 
 teenth Mississippi battalions were posted on the right of the 
 road, and the Twenty-fourth South Carolina and Hoskin's 
 battery on the left. The position was at Wright's farm, the 
 commands being on the right and left of his house. The 
 Twenty- fourth was advanced some distance to take advantage 
 of a garden fence and the artillery placed in battery on the 
 crown of the hill, one gun behind the Twenty-fourth, in sup- 
 port, and three at the main road. The little brigade did not 
 number over nine hundred men and officers, and was attacked 
 at 9 A. M. by the Seventh Division of the Seventeenth Army 
 Corps, composed of three brigades, with four light batteries, 
 and it held its position until 2 p. m. before it was forced to 
 retire. The enemy's official reports put down their losses as 
 follows: Second Brigade, 215; Third Brigade, 37; Fourth 
 Brigade, i.^: Total in division, 265. No report of losses in 
 the Federal artillery." 
 
 In defending this position the little brigade of two bat- 
 talions, one regiment, and four guns lost 198 men and officers, 
 killed, wounded, and captured. The heaviest loss was in the 
 Twenty-fourth South Carolina, which held its position longest 
 and lost 105 men and officers. On the enemy's part their main 
 loss was in the center brigade, which made the direct attack in 
 front. 
 
 In the final assault, whirh carried the position and forced a 
 retreat on Jackson, the fighting is described by the commander 
 of the Tenth Missouri, which, with the Seventeenth Iowa, 
 Eightieth Ohio, one company, E of the Twenty-fourth Mis- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 63 
 
 souri, and the Fifty-sixth IIHnois, made up the Second bri- 
 gade: 
 
 "Colonel Holmes commanding the Second Brigade now- 
 ordered bayonets fixed and a charge to be made upon the 
 works. The troops moved forward at the double quick, cheer- 
 ing wildly, driving in first skirmishers, and then the mainline, 
 passing over about five hundred yards under a terrific fire of 
 shell, canister, and musketry, to the house of C. P. Wright, in 
 and behind which, and the hedges and fences and the trees 
 surrounding it, the Rebels were hidden and protected. Here 
 ensued an almost hand-to-hand conflict with the Twenty- 
 fourth Regiment South Carolina Volunteers, the Tenth Mis- 
 souri suffering from the streams of fire which issued from 
 behind every object which would furnish protection to the 
 enemy. We succeeded finally in dislodging them and driving 
 them some two hundred yards to the left (enemy's left) and 
 toward the main road toward Jackson. Re-forming our line, a 
 section of the Sixth Wisconsin was rapidly brought upon 
 the field." etc. 
 
 "But the Twenty- fourth South Carolina, now under com- 
 mand of Major Appleby, had followed the Forty-sixth Geor- 
 gia, the Fourteenth Mississippi Battalion and Hoskin's battery 
 in retreat, and joined General Johnston's little army moving 
 out from Jackson on the Canton road. In the fight above 
 described the attack on the batteries of the Forty-sixth Geor- 
 gia and the Fourteenth Mississippi was made principally by 
 the Seventeenth Iowa and the Eightieth Ohio regiments, and 
 was well sustained by the Georgians and Mississippians. The 
 conduct of Captain Hoskin's battery was beyond praise. But 
 for the service of his four guns the position could not 
 have been held two hours against the attack of the Federal 
 division."* 
 
 Writing to General Beauregard from Canton, on the 25th 
 of May, General Gist says : 
 
 "M 
 
 None of the troops of your department reached Jackson 
 *Colonel Capers' Report. 
 
64 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 in time for the affair at Raymond. Only two regiments of 
 General W. H. T. Walker's, Martin's Battery, Twenty- fourth 
 South Carolina, five companies of the Forty-sixth Georgia and 
 Eighth Georgia Battalion, arrived in time to participate in the 
 engagement and the evacuation of the city. I got within six 
 miles and was ordered back by General Johnston, with the 
 remainder of Walker's and my own brigade. The only troops 
 of my brigade engaged at Jackson were those mentioned above, 
 and all officers join in awarding them highest praises for their 
 soldierly conduct and gallantry. The Twenty-fourth Regiment 
 South Carolina Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Capers com- 
 manding, particularly distinguished themselves." 
 
 In this "hand to hand conflict" which the Federal com- 
 mander, Colonel Holmes, describes above, Colonel Capers 
 received his first wound. So intent was he on holding his posi- 
 tion as long as possible, and so engrossed in encouraging his 
 gallant men to stand firm, that he was unconscious of being 
 wounded until his adjutant remarked upon his paleness, and 
 he felt the blood from his wound in his left leg sloshing in 
 his boot. But he "kept the saddle" until he fainted from loss 
 of blood and weakness, when he was borne to the rear. How- 
 ever, he did not leave the field without a trophy of the fray — • 
 the rifle of a sharpshooter he had captured in a personal 
 encounter just prior to the general advance of the Federal 
 troops. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Capers had ridden out to inspect the 
 advance skirmish line and get, if possible, a view of the enemy 
 preparing to attack. He had not been long in his position of 
 observation when the bullet of a sharpshooter whistled uncom- 
 fortably near, then another, and again a third. A pufif of 
 smoke revealed the location of the rifleman, who was firing 
 from the corner of a "worm fence." Some of his aids sug- 
 gested that the Colonel retire to a safer place. To their aston- 
 ishment he declared that the fellow was so bold in taking his 
 advanced and exposed position that he had decided to capture 
 him himself. Then putting his words to action, he appeared to 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 65 
 
 retire, and after reaching the woods, dismounted. With 
 sword in one hand and pistol in the other, he made his way 
 to the fence and crept cautiously through the bushes and in 
 and out the "worms" or turns of the fence. In this manner 
 he came to the opposite side of the fence from where the 
 unsuspecting rifleman was leisurely firing away at the "enemy." 
 Here the Colonel waited until the sharpshooter fired his rifle, 
 when, springing forward, he demanded his surrender. The 
 "Yank" "showed fight" and made an effort to dispute his 
 prowess with the venturesome officer. In apparent obedience 
 to the summons to surrender he mounted the fence, when 
 from his perch he swung a terrific blow with his rifle at the 
 head of his captor. The blow was parried by the Colonel with 
 his sword, and before the soldier could "gather himself" for 
 renewed resistance he was looking down the muzzle of a revol- 
 ver. Convinced that "discretion is the better part of valor," 
 he immediately made overtures for peace. Between the old 
 "worm" fence and the Confederate skirmish line the "gray" 
 and the "blue" made good friends, and the brave rifleman was 
 sent to the rear as the personal prisoner of his captor. In the 
 engagement following, Colonel Capers was wounded, as we 
 have stated, and while resting at his quarters he renewed his 
 acquaintance with the prisoner. In after years, when telling 
 the story of the rusty old rifle in the corner of his study. Bishop 
 Capers never failed to pay tribute to the cool courage of the 
 soldier; whom he declared he found "a most intelligent young 
 fellow who, though in error, thought he was right." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY AT CHICKAMAUGA 
 
 ViCKSBURG capitulated on the 4th of July, 1863, the day after 
 General Lee finally failed of success at Gettysburg. The tide 
 of adversity was bearing hard against the Confederacy. Gen- 
 eral Bragg was slowly retreating toward the Tennessee River, 
 while Rosecrans endeavored to press him under the erroneous 
 impression that the Confederates were on "the verge of a rout." 
 East Tennessee was threatened by General Burnside's army, 
 which had made its appearance at Cumberland Gap. General 
 Bragg finally crossed the Tennessee and fortified himself in 
 Chattanooga. Here Rosecrans was relieved of the impression 
 that the army of Tennessee was "flying before him," and for 
 the first time realized that General Bragg was preparing to give 
 battle. Rosecrans divided his army into three corps and began 
 an attempt to turn the flank of the enemy. General Crittenden 
 was ordered to march his corps forty miles above Chattanooga, 
 toward Cleveland, and then to move southeast toward Ring- 
 gold, and turn the Confederate right. General McCook, 
 marching to the south of Chattanooga, was to threaten Rome, 
 Ga., and draw Bragg's attention in that direction and so assist 
 Crittenden in the execution of his flank movement. The corps 
 of General George H. Thomas was pushed through Steven's 
 Gap, along Lookout Mountain, and ordered to move directly 
 upon Chattanooga. Here, it is of interest to notice that in the 
 execution of these maneuvers General Bragg was offered two 
 splendid opportunities to strike a decisive blow, and at a time 
 when the effect upon the South would have been as propitious 
 and as fruitful of results as was the battle of King's Mountain 
 in the darkest hour of the American Revolution. The first 
 opportunity was when Nagley's division of Thomas' corps, on 
 the line of march along Lookout Mountain, went down into 
 
 66 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 67 
 
 McLemore's Cove, and in doing so marched into a death 
 trap, of their escape from which there exists no vahd reason. 
 
 When it was learned that a part of this cH vision had moved 
 down into the Cove, General Bragg ordered Hindman to move 
 from Lee and Gordon's Mill, Buckner to stand guard against 
 an attack from Crittenden, while General D. H. Hill, who as 
 guarding the mountain passes, was ordered to come through 
 Steven's and Dug's gaps and unite with Hindman in "trap- 
 ping" Nagley. It thus appeared that no human agency could 
 save the four thousand Federal troops. But the selfishness of 
 the generals sent to execute the order sacrificed the interest 
 of the cause for which they had both fought with such distin- 
 guished gallantry and skill. Generals Hill and Hindman had 
 "fallen out." We are not prepared to say whether or not there 
 was a bit of military jealousy mixed up in the unfortunate 
 business. In any event, they would not co-operate, and by the 
 time General Buckner "got up" it was too late to "bag the 
 game." Realizing his mistake. General Nagley withdrew his 
 forces to higher ground, while re-enforcements were hurried 
 forward to assist him in extricating his troops. 
 
 General Bragg's second opportunity was when General Crit- 
 tenden moved South in an effort to concentrate with McCook 
 at Rossville. As Crittenden moved to the south Bragg's army 
 was between him and Thomas' corps, at that time on the other 
 side of Lookout Mountain. McCook could not have come to 
 his assistance before General Bragg had struck the decisive 
 blow and destroyed Crittenden. 
 
 We have seen it stated, upon reliable authority, that Gen- 
 eral Bragg issued detailed and specific orders for such an 
 attack, but for some reason his orders were not obeyed. But 
 is it not the test of a great general to see to if that his orders 
 are obeyed f It would be difficult to imagine that Lee or Jack- 
 son, or Grant, or even Sherman, would allow a whole corps of 
 the enemy to slip by with an unprotected flank and unite their 
 forces, when orders had been issued to fall upon and de- 
 stroy it. 
 
68 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 After this there was nothing left for General Bragg to do 
 but evacuate Chattanooga, or have fifty thousand men take 
 possession of the mountain passes behind him. Therefore he 
 fell back toward Lafayette, and on the i8th of September, 
 1863, the two armies were drawn up in line of battle on either 
 side of Chickamauga Creek and the old State road. General 
 Polk, commanding the right wing, made a demonstration at 
 Lee and Gordon's mill ; Rosecrans moved his left wing fur- 
 ther to the south, opposite Alexander's Bridge. On the morn- 
 ing of the 19th General Forrest was reconnoitering with his 
 cavalry, and when near Reed's Bridge came upon a detachment 
 of Federal cavalry similarly engaged. Forrest instantly 
 opened fire, and the great battle of Chickamauga was on, in 
 dead earnest. 
 
 In the battle of the igth the Twenty-fourth South Carolina 
 Regiment was not present, having been engaged in detached 
 service at Rome. Ga. It was while the regiment was at Rome 
 that Colonel Capers, having partially recovered from the 
 wound received at Jackson, rejoined his regiment. On the 
 17th inst. General Bragg ordered Gist's brigade to report to 
 him for duty, and General Gist hurried forward all his troops 
 for whom he could secure transportation, the transportation 
 agent promising additional cars for that portion of the brigade 
 left at Rome. The journey from Rome was made in crowded 
 box cars and flat cars, and with little or no sleep or rest since 
 the night of the 17th. On the morning of the 19th General 
 Gist rode forward to Ringgold, and in obedience to orders his 
 little brigade became the convoy for an army train destined for 
 headquarters. In the execution of this work the brigade was 
 engaged all night, and when the sun rose on the morning of 
 the 20th Gist and his men were at Alexander's Bridge, where 
 while waiting further orders the weary troops took advantage 
 of a brief rest. 
 
 It was about eight o'clock in the morning when General Gist 
 approached Generals Polk and Walker, who were engaged in 
 conversation. Here General Hill joined them, and requested 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 69 
 
 General Polk to re-enforce him. Complying with the request, 
 the commanding general designated a certain brigade he 
 (Hill) could have. General Hill then asked: "Where is Gist's 
 brigade? I have heard of that brigade." General Walker 
 said : "It is just coming up. Here is Gist now." The brigade 
 was therefore assigned to Hill, Gist given command of a small 
 division, and Colonel Colquitt, of the Forty-sixth Georgia 
 Regiment, ranking reoimental ofticer, taking command of the 
 brigade. Rapidly developing events soon revealed the fact 
 that the iii)ic hundred and eighty brave men who composed 
 this little brigade had arrived at a crisis in the progress of the 
 battle. During the night of the 19th the Federal General 
 Baird had strongly entrenched himself behind breastw'orks at 
 Kelley's Farm and thrown Generals Scribner and King's 
 brigades to his extreme left. The attack General Bragg had 
 ordered to be made at daylight, on the morning of the 20th, 
 was delayed — General D. H. Hill's fault perhaps, — General 
 Polk later being exonerated, but in all events clearly Bragg's 
 responsibility. However, it was approaching ten o'clock when 
 Breckenridge and Cleburne attacked. The Confederate Gen- 
 eral Helm assaulted King's regulars, and with great determina- 
 tion and heroism attempted to take the w^orks. Once, twice, 
 three times his gallant men, cheering wildly, stormed the 
 works, but streams of fire pouring directly into their face and 
 sweeping their flank decimated their ranks and they retired, 
 only to charge again. Here General Helm offered his life 
 for the cause he was so gallantly defending. While these 
 assaults were being made upon King, General Polk struck 
 Scribner at "the Bloody Angle," but was also repulsed with 
 heavy loss. At about this stage of the battle Generals Adams 
 and Stovall, passing to the extreme left of Baird, reached his 
 rear, and had him flanked. Things began to look auspicious 
 for the Confederates, when one of those inexplicable momen- 
 tary eclipses of genius occurred, which here but for the timely 
 arrival of Gist's brigade might have terminated in the rout of 
 Bragg's army. The flanking movement referred to had, so 
 
70 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 far, succeeded, when General Granger, held in reserve toward 
 Rossville, moved his corps upon the rear of the advancing col- 
 umns of Adams and Stovall. General Hill was in command 
 here. In Virginia, renowned as a great fighter, he had just 
 been promoted Lieutenant-General and sent to the West. But 
 at this crisis his genius failed him; directing the flanking 
 movement at the very moment when it had succeeded, he left 
 the assaulting troops unsupported, and Granger's prompt ad- 
 vance forced them to retire, and this opportunity for victory 
 was lost. "At that time the troops General Gist was command- 
 ing in person — Ector's and Wilson's brigades — were not 
 engaged, neither was Liddell's. Hi'll should have ordered these 
 troops forward to the support of Adams and Stovall." 
 
 When these great assaults were being made and repulsed 
 Colquitt led his nine hundred and eighty brave men into bat- 
 tle. Helm's shattered command came reeling back from 
 their bloody attacks, but paused to cheer the little brigade as 
 it marched on alone to renew the assault against an enemy the 
 men could not see. Colonel Colquitt had been told that Breck- 
 enridge was immediately in his front, and therefore, when his 
 troops plunged into the woods and suddenly came upon the 
 enemy posted behind breastw^orks. the tempest of musketry and 
 canister which raked his men front and flank subjected them 
 to an ordeal seldom equaled and never surpassed during the 
 war. The troops had come thus unexpectedly into a death- 
 trap. But Caesar's Tenth Legion, the Old Guard of Napo- 
 leon, or the English at Waterloo could not and did not 
 behave with more splendid courage. And why should they? 
 These men were American soldiers, bred and trained in all the 
 chivalry of the South. They had been trained from infancy 
 that they could not die better than "facing fearful odds; for 
 the ashes of their sires and the temples of their gods." And here 
 even sudden and terrible death failed to surprise them into 
 fear. In referring to this engagement General Gist says in his 
 report : "Colonel Colquitt did not reconnoiter the position, as 
 he was instructed our troops were in his front. The enemy now 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 71 
 
 poured forth a most destructive and well aimed fire upon the 
 entire line, and though it wavered and recoiled under the 
 shock, yet by the exertions of the gallant Colquitt, nobly sec- 
 tended by Colonels Stevens, Capers, and other true and brave 
 officers, order was promptly restored, and for some twenty-five 
 minutes the terrific fire was withstood and returned with 
 marked effect by the gallant little band. 
 
 "It was here the lamented Colquitt fell mortally wounded, 
 while cheering on his command, and in quick succession the 
 iron-nerved Stevens and the intrepid Capers were seriously 
 w^ounded, and man}'- others who deserve to live in their coun- 
 try's memory yielded up their life's blood. One-third of the 
 gallant command was either killed or wounded. Reeling under 
 the storm of bullets, having lost all but two of their field offi- 
 cers, the brigade fell back, fighting to the position from which 
 they had advanced. The brigades of Ector and Wilson kept 
 up their fire from the cover, — the enemy did not venture 
 beyond their works, so severely had they suffered. — until I was 
 directed by General Hill to withdraw them to the position they 
 occupied before advancing, and re-form my whole line in rear 
 of the batteries some few hundred yards distant from the 
 enemy's position." 
 
 The attack of Gist's brigade at this crisis aided materially 
 in causing the enemy to move three divisions from his center 
 and right. This move so weakened his right as to open the 
 way for the splendid assault of Longstreet's wing. The part 
 the nine hundred and eighty took in these successful assaults 
 constitute their contribution to the great battle of Chicka- 
 mauga. 
 
 Chickamauga was the second greatest battle of the entire 
 war. In this battle the per cent, of the lost in killed and 
 wounded demonstrates the spirit of the troops engaged; the 
 fierceness of the assaults made; the repulses suffered; and 
 withal the splendid heroism and fortitude with which both 
 sides contended for the mastery on that memorable battle-field. 
 
 In his "Memoirs" General Grant tells us that after the bat- 
 
72 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 tie of Shiloh he went over the field, and it was beyond question 
 the bloodiest and most revolting sight he had ever witnessed, 
 for there he saw more dead than on any other battle-field dur- 
 ing the war. For, of the 36,000 men engaged on the Con- 
 federate line 1728 were killed and 8012 were wounded, or 
 twenty-nine per cent. The Federal loss was twenty-seven per 
 cent. This percentage of killed and wounded is far in excess 
 of the casualties sustained in many of the great battles of 
 Europe, and greater than in many battles of our own war; 
 but not so great as in Chickamauga. At Gettysburg General 
 Lee fought with an army of 62,000, and sustained a loss in 
 killed and wounded of twenty-five per cent., exclusive of cav- 
 alry. The Federal loss was twenty-two per cent. At the battle 
 of Waterloo Wellington had 90,000 men engaged, and lost in 
 killed and wounded not quite 12,000 of them, or about twelve 
 per cent. Therefore it is readily seen that at Chickamauga 
 General Bragg fought and fairly won one of the greatest battles 
 in history; certainly the next most important battle in the Civil 
 War. For this we hail him with "Well done ; nobly fought and 
 nobly won." And for the weight of his great responsibility 
 at this crisis we sympathize with him, but for his vacillation 
 and irresolution we condemn him. 
 
 After any battle it is easy enough to make what may be 
 termed a "retrospective prophecy" (a seeming paradox) of 
 what might have occurred if such and such had only been done. 
 For example: After First Manassas the popular outcry was: 
 "Why did they not go right on to Washington?" it was even 
 rumored that Stonewall Jackson insisted that he be allowed 
 to go in and take the Federal capital. And on the other hand, 
 after Chancellorsville the criticism was : "Why did Lee move 
 on to Gettysburg and attempt to invade the North?" But cer- 
 tainly there can be no question but that after the battle of the 
 20th of September, 1863, General Bragg should have pressed 
 his advantage — pursued and taken the enemy in Chattanooga, 
 before re-enforcements could arrive. On the morning of the 
 2 1st inst. General Forrest was on the Missionary Ridge. See- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 73 
 
 ing for himself the confusion and disorder of the retreating- 
 army, its unanned soldiers, demoralized stragglers, stampeded 
 cattle, horseless wagons and cannons all blockading the road, 
 the mass moving hither and thither in great coniusion, ana 
 without the show of orderly retreat,- — Forrest asked Bragg's 
 permission to move forward and continue the pursuit 01 ihe 
 day before. He made the famous assertion that, "every hour 
 employed in such an advance would be worth a thousand men 
 to Bragg's army." 
 
 General Bragg, however, had no military vision. He was a 
 good campaigner and fought all his battles well, as Shiloh, 
 Murfreesboro, Perry ville, and Chickamauga all testify. He 
 was an organizer, a disciplinarian ; an automatic, methodical 
 kind of a man; a great adjutant and inspector general; but 
 he was not equipped to meet all the responsibilities of com- 
 mander-in-chief. He was never able to secure the fruits of vic- 
 tory. He seemed to feel as General Early did after he had won 
 tile battle oi Ceuar CrecK, V a. General Gordon and others 
 were urging him to press his advantage, when Early replied : 
 "Oh, we have won glory enough for one day." Bragg was too 
 easily satisfied with an incomplete victory. He was a patriot, 
 the soul of personal honor, and with all his heart he loved 
 and believed in the the cause for which he fought ; but the 
 imperative need at that particular crisis was a great general, 
 and this Bragg was not. He did not entertain Forrest's prop- 
 osition, but a few days later he did concur in General Long- 
 street's suggestion, and sent him agamst Burnside in east ien- 
 nessee. After his arm)'- had gone for two days' march Bragg 
 brought it back and finally sent it against Knoxville. but just as 
 the powerful army now under Grant was about to assail his 
 lines on Missionary Ridge. 
 
 Among the papers of Bishop Capers is a letter from the 
 historian, the Count of Paris, asking an explanation of Bragg's 
 motive in dividing his army in this manner just on the eve 
 of battle. The Bishop's reply has unfortunately been mislaid. 
 However, we may venture to suggest that at this time it had 
 
74 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 possibly become necessary to keep Burnside from moving upon 
 Bragg's flank and rear and crushing him between the two 
 Federal armies of Grant and Burnside. But Bragg's error was 
 in alloiving such a contingency to arise by not adhering to his 
 original purpose of sending Longstreet to defeat Burnside 
 immediately after Chickamauga was won. Then he could have 
 united forces with General Bragg for the battle of Missionary 
 Ridge. 
 
 To return to Gist's brigade. In the movements of the army 
 following Chickamauga, and in defense of the line on Mis- 
 sionary Ridge, this brigade bore an honorable part. 
 
 Owing to the wound Colonel Capers had received at Chicka- 
 mauga, he was sent home on furlough. He always referred to 
 this battle as the most fiercely contested battle he was ever in. 
 He said that when his regiment advanced, — the Twenty-fourth 
 South Carolina, which General Gist's report tells us was the 
 only one brought immediately against the enemy's work, — the 
 terrific fire of shot and shell beggared description. After the 
 "iron-nerved" Stevens was down, the "intrepid" Capers led 
 the attack upon King's works, and as he dashed through the 
 troops men fell on every side of him. His gallant little horse 
 "Hardtimes" rose to clear an obstructing log, and received a 
 minie ball through her windpipe, but the plucky animal pushed 
 on. Clarence Palmer, adjutant to the regiment, galloping for- 
 ward to accompany his colonel, accosted him with the remark, 
 rather jocularly made : "Gee whiz, Colonel, but aint this 
 hot!" when a ball crashed into his brain and he fell sidewise 
 into his Colonel's arms. Comrades then took him from his 
 horse, and he was borne to the rear. He was a first cousin of 
 Mrs. Capers, a chivalrous, noble-hearted son of South Caro- 
 lina. In less than ten minutes after Adjutant Palmer fell 
 Colonel Capers was severely wounded, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Napier of the Eighth Georgia assumed command of the bri- 
 srade, and in the successful assault of the afternoon led it with 
 distinguished gallantry. 
 
CHAPTER \TII 
 
 FROM DALTON TO JONESBORO 
 
 The months of January, February. J\larch, and April, 1864, 
 were spent by the Army of Tennessee in winter quarters at 
 Dalton ; and there the work of reorganization, drill, and thor- 
 ough equipment was constantly carried on. General Bragg, 
 having voluntarily resigned, General Joseph E. Johnston was 
 then in command, and his presence as commander-in-chief of 
 the Army of Tennessee was hailed with delight and enthusiasm 
 Dy the entire army. While in winter quarters, and during a 
 review of the troops, the commanding general's attention was 
 called by General Hardee to the Twenty-fourth South Carolina 
 Regiment, which he designated as "one of the best regiments 
 in the army." General Hardee referred in the most compli- 
 mentary terms to its colonel as a "fine disciplinarian, an intrepid 
 warrior, and greatly beloved by officers and men." He there 
 recommended Colonel Capers for promotion to the next vacant 
 brigadier-generalship. General Johnston promised he would 
 forward the recommendation, with his endorsement, to the 
 War Department. General Hardee told Colonel Capers of this 
 interview, and when, at the battle of Franklin, the lamented 
 Gist fell Colonel Capers was promptly promoted brigadier- 
 general. Being severely wounded in that battle, he did not 
 receive his commission until February, 1865. 
 
 The campaign from May to September may be best given 
 by summarizing the report of Colonel Capers. However, 
 before incorporating this report, we have to record a few inci- 
 dents of interest in his army experience in this comnaign. The 
 high esteem in which the soldiers held their colonel is seen in 
 the following incident. 
 
 75 
 
76 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 "It was while at Dalton the valiant soldier suffered a sur- 
 prise, and the episode shows General Capers in a light that is 
 not the one least creditable to him. This brave officer was 
 enthroned in the hearts of his men. While in winter quarters in 
 February, 1864, he was one evening requested by General 
 Stevens, his devoted friend, former colonel, and organizer of 
 the Twenty-fourth, to wait a moment after the usual dress 
 parade of the regiment. Soon a splendid charger, with mili- 
 tary mounting, was led out and presented to Colonel Capers as 
 a mark of the lo\'e and esteem of his command. One 
 acquainted with Ellison Capers can imagine with what 
 gratified surprise he accepted the costly gift, and, with 
 what appreciation he cherishes to this day the memory of the 
 spirit that inspired the gallant donors."* This horse proved of 
 the greatest possible service, and the generous and appreciative 
 spirit which prompted the gift was always one of General 
 Capers' most inspiring reminiscences of the war. But no 
 horse ever quite filled the place in his aft'ection or won from 
 him the admiration that the plucky little sorrel "Hardtimes" 
 did. 
 
 He was his master's constant companion through the war. 
 This horse was endowed with marvelous endurance and 
 remarkable intelligence, and seemed to rejoice with his colonel 
 in the excitement of battle. They were both severely wounded 
 at the battle of Chickamauga. After that wound through his 
 windpipe "Hardtimes" Avas never quite the same, but the 
 game manner in which he pressed forward in spite of this diffi- 
 culty in breathing endeared him all the more to his master. 
 "Hardtimes" survived the war, and was tenderly cared for 
 and died at an advanced age, "with love, honor, and troops of 
 friends." 
 
 We of the South, having an adequate appreciation of the 
 praiseworthy traits in the negro's character, recall with 
 pleasure and gratitude the fidelity with which many of the 
 slaves followed their masters during the Civil War and the 
 devotion often exhibited in the service rendered by faith- 
 
 *Thomas, "History of the S. C. M. A." 
 
ELLISON CAPERS -j-j 
 
 ful servants to the women and children left at home when 
 the men of the family were at the front fighting their country's 
 battles. But we also realize, what many fail to appreciate, that 
 \\ hile such evidences of devotion argue for commendable traits 
 in the character of the negro, their very faithfulness is but 
 a reflex of the patriarchal care and affection with which the 
 best interest of the slave in the Southern States were guarded 
 and fostered by his "marster" and "mistus." It is not human 
 nature to offer one's life or to render a devoted service for 
 those who have scourged and starved, abused, misused, and 
 enthralled, you. When therefore the slave was faithful to 
 those who owned him, it was because he had ample reason to 
 feel that in spite of the color of his skin and the inferiority of his 
 race his best earthlv friends were the "old marster" whom he 
 had served from childhood, and his "mistus," who had had 
 him. or members of his family, tenderly and sympathetically 
 cared for and nursed through sickness and regularly and 
 intelligently instructed in his duty to God and man. Or per- 
 haps it was the young "marster" whom, as a baby, he had 
 dandled on his knee; to whose boyhood he, "Uncle Ned," had 
 been the hero of many a delightful story of adventure and upon 
 whose ardent affection he now, an old man. reposed in perfect 
 trust. In his master's broad acres, sleek cattle, blooded horses, 
 fine dogs, and stately mansion. — which he knew as the "big 
 house," — the trusty slave felt an indefinable but real sense 
 of partnership. 
 
 With the Capers and Palmer families, as with the majority 
 of the higher type of slave owners, the negroes were regarded 
 in the light of dependents for whom the masters felt a moral 
 responsibility. They were not dealt with merely as slaves, 
 from whom were to be extorted "the pound of flesh" in unre- 
 quited toil. It was a principle and established practice that 
 families of slaves were not to be separated. Husbands and 
 wives were kept together, and their children were never sold 
 from them. 
 
 A fine tyi:»e of the ante-bellum negro was "Ben," the faithful 
 
78 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 body servant of Colonel Capers. Ben followed the Colonel's 
 fortunes throughout the war, and served him in the capacity 
 of cook. At that time he was about forty years of age, and a 
 most interesting and original character, as well as an 
 invaluable servant and good comrade who took great pride 
 in "da service ob da Colonel." Ben was altogether a very 
 "handy" man in the exigencies of camp life, and in the regi- 
 ment a well-known character in whom all the men took an 
 interest and for whom they felt a personal affection. 
 
 Innumerable anecdotes are related of Ben, but I here recall 
 one that indicates his implicit obedience to the first law of 
 nature, — that is, self-preservation, — and his Colonel's sympa- 
 thy for and interest in him. The anecdote must l^e read in the 
 light of army discipline, which inevitably separates the officer 
 from his men, still more so from his servants. It was during 
 one of the bitter winter months of 1864, when the army was 
 quartered at Dalton, and though comfortably quartered, yet 
 many of the men suffered intensely from the cold. On this 
 particular night the thermometer had fallen to about zero. 
 During the first part of the night the Colonel was uncom- 
 fortably chilly in his quarters. However, toward the "small 
 hours" of the morning he was awakened by the consciousness 
 of some one being near him, and was then startled out 
 of his semi- wakeful state by uproarious snoring at his 
 side. 
 
 He turned to find that Ben had crawled under his blanket 
 with him, and in peaceful slumbers was enjoying all the com- 
 forts of the officers' quarters. The Colonel remonstrated. Ben 
 presented his simple defense : "Eo de Lord, Colonel, this 
 nigger was about to freeze, and could not 'sist the temptation ; 
 you looked like you was sleeping so warm-like, and I 'spected 
 to crawl out afore you woke up." The Colonel said he did 
 not have the heart to put the darky out. so divided his blankets 
 with him, but admonished Ben to keep to his own side of 
 the bunk. 
 
 It was at the beginning of the Dalton campaign, during a 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 79 
 
 conversation with his chief, that General Johnston asked 
 Acting-Brigadier-General Capers if he had studied the map 
 which had been issued with the order requiring the command- 
 ing officers to study the ground in front of and around them. 
 Receiving an affirmative reply. General Johnston then remarked 
 that a mountainous country is bad fighting ground, and a 
 mountain line a bad line to defend, as the mountains are cur- 
 tains behind which the enemy can mass his troops unseen, and 
 by sudden flank movements take his adversary by disadvantage. 
 This was precisely the position in which General Johnston was 
 placed, witn Kocky i^ace Riclge rismg as an immense curtain 
 on his flanks. His army was retiring every w^eek. but in retir- 
 ing felt the General was doing that which was best, and was 
 retiring merely to find a better position. 
 
 In the campaign from Dalton to Atlanta Gist's brigade, 
 together with other troops, was for seventy days in the face of 
 an overwhelming enemy. Frequently the Twenty- fourth 
 South Carolina Volunteers were selected as an advanced 
 skirmish line to hold in check a flanking movement, while the 
 army retired in orderly retreat and prepared to take up a new 
 position from which to offer battle. 
 
 During the investment of Atlanta Mrs. Capers, with her 
 three year old son and infant daughter, was at Oxford, just 
 forty miles from the besieged city. Colonel Capers, learning 
 from General Hardee that "Red Jackson" was in the track of 
 Sherman's raid, took advantage of the time when our army 
 had fallen back to the trenches about Atlanta, to obtain leave 
 for a few^ days to move his family, if possible, to South Caro- 
 lina. While endeavoring to accomplish this, the Colonel and 
 his brave wife were subjected to an ordeal that put to the test 
 the courage and wits of both, and though cruelly painful and 
 humiliating, was by no means devoid of thrilling excitement 
 and interest. It is perhaps best told in the words of Mrs. 
 Capers, who relates this experience in her contribution to 
 "South Carolina's AVomen in the Confederacy." After nar- 
 
8o THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 rating the circumstances which brought her to Oxford at that 
 time, and recording her own anxiety, she proceeds : 
 
 "It was impossible for me to move from the place where I 
 was living, as our little daughter was but six days old. On 
 this day as I lay in bed the only white adult in the house, a 
 lady friend, rushed into my chamber and exclaimed : 'Mrs. 
 Capers, the town is full of Yankees!' The famous raiders 
 were indeed upon us. I had no one with me but my nurse, 
 Maria Wall, a faithful free colored woman from Charleston; 
 two young servants, my little boy, and baby. Vivid pictures 
 of the cruelty to which so many of our countrywomen and 
 their children had been subjected rose to my mind and agitated 
 my heart. I felt almost overcome. One thing saved me, a 
 powerful sense of God's omnipresence and an almost imme- 
 diate remembrance of an incident I had read in the wars of 
 Napoleon. A cottage lay right in the path of his conquering 
 army, the inmates of which consisted of an aged grandmother 
 and her grandchildren. Dreading the approach of Napoleon's 
 army, the aged Christian, at family prayers that night, had 
 prayed that God would raise up a wall of defense for them 
 against the devastating foe. During the night the snow fell 
 heavily and drifted before the winds in great banks, so that 
 the cottage was literally hidden from the highway by a w^all 
 of snow, and the invader passed by. 
 
 "This incident came to my mind with such force that I felt 
 strengthened for the ordeal that was before me. I was nerved 
 to think what I had best do to save tlie huge flag of my 
 husband's regiment, which hung from the staff in one corner 
 of our chamber. I got the nurse to tear it from the staff, 
 which she hid under the house, and taking the flag from her 
 hands I folded it up and wrapped it around a little pillow, 
 sewed one case over it and slipped it into another in the usual 
 vvay, and put the little pillow under my baby's head. I then 
 concealed about my person some pictures and little articles 
 I valued. The nurse saved the silver. 
 
 "The soldiers soon arrived and, entering the room, the 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 8i 
 
 trunks were broken open and robbed of everything in them. 
 After the soldiers had left the house the Rev. Walter Branham, 
 a Methodist minister, proposed that I should be brought to his 
 house for safety, and accordingly I was put into an easy chair 
 and carried across the street, Maria bringing the baby with 
 her, with her flag pillow. The house and its contents were 
 surrendered to General Gerrards' soldiers, who made good use 
 of their opportunity, breaking every trunk and drawer open 
 and emptying them of their contents. Alone in the chamber 
 with my baby, too weak to take her from the bed on which 
 she was, and with my heart beating at fever heat, I remem- 
 bered my little boy Frank, and wondered where he was. In 
 the haste and confusion of removal he had escaped from my 
 chamber before I had time to tell him to remain. He was only 
 three years old, and he might be trampled by the horses of the 
 soldiers who were then making a great uproar in the streets ; 
 or for their amusement they might have taken him up for a 
 ride. Too weak to stir and fearing the worst, I resigned my 
 boy to God's holy keeping and tried to compose my anxious 
 heart. At this moment the door opened, my little son came 
 rushing in. his face beaming with intense excitement, and 
 exclaimed : 'Mother, you know Father is come !' 
 
 "I cannot describe my feelings at this announcement. How 
 could he escape capture or death! Every man capable of bear- 
 ing arms was being seized and resistance was death, and he 
 must be the only Confederate soldier in the town! These 
 thoughts revolved in hurried succession in my mind, when the 
 door opened again and my husband entered the room, kissed 
 me and the baby, hastily explaining that he had just arrived. 
 The soldiers had cut the railroad and torn up the track for 
 miles ; but the troops in town were only stragglers from Stone- 
 man's command. Our cavalry were after them. To prevent 
 capture he and his faithful servant. Ben, had left the cars and 
 had walked more than forty miles since the night before, and 
 had been dodging Yankees all night. 
 
 "At this moment we were warned that a squad of cavalry- 
 
82 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 men were approaching the front door, and in another moment 
 my husband was gone. He had arranged with Ben where he 
 would be, and going into a wood back of the house he passed 
 the night there, his faithful servant taking him a blanket and 
 something to eat. 
 
 ''After four days of intense anxiety Mr. Capers — seeing me 
 and the children for a few moments each day and sleeping each 
 night in the woods, — told me that he must either risk my 
 removal or return to his regiment. We resolved on the risk. 
 Ben was commissioned to pick up an old broken horse, left 
 by the raiders, to take what was left to us and the young 
 servants to Madison, and to wait for us there. Riding nine 
 miles to the home of Mr. Graves, the kind old gentleman who 
 had loaned us his carriage, — my baby being only ten days 
 old, — it there became evident that I could not go on to Madi- 
 son. The delay was necessary for my life, but it made me 
 more unhappy, for the Federal cavalry was reported within a 
 few miles of us. They actually passed by that night, when my 
 husband again left me to escape capture, and again I was in 
 dread of the presence of the soldiers in my chamber. 
 
 "After a few days of such anxiety of mind we learned that 
 the cars were now coming within five miles of us, and we 
 determined to go on, for Mr. Capers told me he could not 
 remain another day. The retreating raiders had stripped the 
 place of every available horse and mule and left only poor, 
 jaded, broken-down creatures in their places. Selecting a part 
 of these, Mr. Capers hitched them to the carriage and we were 
 again on the road. It was terribly rough, full of stumps, and 
 with great hills to climb. A thunder and rain storm coming 
 up, the horses refused to pull up a steep hill and the carriage 
 commenced to descend. Mr. Capers jumped down and held it, 
 and after working to no purpose with the horses, he took us 
 out in the rain, forced the horses up the hill, carried me up 
 in his arms, and put me back on the pallet in the carriage. We 
 knew that all this was running a fearful risk of my life, but 
 I deliberately chose it rather than be left in a country which 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 83 
 
 my husband feared would be over-run by the Federal cavalry. 
 We reached the railroad just in time to get aboard the train 
 about to start for Augusta, Ga. 
 
 'At Madison we took up Ben, who told us that the retreating 
 raiders had robbed him of his money and all he had to eat; 
 had 'swopped' horses with him, and had again ransacked our 
 effects, and that he had shipped the remains on to Augusta. 
 Arriving at Kalmia, near Akin, very early next morning, my 
 ever kind uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Yeadon, 
 were waiting to greet us. I was made as comfortable as the 
 tenderest kindness and love could make me. and at three 
 o'clock I bade farewell to my husband, who toolc the first train 
 back to Augusta and returned to his regiment." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 MILITARY REPORTS 
 
 Reports of Colonel Ellison Capers, Twenty-fourth South 
 Carolina Infantry, Gist's Brigade, of operations May 6-July i8 
 and September i. 
 
 No. 607 
 
 Hdqrs. Twenty-fourth South Carolina Vols., 
 
 JoNESBORO, Ga., September 10. 1864. 
 Major : 
 
 In compliance with the late order from brigade headquarters, 
 I have the honor to report the operations of the Twenty- 
 fourth South Carolina Volunteers during the campaign from 
 Dalton to Atlanta, embraced between the 6th of May and the 
 18th of July last. 
 
 By the organization of the Army of Tennessee, in winter 
 quarters at Dalton, the Twenty-fourth South Carolina Vol- 
 unteers was attached to Gist's brigade. Walker's division, 
 Hardee's corps. The brigade was composed of three regiments 
 and a battalion, viz., the Sixteenth and Twenty- fourth South 
 Carolina Regiments, the Forty-sixth Georgia, and the Eighth 
 Georgia Battalion. 
 
 During the winter of 1863-64 we were comfortably quar- 
 tered in huts located on the Spring Race Road, about two 
 miles east of Dalton. The drill and discipline of the regiment 
 were carefully observed, especially in the early spring, and 
 when the campaign opened in May Gist's brigade was in fine 
 condition for the work before it, and no part of it in better 
 trim than the Twenty-fourth. 
 
 The appearance of the enemy in front of Tunnel Hill on the 
 
 84 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 85 
 
 5th of May was the signal for breaking up our encampment, 
 and on the 6th we marched out of winter quarters. Walker's 
 division marched through Dalton into Crow's valley, and took 
 position in support of troops holding Mill Creek Gap. We 
 were bivouacked in line, and except to supply details for picket 
 duty we were not engaged with the enemy until the 9th, when 
 Company I of the Twenty-fourth became involved in a sharp 
 skirmish, under the following circumstances : 
 
 The pickets of the Sixty-third Georgia. Mercer's brigade, 
 being pressed back in our front, the General directed me to 
 send forward a company to their support. I detailed Company 
 I for the duty. Captain Wever, though quite sick and very 
 lame, led his company gallantly against the enemy's picket line, 
 and drove it back, regaining the ground lost. Lieutenant Till- 
 man was slightly wounded, two of the company killed, and six 
 others more or less severely wounded in this affair. About 
 nine o'clock I withdrew Company I from the front, and at 
 ten o'clock the Twenty-fourth marched with the brigade 
 through Dalton on the Resaca road. The march was con- 
 tinued rapidly all night, the brigade having arrived near Resaca 
 about eight o'clock on the loth. A force of the enemy, since 
 known to have been McPherson's corps, had marched past the 
 left of our position at Dalton. and taken possession of Snake 
 Creek Gap, opposite Resaca, and some miles distant from that 
 place. 
 
 On the day of the loth, and during that night, the regiment, 
 with the brigade, was held constantly in readiness to move to 
 the support of the troops opposing the enemy in Snake Creek 
 Gap, but w^e did not leave our bivouac until early on the morn- 
 ing of the nth, when we crossed the Oostenaula and marched 
 to a point on the railroad halfway between Resaca and 
 Calhoun. It was understood that a force had marched down 
 the west side of the Oostenaula, and that this force might cross 
 the river and readily reach the railroad at Calhoun. The 
 Twenty-fourth was encamped on the railroad opposite Gi- 
 deon's Ford and within a half a mile of the river. On the 14th 
 
86 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the enemy was reported crossing in force at McGinnis' Ferry, 
 which is about a mile below Gideon's Ford. The Sixteenth South 
 Carolina Volunteers were in front of McGinnis' Ferry, on the 
 road leading from the ferry to Calhoun, the distance from the 
 ferry to the town being a short mile. The General ordered the 
 Twenty-fourth to march rapidly to the support of the Six- 
 teenth, which order was promptly obeyed. 
 
 Arriving near the ferry, after a rapid march of about three 
 miles, we found the Sixteenth retiring slowly before the force 
 of the enemy, which had crossed. Colonel McCullough, com- 
 manding the Sixteenth, reported to me a strong force in his 
 front, with artillery. After conferring further with him, I 
 deemed it best to move at once against the force, which was 
 then advancing into a wood in our front. Deploying and 
 moving up to the Sixteenth, which had meanwhile halted and 
 was firing into the woods, I ordered a charge in concert with 
 the Sixteenth. We easily drove the enemy back to the river, 
 under cover of his artillery, which was posted on the hill on 
 the west side, and under its fire the enemy recrossed in our 
 sight. Not a man was hit in the Twenty-fourth, though there 
 were some casualties in the Sixteenth. I have no idea of the 
 enemy's loss, though I am satisfied our fire galled him at the 
 river. 
 
 After this affair the Twenty-fourth returned to its position 
 opposite Gideon's Ford, and remained on duty there, watching 
 the river, until the afternoon of the next day, the 15th, when 
 the brigade was ordered back to Resaca to re-enforce the 
 center of General Johnston's line. The roar of battle at 
 Resaca urged our march, and the men moved with alacrity to 
 the duty assigned them. Arriving at the pontoon over the 
 Oostenaula. at Resaca, we found it under fire of the enemy's 
 artillery posted on an eminence immediately opposite the ex- 
 treme left of our semicircular line, the brigade being in rear of 
 the center of the line. Gist's brigade was in advance of 
 Walker's division, the Twenty-fourth leading. We were the 
 first to pass the bridge. Officers and men behaved with steady 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 87 
 
 courage, and not a man in the regiment was hurt while cross- 
 ing, and only seven were wounded in the other commands of 
 the brigade. We moved up to the rear of our center. Walker's 
 division being put in line immediately in rear of Cheatham's. 
 Here we remained for the rest of the day under fire and in 
 reserve. No casualties. 
 
 About eleven o'clock at night the army left Resaca, and our 
 division recrossed the Oostenaula, marching back through 
 Calhoun to a point south of Oothkaloga Creek, on the Rome 
 road. The Oothkaloga flows west and empties into the Ooste- 
 naula near Tanner's Ferry (called also Lay's Ferry), about 
 two miles from Calhoun, southwest. Hardee's corps went 
 into bivouac early on the i6th on the Rome road, with the 
 right on the Oothkaloga, the line facing west and covering 
 advances from Tanner's and McGinnis' ferries. The enemy 
 had crossed in force at Tanner's Ferry, and our pickets had 
 been driven back until the line of bivouac was under artillery 
 fire. About two o'clock General Hardee ordered General 
 Walker to drive the enemy's advance back by re-enforcing his 
 pickets. The Twenty- fourth South Carolina Volunteers and 
 the First Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters, Major Shaaff, 
 were detailed for this duty, and I was charged by General 
 Gist with its execution. I placed Major Shaaff on the left of 
 the Twenty-fourth and directed him to move by his left flank 
 perpendicularly to my line, covered by a wood, and beyond it 
 by a hedgerow, and arriving beyond the right of the enemy 
 and his rear to halt, face to his right, and wait until I moved 
 forward. 
 
 As soon as the Twenty- fourth had advanced near enough to 
 begin the charge I directed Shaaft to charge with a yell, 
 coming up on the right rear of the enemy while I assaulted 
 him in front. As soon as the sharpshooters got into the 
 position described above, I ordered the Twenty-fourth forward 
 immediately on the enemy's line in full view, on the elevated 
 ground in front. The regiment marched out into the open 
 field as if on parade, and. coming under the fire of the force 
 
88 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 before us, I rode forward and ordered the charge. At the 
 same moment, ahnost. Major Shaaff's battahon gave a shout 
 and came out into the field to the rear and right of our foe. 
 Both commands behaved in the most admirable order, and the 
 enemy, after firing wildly over us, broke into a precipitous 
 retreat, the battery narrowly escaping capture. We took a few 
 prisoners, the knapsacks of the cannoneers and freed our line 
 of the annoyance to which it had been subjected by the prox- 
 imity of this force. I re-established the pickets, and while en- 
 gaged in so doing received the general's order to bring the 
 Twenty-fourth and the sharpshooters back to our bivouac. 
 
 We lost nine killed, thirty wounded, and two missing in the 
 Twenty-fourth. I have no record of Major Shaaff's loss, and 
 have no report to make of the enemy's loss but the estimate 
 hastily formed on the field. I think the number of prisoners 
 was about twenty, and from their reports and from what I saw 
 on the field I estimated the enemy's loss at two to our one. 
 Major Hill of the Twenty-fourth being on picket duty, Captain 
 T. C. Morgan, Company K, acted as major of the Twenty- 
 fourth, and was severely wounded in the charge. Sergeant- 
 Major J. B. Dotterer was also severely wounded in the chest. 
 I had the honor to receive the personal thanks of the lieutenant- 
 general and to extend his compliments to Major Shaaff. 
 
 On the 17th of May our corps marched toward Adairs- 
 ville and bivouacked near that place. On the i8th the march 
 was resumed through Kingston toward Cassville, going into 
 bivouac two miles from the latter place. Early on the 19th 
 the corps was formed in two lines of battle, and the command- 
 ing general published an order of battle. The greatest enthu- 
 siasm prevailed in our ranks as the men and officers saw the 
 army formed for battle. Hardee's corps was on the left of the 
 general line. Walker's division in the center of the corps, and 
 Gist's brigade on the left of the division, the Twenty-fourth 
 South Carolina and Forty-sixth Georgia were in the front, and 
 Sixteenth South Carolina and Eighth Georgia Battalion in 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 
 
 89 
 
 the rear line of the brigade. The general line ran about east 
 and west, and our position was in an open field west of the rail- 
 road, the ground siopnig aown m uur Iront for a quarter of 
 a mile and then gradually rising to the crest on which the 
 enemy was slowly forming. It was about two o'clock before he 
 developed his force, and we moved forward. After advancing 
 to the foot of the slope our lines were halted, the enemy being 
 in full view about three quarters of a mile away, and apparently 
 in some confusion in taking up his positions. Our detention 
 soon became very irksome, and the reason for it wholly un- 
 accountable. We must have been in this position half an hour 
 when General Gist in person gave me the hour from his watch, 
 and ordered me to retire the front line precisely at four o'clock. 
 At that moment the entire corps faced by the rear rank and 
 moved in beautiful order to the rear, the enemy not firing a 
 shot at us. We marched back a mile and intrenched our posi- 
 tion, expecting an attack every hour. About one o'clock on the 
 morning of the 20th, while sleeping on our arms, we were sur- 
 prised with an order to march, and very soon thereafter the 
 command was crossing the Etowah in our rear. We went into 
 bivouac on the Altoona road about two miles from the river. 
 Here we rested until the 24th, when our division marched 
 toward Dallas, camping near that place. On the 25th we 
 moved back on the Altoona road to New Hope Church, and 
 took position in rear and in support of General Stewart's 
 division of Hood's corps. Late in the afternoon Hooker's 
 corps attacked General Stewart, and a severe conflict followed 
 until after dark. We were not engaged, though we had one 
 officer and five men wounded. 
 
 On the 1st of June our division was moved to the left of 
 the general line, and took up a position in support of General 
 Bate's division before Dallas. On the night of the 4th we 
 again changed our position, marching on the Lost Mountain 
 road to the neighborhood of Gilgal Church. Here we were in 
 bivouac several days, and the men were greatly refreshed by 
 
90 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the rest. On the 9th of June the corps formed a Hne of battle 
 in rear of Pine Mountain, General Bate's division being in 
 position on the mountain. 
 
 On the 15th and i6th the line of battle was again 
 changed, the enemy not being in view, and on the 19th Walker's 
 division was put in position south and west of Kenesaw 
 Mountain, in front of Marietta. We formed the right of 
 Hardee's corps, French's division of Polk's corps being on 
 our right and on the mountain. The Twenty- fourth touched 
 the left of French's division and occupied Hardee's extieme 
 right. The line was strongly intrenched with head logs on 
 the work and obstructions in front. 
 
 The enemy appeared in force on the 20th, and pressed up 
 against our pickets. The fighting on the picket line was severe 
 all day, Company I being the only company of the Twenty- 
 fourth engaged. The enemy established his line of battle about 
 three hundred yards in our front, and his fire, both of small 
 arms and of artillery, was so constant and severe that the men 
 had to keep close behind the work and constantly on the watch. 
 Major O'Neill, the gallant commander of our brigade pickets, 
 and the Major of the Sixteenth (South Carolina) was killed 
 while maintaining the integrity of our picket line. The weather 
 was very bad, and the position of the troops behind his works 
 most uncomfortable. On the 24th the enemy in our front 
 attempted to drive in the picket line of battle, but by the Gen- 
 eral's order I moved my regiment forward and deployed it so 
 as to cover the whole brigade front, and we repelled the as- 
 saults and maintained the line. The fighting was incessant, and 
 the men got but little rest. In the fighting of the 24th we cap- 
 tured a sharpshooter who had a small looking-glass attached 
 to the butt of his musket, so that he could sit behind the breast- 
 w^ork, perfectly protected, with his back to us, and by looking 
 into his glass sight along the barrel of his piece. 
 
 On the 27th of June, early in the morning, the enemy began 
 a general shelling of our line. About 9:30 o'clock he moved 
 gallantly forward to a general assault. Our pickets were 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 91 
 
 driven in, and the enemy came on to the assault of our position. 
 The steady fire of our line, and the raking artillery fire which 
 General French sent down our front from his batteries upon 
 our right, repelled every charge, and finally drove the enemy 
 back to his fortifications. But he succeeded by dark in fixing 
 his line of battle within one hundred yards of our position, 
 and poured in a galling fire of musketry. We could have no 
 pickets, and the men were constantly firing and watching. 
 For one week we held our position under this fire, and on the 
 night of the 2d of July, after thirteen days of unceasing exer- 
 tion, fighting, and watching, we retired, the Twenty-fourth 
 having lost one officer and nine men killed, four ofificers and 
 twenty-seven men wounded, and sixteen men captured ; total 
 loss at Kenesaw fifty-seven. 
 
 Our next position was taken near Smyrna Church, about 
 five miles south of Marietta. The enemy pressed forward 
 and annoyed us on the 3rd by artillery fire while we were 
 intrenching our position. One man was killed and one wounded 
 by this fire. On the 4th of July we were under a constant fire 
 of artillery, but the enemy's line of battle did not come nearer 
 than a mile from our position. On the night of the 4th we 
 again retired from the position we had strongly fortified, and 
 marched on the Atlanta road to a position some five miles to 
 our rear. Except to furnish a detail for picket duty the 
 Twenty-fourth was not called on for service in this position, 
 and remained in bivouac until the 9th of July, when the regi- 
 ment marched with the army and crossed the Chattahoochee 
 River near the railroad bridge. The corps went into bivouac 
 in line about two miles from the river, sending out details for 
 picket duty at the river. We lost three men on the river, 
 wounded by the enemy from the opposite side. 
 
 On the 17th of July the commanding general published an 
 address to the army, and announced that he would attack Gen- 
 eral Sherman's army as soon as it should cross the Chatta- 
 hoochee River. It was understood that the enemy was crossing 
 at Roswell Factory, beyond the right flank of the army and 
 
92 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 east of Peach Tree Creek, which empties into the Chattahoo- 
 chee a mile or two east of the railroad bridge. I had the honor 
 to read the commanding General's address to the brigade, and 
 to congratulate the command upon the prospect of successful 
 battle. The order was received with enthusiasm, and the most 
 confident spirit prevailed. Next day, the i8th, while we were 
 forming to march from our bivouac to the right, a rumor pre- 
 vailed that General Johnston had been removed from com- 
 mand, and after we had marched some distance on the road 
 to Atlanta a courier handed me a circular order from General 
 Hood announcing General Johnston's removal, and his assum- 
 ing command. Shortly after, the farewell address of General 
 Johnston was received and read to the regiment. It is due to 
 truth to say that the reception of these orders produced the 
 most despondent feelings in my command. The loss of the 
 commanding general was felt to be irreparable. 
 
 Continuing the march and passing the General's headquar- 
 ters, Walker's division passed at the shoulder, the officers salut- 
 ing, and most of the latter and hundreds of the men taking off 
 their hats. It had been proposed to halt and cheer, but Gen- 
 eral Johnston hearing our intention requested that the troops 
 march by in silence. We marched across the railroad and 
 went into bivouac east of the Peach Tree road, some three 
 miles from Atlanta. And thus closed the campaign under 
 General Johnston's command. 
 
 From May 6 to July 19 inclusive the Twenty- fourth had 
 been constantly on duty. During this period we had been 
 continually in the presence of the enemy — fighting, on picket, 
 in the breastworks, or covering the brigade in retreat. 
 
 The month of June was characterized by incessant rain, and 
 the marching and work in the mud were most distressing to the 
 men and officers. Our bivouacs were always in line of battle, 
 often in the trenches, and we seldom got a night's rest. At 
 Kenesaw Mountain, particularly, we got but little rest, and for 
 the last five days none at all. But the pluck and spirit of the 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 93 
 
 regiment never failed, and I am happy to report that not a 
 single man deserted his colors during this trying ordeal. 
 
 The field and staff officers of the Twenty- fourth have been 
 active, and most efficient in their duties, and given me every 
 assistance in their power. 
 
 Hdqrs. Twenty-fourth Regiment South Carolina Vols. 
 
 JoNESBORO, Ga., September 12th, 1864. 
 Major: 
 
 I submit herewith a report of the part borne by my regiment 
 in the recent engagement in front of Jonesboro on the after- 
 noon of the 1st inst. 
 
 The brigade, having been ordered from the left of the corps 
 at I r. M. to the extreme right, was placed in position by the 
 Lieutenant-General in person on the right and east of the rail- 
 road, the left resting on the railroad cut. which at that point 
 was some eight or ten feet deep, the formation of the brigade 
 being in one rank. Our line ran through a thick undergrowth 
 and wood near the railroad, and was entirely without fortifi- 
 cation. 
 
 The Second Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters, Major White- 
 ley, occupied the left of the brigade, resting in the rail- 
 road cut. and the Twenty- fourth came next, the Sixteenth 
 South Carolina next, and the Forty-sixth Georgia on the right. 
 Lieutenant-General Hardee directed me to make my position 
 as strong as possible, and told me that he relied upon our 
 brigade to hold the right of his line. The men climbed up the 
 small trees, bent them over, and using pocket knives to cut 
 across the trunks, succeeded in half an hour in making a first 
 rate abatis of little trees, interlaced thickly and held by half 
 their thickness to the stumps. Along my line I brought up 
 rails and logs from the rear and made a tolerable breastwork. 
 As we were bent back to cover the right of the corps the direc- 
 tion of my line exposed us to an enfilade from the other side 
 of the railroad cut, and to protect my companies against this 
 
94 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 I built traverses of logs on the left of my companies. These 
 proved our salvation. 
 
 Rapid firing began in my front about four o'clock, and in 
 half an hour my skirmishers came in, closely followed by the 
 assaulting line of the enemy. The assault seemed directed 
 mainly against the positions on the right and left of the rail- 
 road, and reached only to the center of the Twenty- fourth. 
 It was handsomely repulsed. Major D. F. Hill directing the 
 fire of the companies on the left with splendid effect. 
 
 Again at 5 130 the enemy moved forward along the entire 
 front of the Twenty-fourth. I fired by rank and rapidly the 
 movement was checked ; but on the west side of the railroad 
 the firing was heavy and the fighting continuous, and I soon 
 saw that the position on that side had been carried, the enemy 
 occupying the works. Unfortunately the battalion of sharp- 
 shooters was retired just at this moment without orders from 
 the brigade headquarters, and the enemy promptly moved up 
 our side and occupied Whiteley's works, firing wildly over my 
 left, now protected by my traverses. During this fire Hill was 
 killed, and many of our men wounded. An assault being made 
 from the front. Companies B (Lieutenant Easterling), G 
 (Lieutenant Beckham), and K (Lieutenant Seigler) were 
 driven from my left after a gallant stand. Beckham being 
 nearest me, I ordered him to rally his company at once and 
 retake his place before it would be too late. He responded 
 with his usual gallantry, and assisted by yourself and my 
 adjutant. Lieutenant Holmes, I rallied my men, and we lOok 
 our position, occupying the traverses on the left. For the 
 gallant assistance offered by yourself and by Lieutenants 
 Holmes. Beckham, and Easterling in effecting this I feel myself 
 greatly indebted. 
 
 Seeing the urgent necessity for driving the enemy from the 
 position of the sharpshooters, which brough them right on us. 
 Major Smith and Lieutenants Beckham and Easterling 
 charged them with Companies B and G, and after a close fight 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 95 
 
 drove them entirely out of our works. Meanwhile Major 
 Whiteley brought up his battalion and reoccupied his position 
 in the railroad cut. Companies B, G, and K now resumed their 
 place in line, and the firing lulled, the enemy in my front retir- 
 ing to the bottom of the hill. While we were fighting on the 
 left Lieutenant-Colonel Jones directed the firing of the center 
 and right of the Twenty- fourth and repulsed every assault of 
 the enemy. It is to be noted that the assault did not reach the 
 two regiments to the right of mine, and that the heaviest attack 
 was on my left at the railroad. 
 
 The firing of the enemy for the most part was wild and 
 entirely over us. I attribute this to the confusion in his 
 advance and attack caused by our abatis, for there was no lack 
 of spirit in his assaults. Our small loss in killed and wounded 
 is attributed to this wild firing on the enemy's part. From 
 our prisoners we learned that the troops assaulting us belonged 
 to General Jefl'. C. Davis' Division. I have counted over two 
 hundred graves in our front, most of them marked. The battle 
 began about 4:30 p. m. and lasted until dark. At midnight the 
 Lieutenant-General in person, with his staff, rode up to our 
 position and did me the honor to return his thanks for our 
 conduct, and gave directions for our retirement. In half an 
 hour after, by the order of the colonel commanding the 
 brigade, the Twenty-fourth marched out from our position 
 and, in advance of the brigade, reached Love joy's by daylight, 
 and went at once to work on the new line formed there. 
 
 In the action at Jonesboro the regiment sustained an irrep- 
 arable loss in the death of Major D. F. Hill. He fell while 
 endeavoring to arrest the retirement of the sharpshooters on 
 my left — shot through the heart by one of the enemy from 
 behind our own works. A cool, brave man, and a good soldier, 
 Major Hill's loss is deplored by every man and officer of his 
 regiment. 
 
 I beg to note especially the gallant conduct of Major B. B. 
 Smith, assistant-adjutant general; of my adjutant, Lieutenant 
 
96 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Holmes, and Lieutenants Easterling, Beckham, and Seigler, 
 who gave me every assistance, and in the most handsome man- 
 ner rallied and led the men in our hard fight to retake the 
 position we first lost, and that given up by the Second Battalion 
 Georgia Sharpshooters. 
 
 With the greatest satisfaction I report the conduct of the 
 officers and soldiers of the Twenty-fourth South Carolina 
 Volunteers in the engagement as meriting the highest approval. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Ellison Capers, 
 Colonel Tiveiity-fourth South Carolina Vols. 
 
 During the campaign described in the foregoing reports. Col- 
 onel Capers received every evidence of the confidence and love 
 of his soldiers, and he was also encouraged by the repeated 
 assurances of appreciation given him by his superior officers. 
 In the many engagements between Dalton and Atlanta Colonel 
 Capers commanded skirmishes almost assuming the magnitude 
 of pitched battles, as at Calhoun, Tanner's Ferry, Resaca, New- 
 Hope Church, and Kenesaw Mountain ; while in the battles 
 around Atlanta and at Jonesboro he commanded a brigade. 
 For services rendered in these engagements he received the 
 thanks of his commanding officers, as well as the praise of his 
 men. The following excerpts are from letters written from 
 the front to the "home-folks." 
 
 
 Line of Battle, near Dalton, Ga. 
 About twelve o'clock that night we moved off, and rejomed 
 our regiment below Dalton. We have been moving from one 
 point to another ever since. Walker's division is first in the 
 front line, then with the reserved. Out of the twenty-four 
 days and nights it has rested about six. Men can frequently 
 be seen asleep and marching at a rapid pace. The Twenty- 
 fourth South Carolina Volunteers was selected by General 
 Hardee and General Walker to feel for the enemy's position 
 near Calhoun on the i6th. We attacked them about 3 p. m., 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 97 
 
 drove in their skirmishers, heavily supported, and advanced 
 nearly a mile. In this affair the whole regiment acted gallantly. 
 Capers and his regiment have won compliments from all, and 
 I may add that our company did better than I ever saw men do 
 before. (Signed) J. H. Tillman. 
 
 My Dear Ell : 
 
 Odd. so we call the dear boy who is gone, who sleeps at 
 Manassas with a surgeon's certificate in his pocket, that might 
 have spared him to us ; remembering my bright, noble, beauti- 
 ful captain, my gallant, true, "aide-de-camp," the circum- 
 stances under which he wired me, and my letter to ; 
 
 I cannot forgive that he died. should have 
 
 made him his aide by all the memories of the Citadel. Oh, 
 how often in this life I have found it that my heart looked 
 for responses. None came. Thank God that blood is thicker 
 than water. After waiting with a note of Joe Brown's in 
 my pocket for a boy from your General Polk (who would 
 have been glad to see me ofificially) waiting at Resaca for Gen- 
 eral Johnston under the heaviest lire I could find, for they had 
 told me at his headquarters that the General had gone to the 
 firing, and that I would find him at or near Polky Hill, I went 
 there and found the heavy firing, but re-enforcements were 
 coming up. By the way, I never saw as much reason to admire 
 your great bishop than I did in the hour I passed there, and it 
 proves what they say, that "blood is thicker than water." Let 
 me tell you the story as I have told it to May. "Open your 
 fire," said the General. He was addressing the captain of a 
 battery just above us on the crest of a hill, from the valley of 
 which our skirmishers had been driven in on the lines, and he 
 was speaking "fire" on the crest of the left opposite. "Our 
 troops are climbing the base of the hill; if I fire I open on 
 them," said the captain. "Open your fire," was the reply. By 
 this time the hill opposite seemed to be on fire. "Open your 
 fire, sir," and the fire was opened. Stevens climbed the hill 
 by its aid, and while I was watching the climb and glorying in 
 
98 THE SOLr3IER-BISHOP 
 
 its success, there came amid shot and shell the statement : 
 "Walker's division is crossing the river." I had been that 
 morning under pretty sharp fire myself, but I forgot everything 
 when I saw you. I went high on the hill to see, notwithstand- 
 ing the "mosquitoes." Standing by that bridge upon your 
 black horse, until all of your command were by, you sat as 
 if upon parade. I did not think of Walker, the gallant fellow 
 (who knew me). I saw him salute splendidly. I heard the 
 General say: "Follow the firing." It was then chiefly beyond 
 us, but my soul was on that figure at the bridge. "Double 
 quick your men," said General Polk; "this fire is very heavy." 
 "Double quick your men." One of the handsomest sights I 
 saw during the war was General W. H. T. Walker, saluting on 
 the slope of that hill at Resaca. He was well mounted, always 
 trim, and he took off his chapeau as if on parade. "Double 
 quick your men!" was the first response. "Where shall I 
 move?" asked General Walker, evidently supposing the order 
 to "double quick" prospective. "Double quick your men, sir," 
 was the only reply, and I have no doubt it saved many lives. 
 
 The most intensely interesting sight I saw during the war 
 was that to which I have alluded, when you stood too long 
 at that bridge, confound you, under the fire of, Sherman 
 knows, how many guns." (Signed) F. W. C. 
 
r.RIGADIER-GEXERAL ELLISON CAPERS, C. S. A. 
 
 (From an imperfect photograph, 1SG5, but the only one he 
 ever had taken in Confederate uniform.) 
 
 Opfosite page 99. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 gist's brigade with hood in TENNESSEE 
 
 When Napoleon retired to Elba he was neither conquered nor 
 subdued. Though forced to retire there, yet there he prepared 
 again to spring forward to overthrow his enemies. At Elba he 
 dreamed of and planned for retaliation, conquest, empire. He 
 knew the French resented Wellington, and could not at once 
 be cured of their inherent hatred of the gouty Bourbon. The 
 prospect of realizing his own ambition increased in proportion 
 to the growing discontent of the French people with the arro- 
 gant oppression of the new regime. Intriguing "sister 
 Pauline." as she came and went between Naples and the royal 
 island where her emperor brother, with every outward show 
 of content, lived luxuriously, kept him posted. IMurat. king of 
 Naples, was made to understand that the lion was not dead — 
 no. not even asleep! And so Napoleon made his resolution 
 and fixed the time when, passing from the south of France to 
 the Tuilleries, the soldiery of France would flock to his stand- 
 ard. He would expel the foreigner, re-establish his power, 
 and. with his power fixed, extend the empire. This was a 
 mighty dream the "immense somnambulist" was dreaming. 
 We are familiar with the details of the ever memorable "Hun- 
 dred Days" and Bonaparte's rude awakening at Waterloo. But 
 had Napoleon's dream been realized the map of the continent 
 would have been changed. 
 
 On October 15 and 16. 1864. at Cross Roads, Ga., in the 
 beautiful valley nine miles from Lafayette, an "immense som- 
 nambulist" dreamed that he would reconstruct the map of the 
 Western Hemisphere. During that memorable time General 
 
 99 
 
loo THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 John B. Hood was dreaming in his tent, not of personal con- 
 quest, a diadem, and an empire, but of the freedom of the 
 great repubHc for which he fought. The battles around Atlanta 
 had been fought, and Sherman did not easily flank this deter- 
 mined foe, for in his memoirs he says : 'T now became 
 satisfied that cavalry could not or would not make a lodgment 
 on the railroad below Atlanta, and that nothing would suffice 
 but for us to reach it with the main army." Thus for forty 
 days a force of 45,000 successfully opposed Sherman's 106,000. 
 
 Finally Atlanta became untenable, and the battle of Jones- 
 boro followed, September i. Then came maneuvers in the 
 mountains of north Georgia, with the hope of decoying Sher- 
 man back and defeating him in battle. At Cross Roads the 
 dream was vouchsafed to Hood. This was the vision : A 
 campaign into Tennessee, with the line established in Ken- 
 tucky ; to move upon Thomas and Schofield ; rout the latter be- 
 fore he could unite with Thomas ; capture Nashville ; provision 
 the army ; cross the Cumberland River ; threaten Cincinnati ; 
 recruit the army from Tennessee and Kentucky; and before 
 Sherman could reach Grant by water and land, or repair to 
 the defense of Kentucky and Ohio, march through the Cumber- 
 land Mountains to the support of Lee ; assault Grant in the 
 rear at Petersburg; Lee then to march upon Washington 
 or turn and annihilate Sherman. This dream dissolved at 
 Franklin. 
 
 After the battle of Arsis Napoleon crossed the Marne River 
 and attempted to maneuver in the rear of the allied armies, 
 with the vain hope that by falling upon and destroying de- 
 tached troops he might stay the march of the conquerors to- 
 ward the gates of Paris. His efforts availed him nothing. The 
 hungry soldiers could not be diverted from their prey. To 
 humiliate the proud capital of France was not an unnatural 
 ambition with Alexander and Wellington and Blucher; while 
 the loot of the famous city dazzled the imagination of the fierce 
 soldiery. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS loi 
 
 Hood's maneuvering in north Georgia and his campaign 
 into Tennessee failed to divert Sherman from his ''march to 
 the sea," with wealthy, aristocratic, intensely Southern Sa\'an- 
 nah as the object of his vengeance; while the wealthy planta- 
 tions and pillage of towns and cities excited to madness the 
 imagination of soldiers who were taught to believe that they 
 were "fighting the battles of God and liberty" and the pillage 
 of "the barbarian" was their lawful spoils. 
 
 At Palmetto, Ga., on the 29th of September, '64, Hood 
 broke camp and marched his army toward the Chattahoochee. 
 His disastrous campaign had begun. Before the army was put 
 in motion President Davis visited General Hood to confer with 
 him, and also to inspect the army. We here introduce the fol- 
 lowing letters written by Captain James Tillman to his brother, 
 then in the Confederate Congress, which in simple language 
 portrays the personality of the Confederate President. 
 
 The first letter, dated from Palmetto, Ga., September 25, 
 '64, runs as follows : 
 
 "The army generally is in good health and cheerful. General 
 Johnston is all that is desired. The whole army would hail 
 his return with the wildest shouts of applause, and yet our 
 President will not reinstate him. We are looking for Mr. 
 Davis every hour, as it was announced in orders on yesterday 
 that he would inspect the fortifications this morning. He will 
 be treated very coldly, and it will be deserving. He has for- 
 feited all claims to our regard and kind consideration. Per- 
 haps hurrahs for Johnston will greet his ears." But that after- 
 noon he writes : 
 
 "Our brigade has just returned to camp. We were reviewed 
 by the President. The whole brigade moved out sullenly, to 
 be seen by him. We had scarcely taken position before his 
 Excellency appeared and rode slowly along the line, saluting 
 officers and men by raising his hat as he passed by. Though 
 scarcely a man left the bivouac who had not determined to 
 
I02 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 treat him coldly, his calm pale face and frosty locks created 
 a deep sympathy in behalf of the careworn Executive, and 
 when General Gist proposed 'three cheers for our President' a 
 wild, united shout was given, such as we used to give when 
 our great and much loved General was with us and rode along 
 the line or encampment." 
 
 However, to revert to Cross Roads, from which place 
 Hood's "forward movement, in the rear — an apparent para- 
 dox, but sometimes a fact in military operations — began in 
 dead earnest. Crossing the State line on the i8th of October, 
 the army was halted at Gadsden, Ala., three days thereafter, 
 and there secured their mail and drew supplies, which, while 
 not meeting the actual necessities of the men, relieved the 
 most needy. In his report Colonel Capers states that there 
 were more than twenty men in the Twenty- fourth South Caro- 
 lina who were absolutely barefooted when they reached Gads- 
 den. On the 2 1 St Hood made known to the army his purpose 
 to cross the Tennessee and march into that State. Passing 
 from Sand Mountain, the army reached Decatur on the after- 
 noon of the 26th, and were formed in line of battle — General 
 Schofield then holding the line of the Tennessee from that 
 point to Chattanooga. Having to contend with drenching 
 rains and muddy roads, the troops were nevertheless in fine 
 spirits, and seemed eager to "get at the enemy." While before 
 Decatur the line of battle was shelled by the Federals, and 
 shelled so vigorously that the men had no chance to cook, and 
 therefore many of them actually suffered from hunger. On 
 the 29th the Confederate army moved toward Tuscumbia and 
 Florence, Ala., where after some delay the Tennessee River 
 was crossed, and Hood's army marched through that beautiful 
 valley, a valley now made desolate by the enemy. "The Com- 
 manding General called upon the troops to look upon the ruined 
 homes on every hand, and exhorted every man and officer to 
 vow the redemption of Tennessee from the grasp of the foe. 
 This circular was received by the Twenty- fourth South Caro- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 103 
 
 lina Volunteers with cheers, though many of the gallant sol- 
 diers who cheered were then absolutely suffering for clothes 
 and shoes."* The weather continued miserable and camp life 
 became almost unbearable. 
 
 While these operations were in progress in the Confederate 
 army, General Schofield. commanding the Union army at Deca- 
 tur, abandoned the line of the Tennessee, and began to con- 
 centrate at Pulaski, evidently expecting Hood to march 
 through that place en route to Franklin and Nashville by the 
 way of the Lewisburg and Franklin turnpikes. Learning, how- 
 ever, that the Confederate army was moving over the "Waynes- 
 boro and Lawrenceburg pikes toward Mount Pleasant, Scho- 
 field started General Cox in advance on the Pulaski pike. 
 When he reached Lynville on the 26th of November the lead- 
 ing columns of the Confederate army had reached Summer- 
 town. 
 
 The head of each army being exactly seventeen miles 
 from Columbia, Columbia now became the strategic point on 
 Duck River, south of which river General Thomas had ordered 
 Schofield to hold the rapidly advancing enemy. With an equal 
 distance to go, along open pikes, the advance and retreat of the 
 two armies respectively became a breakneck dash for the 
 coveted point. Even the soldiers in the ranks intuitively felt 
 that this was a race for life, and that the time was drawing 
 near when one army or the other would be destroyed. 
 
 General Cox marched his troops all night, the night of 
 the 26th. and by day dawn had reached the Warfield house, 
 within three miles of Columbia. Here he halted and began to 
 look about for the enemy, but neither seeing nor hearing any 
 evidence of his approach, Cox wisely concluded that there 
 was but one other way Hood could be advancing, and that was 
 over the Mount Pleasant pike. He therefore of his own motion 
 moved immediately due west, and through a country road 
 reached that pike at Little Bigby just in time to threaten and 
 check the advance of Hood's leading column over that creek. 
 
 *Colonel Capers' Report. 
 
I04 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Hood's army was passing through the "dimple spot in the 
 basin of Middle Tennessee," and otiicers and men were fre- 
 quently heard to comment on the apparent fertility of the soil 
 and the one-time prosperity of the beautiful country. And as 
 the renowned and heroic General Cleburne, accompanied by 
 his staff (and an officer or two not of his official family, among 
 whom was Colonel Capers, who records the incident), was 
 passing St. John's Church, seven miles below Columbia, Cle- 
 burne was so much impressed with the picturesque loveliness 
 of this sanctuary in the woods, with its stately poplars, spread- 
 ing oaks, and beautiful lawns, and its retired quiet corner 
 wherein to rest its dead, that he turned impulsively to some 
 of his staff and said : "So this is the church built by General 
 Leonidas Polk and members of his family? If I am killed in 
 the impending battle I request that my body be laid to rest 
 in this, the most beautiful and peaceful spot I ever beheld." 
 The next day at Franklin, Cleburne died a soldier's death, 
 leading in the charge. 
 
 After the noise of battle rolled on to the hills of Nashville, 
 Chaplain Ouintard had the bodies of Cleburne, Strahl, Adams, 
 and Carter, all generals in the Confederate army, and all 
 killed in the carnage at Franklin, buried in the sacred soil of 
 old St. John's, where even now a solemn hush pervades the 
 place, and we feel the presence of those noble dead. And 
 though in time their respective States claimed their ashes, yet 
 their transient rest beneath the spreading trees in the quiet 
 churchyard, already historic (for there is the quaint tomb of 
 the great Bishop Otey), has fixed their memory in the place 
 and wings the imagination back to the days of heroic sacrifices 
 and noble deeds when such men gave their lives that posterity 
 might be free. 
 
 To return from this digression. "The march from Florence 
 to Columbia was forced all the way; the weather and roads 
 were bad, and rations very short, three biscuits only on the 
 24th and 25th to each man." 
 
 We left the advance of General Hood's army checked before 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 105 
 
 Little Bigby Creek, and here it was Hood conceived and began 
 his brilliant flanking movement toward the more easterly fords 
 of Duck River. That morning at day dawn General Cox had 
 stopped at the Warfield house, on the Pulaski pike, and, as we 
 have seen, moved abruptly due west from there on to the Mount 
 Pleasant pike. Now Hood on the Mount Pleasant pike began 
 to maneuver in exactly the opposite direction, and, edging 
 around the hills, he made Cox unknowingly "swap" pikes. He 
 now occupied the Warfield house, where Cox had paused, and 
 the way to Davis ford across Duck River was open to his army, 
 and there they crossed. It is related by Mrs. Warfield that the 
 General was up before three o'clock on the morning of the 
 29th, preparing to supervise in person the movement of the 
 army across Davis ford. Being urged by his kind hostess to 
 wait until she could get him something to eat, he courteously 
 declined and explained : "The next hour or two might decide 
 the fate of the army; therefore it is imperative that I conduct 
 the army across Duck River." Had this praiseworthy energy 
 characterized his efforts during the fateful crisis which fol- 
 lowed at Spring Hill between four o'clock and dark of the 
 same day, who can venture to prophesy as to the ultimate 
 outcome of the war in the West? 
 
 However, on the worn army marched, straining every 
 quivering nerve and expending its energy to press its advantage 
 and cut off the enemy. General Forrest had driven Wilson's 
 cavalry rapidly before him; Forrest and Cleburne skinnished 
 with Bradley and Lane, and easily drove their little brigades 
 in upon Spring Hill, where Schofield's entire army train was 
 parked. 
 
 One vigorous assault and all the treasures would have 
 been speedily "transferred to our side of the house." (Hood's 
 expression.) By sundown Gist and Strahl had arrived, and 
 General John C. Brown had his division intact. Bate 
 had been recalled from fronting the pike and formed on 
 Cleburne's left ; Brown now on the extreme right with A. P. 
 Stewart's corps moved in obedience to orders to take posses- 
 
io6 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 sion of the pike beyond Spring Hill. The line of battle was 
 formed, all things were in readiness. The game had been 
 "bagged"; it only remained to "pull the string." The sound 
 of Brown's guns was to be the signal for Cleburne, Cheatham, 
 and other commanders to advance. 
 
 The Federal General Lane moved his brigade out on Brown's 
 right and threatened him. Brown's heart failed him, a heart 
 hitherto impervious to fear. He scented "disaster." He so 
 informed Cheatham, who seems to have replied : "Throw back 
 your right brigade and attack." Had he done so the little "bull 
 pens" around Spring Hill would have been almost instantly 
 swept aside, the great army train and artillery secured ; Scho- 
 field's army routed and destroyed ; and the rising tide of enthu- 
 siasm among the Confederate soldiers converted into an ad- 
 vancing torrent, which Thomas at Nashville would have been 
 impotent to stay. All this would have meant inevitably the 
 kindling of new hopes among the masses of Southern people; 
 revived confidence in our military leaders; a large inflow of 
 fresh men into the army; a new lease on life for the tottering 
 Confederacy, and perhaps terms of peace which would not 
 have been humiliating or financially disastrous to the South. 
 Who can tell ? But why speculate ? "The times were out of 
 joint." Officers with clear heads suddenly became confused. 
 Leaders with brave hearts began to doubt their strength in 
 the face of a feeble foe. Privates shot into the ranks of the 
 passing army or ventured to the pike to capture "a Yank or 
 two" for the benefit of the haversack. But the general officers 
 could not or would not venture a move. One moment all the 
 generals thought they had definite, specific orders; the next 
 moment they had none. 
 
 When urged by his brigadiers to attack, General Brown, that 
 lion-hearted, splendid soldier, only replied : "I have no orders." 
 When twitted by an officer, Brown ordered him under arrest. 
 General Chalmers said: "I am not in command," and then 
 lay down under the shadow of a tree. Gist and Strahl rode out 
 after dark to see what was going on down at the pike. Col- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 107 
 
 onel Capers accompanied them, and, as if to relieve his im- 
 patience of this unwarranted delay, emptied his pistol into the 
 moving troops, and the three officers galloped back to their 
 commands. And the commanding general, he who would not 
 tarry for even a morsel of breakfast at three o'clock on that 
 frosty November morning, now merely swore in his tent, but 
 never thought to ride to the front and lead the attack in person — 
 an attack upon which depended his own reputation, the safety 
 of the army, and the destiny of his country! Most incompre- 
 hensible! And even that wizard, Forrest, he who intuitively 
 penetrated the designs of the enemy, and was always across his 
 purpose, so late as eleven o'clock that night solemnly assured 
 General Hood that Schoiield would move his army to Franklin 
 by the Carter's Creek pike. This accounts for his presence on 
 that pike, and his absence from in front of Franklin when 
 Hood's army was destroyed. 
 
 But all the while the Federal army rumbled on over the open 
 pike; "rapidly and silently" they marched through the Confed- 
 erates' very midst. There that fated army bivouacked and 
 slept. Schofield must have thought his men were marching 
 through the city of the dead. What strange stupor had fallen 
 on those sleeping heroes? Perhaps the Angel of the Lord was 
 through that host, with the breath of a weird paralysis exhaling 
 from his lips; or, as was said of another great crisis in the 
 annals of war, "The One who is not mocked took charge of 
 events. . . . God passed by." But we will let Colonel 
 Capers tell us the story as he saw it. 
 
 "Early on the 29th we left bivouac and marched to Davis' 
 ford, on Duck River, crossing on a pontoon, and continued 
 the march toward Spring Hill, immediately on the rear of the 
 enemy's position at Columbia. The march was rapid and over 
 bad roads, and part of the way over the open plantations. We 
 arrived before Spring Hill about sunset, and were formed in 
 line of battle, facing the town and apparently about a mile 
 distant. The enemy seemed to be in confusion, as we could 
 hear the noise of pulling down fences and houses and the rat- 
 
io8 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 tling of wheels on the pike. Our troops were fighting on our 
 right and we were expecting momentarily to be ordered for- 
 ward. No order came, however, and as dark came on General 
 Gist and myself rode out toward the enemy within pistol shot. 
 This state of affairs was, and still is, inexplicable to me, and 
 gave us a great disappointment. Later on in the night we 
 could hear the rolling of wheels over the pike, as the enemy's 
 artillery and wagons moved on to Franklin. After an anxious 
 night of waiting we moved next morning on to the pike and 
 marched after Stewart's corps toward Franklin. Burnt wagons 
 and dead mules were passed on the pike, and other evidences 
 of a hasty retreat of the enemy. 
 
 "About 2 p. M. the head of our corps reached a line of high 
 hills crossing the Franklin pike, on which the enemy had a 
 force. Stewart drove this force back, and we formed line of 
 battle at the foot of the hills. In the order of formation 
 Stewart's corps was on the right of the pike and Hardee's, 
 commanded by Cheatham, was deployed on the left. The divi- 
 sions were formed in two lines, from right to left, as follows : 
 Cleburne's, Brown's, and Bate's. In our division (Brown's) 
 Gist's and Gordon's brigades occupied the front and Carter's 
 and Strahl's the rear lines ; Gist was on the left of Gordon, 
 and the Twenty-fourth on the left of Gist's brigade, so that we 
 occupied the left of the division. In this order the two corps 
 moved forward to the top of the hills. The enemy was in- 
 trenched in a semicircle in front of Franklin, with his flanks 
 refused and resting on the Harpeth River in his rear; there 
 was also a short line of troops, apparently a division, about 
 five hundred yards in front of the main force. The distance 
 from our position to this advanced force seemed to be about a 
 mile and a quarter. 
 
 "About four o'clock the two corps moved down the hill, 
 our division marching by the right flank of regiments until 
 we descended the slopes, then forming forward into line. As 
 we advanced, the force in front opened fire on us, and our 
 line moved steadily on, the enemy retreating as we pressed 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 109 
 
 forward. Just before the charge was ordered the brigade 
 passed over an elevation, from which we beheld the magnifi- 
 cent spectacle the battle-field presented. Bands were playing, 
 generals and staff officers and gallant couriers were riding in 
 front of and behind the lines, a hundred battle-flags were wav- 
 ing in the smoke of battle, and bursting shells were wreathing 
 the air with great circles of smoke, while twenty thousand 
 brave men were marching in perfect order against the foe. 
 The sight inspired every man of the Twenty-fourth with the 
 sentiment of duty. As we were pressing back the enemy's 
 advance forces Lieutenant-Colonel J. S. Jones fell mortally 
 wounded in front of the right of the regiment. General Gist, 
 attended b}^ Captain H. D. Garden and Lieutenant Frank Tren- 
 holm, of his staff, rode down our front and, returning, ordered 
 the charge in concert with General Gordon. 
 
 "In passing from the left to the right of the regiment the 
 General waved his hat to us. expressed his confidence and pride 
 in the Twenty-fourth, and rode away in the smoke of battle, 
 never more to be seen by the men he had commanded on so 
 many fields. His horse was shot and, dismounting, he was 
 leading the right of the brigade when he fell, pierced through 
 the heart. On pressed the charging lines of the brigade, driv- 
 ing the advance force of the enemy pell-mell into a locust abatis, 
 where many were captured and sent to the rear ; others were 
 wounded by the fire of their own men. This abatis was a for- 
 midable and fearful obstruction. The entire brigade was 
 arrested by it. Fortunately for us the fire of the enemy slack- 
 ened, to let their advance troops come in, and we took ad- 
 vantage of it to work our way through. Gist's and Gordon's 
 brigades charged on, and reached the ditch of the work, 
 mounted the work, and met the enemy in close combat. The 
 colors of the Twenty- fourth were planted and defended on the 
 parapet, and the enemy retired in our front some distance, but 
 soon rallied and came back in turn to charge us. He never suc- 
 ceeded in retaking the line we held. 
 
 "About dusk there was a lull in the firing west of the pike. 
 
no THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Brown's division had established itself in the ditch of the work 
 so far as Gist's brigade fronted on the crest. Torn and ex- 
 hausted, deprived of every general officer and nearly every 
 field officer, the division had only strength enough left to hold 
 its position. Strahl's and Carter's brigades came gallantly to 
 the assistance of Gist's and Gordon's, but the enemy's fire 
 from the houses in the rear of the line, and from his reserves, 
 thrown rapidly forward, and from guns posted on the far side 
 of the river so as to enfilade the field, tore their line to pieces 
 before it reached the locust abatis. Strahl and his entire staff 
 were killed together before reaching the work, and Carter was 
 mortally wounded. But there was no backward movement of 
 this line. Its momentum, though slackened by its terrible losses, 
 carried it on to the ditch. Major B. Burgh Smith, of the 
 brigade staff, who was commanding the Sixteenth South Caro- 
 lina Volunteers, was now also the senior of the brigade, every 
 superior officer having either been killed or wounded. Major 
 Smith established the line on the works and maintained an 
 effective fire until nine o'clock, by having his men in the ditch, 
 many of whom were wounded, to load and pass up the muskets 
 to the men on the works. 
 
 "Major Smith informs me that men and officers of Deas' 
 brigade, of Johnston's division (which came on the field late 
 in the evening), assisted in maintaining this fire. About lo 
 or 10:30 o'clock Lieutenant James A. Tillman, of the Twenty- 
 fourth, led his own company (I) and men from other com- 
 panies of the regiment in a charge against the enemy over 
 the work, and captured the colors of the Ninety-seventh Ohio 
 Volunteer Infantry and some forty prisoners. The regiment 
 held its position, as did the brigade, against repeated attempts 
 to drive it from the work, until about midnight, when the 
 enemy retired and left our army in possession of the bloody 
 field of Eranklin. I was shot down before reaching the last 
 work, and have reported the facts occurring after my wound 
 from the statement of men and officers w^ho visited me at the 
 hospital the next day. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS iii 
 
 "At the close of the battle Captain Gillis, of the Forty-sixth 
 Georgia, was the senior officer of the brigade ; of General Gist's 
 staff Captain H. D. Garden alone remained. Before we 
 reached the locust abatis the ranks of the regiment were deci- 
 mated by the direct enfiladed fire of the enemy, and the lieu- 
 tenant-colonel and myself had both been shot down, yet the 
 company officers led the men forward, worked their way 
 through the abatis, and assaulted the main work. Lieutenant 
 Gailey, of Company F, and Lieutenant Padgett, of Company 
 I, with many of the men, were killed beyond the work. 
 
 "From Palmetto to Franklin the regiment marched over five 
 hundred miles. We suffered much during November from 
 want of clothes, shoes, and blankets. Once during the cam- 
 paign the men received as a ration three ears of corn to each 
 man, and frequently we had nothing but corn meal. But I 
 am happy to report that no man deserted the flag of his regi- 
 ment, and no command of the army fought with more spirit 
 and heroic determination at Franklin than did the Twenty- 
 fourth South Carolina Volunteers." 
 
 The day after the battle Colonel Capers was moved to 
 Columbia, and tenderly cared for at the hospitable home of 
 Mr. Dale, which stands almost immediately opposite the his- 
 toric old college for women, Columbia Institute, of which the 
 author of this work, the youngest of General Capers' sons, is 
 the president. A few years before his death Bishop Capers 
 came out to Columbia to visit the scenes associated with this 
 memorable battle. He was deeply interested to learn of the 
 disposition of the remains of the generals buried at St. John's, 
 especially so when told that as rector of St. Peter's parish the 
 author had only a day or two previous to his visit read the 
 service and made an address over the ashes of General Strahl, 
 they having been removed by his old soldiers to the home of 
 his adoption. 
 
 In speaking about the blunder at Spring Hill to old soldiers 
 who were calling on the Bishop at the time, he said : "We 
 
112 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 [Cheatham's division] were in position immediately in front of 
 Spring Hill, and in line of battle parallel with the road on 
 which the Federal forces were forming, moving, and in great 
 confusion, and in full time to make the attack before dusk. My 
 regiment, and, in fact, the entire brigade, was in line a little 
 after sundown. We were expecting to receive orders to attack, 
 and could not understand why we were thus forced to stand 
 idly by, and without firing a shot, to see the enemy march past 
 us. It was just growing dark when I rode with General Gist 
 and other officers up the hill toward the enemy's line. They 
 appeared to be making hasty preparations for defense. The 
 tramp of horses, the rattle of wagons, the command of officers, 
 could all be distinctly heard. The truth is, we were so close 
 to them, as we turned to ride off, that I emptied my pistol in 
 the direction of the sound of their voices. There can be no 
 question of two points in controversy in regard to the causes 
 for this blunder; first, after our brigade was in line there was 
 ample time to attack, and, second, the enemy's left did not 
 extend beyond our right when we first formed for attack." 
 
 In 1884 General Capers received the following letter from 
 General John O. Lane, the man who brought his regiment up 
 on Brown's extreme right and, threatening his flank, made that 
 veteran soldier apprehensive of "disaster," and postpone the 
 attack, thereby making the disaster at Franklin possible. Gen- 
 eral Lane writes : 
 
 General Ellison Capers, 
 
 Greenville, S. C. , 
 
 My Dear Sir: Your esteemed favor of the 15th just received, from 
 which I see I had anticipated the wishes of yourself and comrades, and 
 that as survivors of your old command you wish to extend a courtesy 
 to the survivors of the Ninety-seventh Ohio, hence I did not think of 
 asking you to send the flag to me, and will only add that I will gladly 
 promote your kindness in any way I possibly can. 
 
 If we could go over the ground from Duck River to Nashville together, 
 and in our "glorious old age" fight that campaign over with none to 
 molest or make us afraid, I could show you where you had us, and had 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 113 
 
 Hood advanced promptly the consequences might have been serious to 
 us. Spring Hill was your opportunity when you appeared in our front 
 with a corps and your army in supporting distance ; fewer than five 
 hundred men were between your forces and our train ; no Federals in 
 supporting distance. True, a division was at Spring Hill, but also 
 extended so as to protect all approaches to our train. But in your front, 
 covering at least a mile, there were fewer than hve hundred men to 
 resist your veterans. My notes, made at the time, give our positions, 
 and with your knowledge fitted to it, the story would be one full of 
 interest. 
 
 I hope we may meet in this friendly way. Until then I am, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 (Signed) John Q. Lane. 
 
 We here subjoin notes taken from Colonel Capers' memo- 
 randa on Hood's campaign, of 1864, and the battle of Franklin. 
 These notes are of interest chietiy because, made in his personal 
 diary, without a thought of publication, they give us an in- 
 sight into the spirituality of the man, and his beautiful trust in 
 and gratitude to God, — a trait that characterized him even 
 from childhood, — as well as his manly and cheerful spirit in 
 adversity. They also furnish us with a vivid description of 
 the terrible inconvenience of travel at that time, and the cruel 
 suffering endured by wounded Confederate soldiers in their 
 efforts to reach home and friends. 
 
 Dec. 2d— I made my last note from a high hill in front of 
 Franklin, on which our division had halted. I did not then 
 expect that the enemy's force was preparing to give us battle at 
 Franklin. Stewart and Forrest pressed him so hard that he 
 halted and fortified himself in three lines of intrenchments ; 
 Stewart on the right of the pike, and Cheatham on the left. 
 Marched till about 4 p. m., and then followed the battle of 
 Franklin. I received a severe wound in my left foot, at the 
 ankle, late in the afternoon, and was carried off the field to Mr. 
 Harrison's house, and kindly cared for. 
 
 Dec. 3d— Major Smith and I rode down to Columbia in 
 ambulance. Stop at Div. Hospital. 
 
114 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Dec. 4th. — Removed to Mr. Dale's. Most kindly cared for. 
 
 Dec. 5th — To-day is cloudy and threatens rain. Our good 
 friends here are most kind and attentive. I am impatient to 
 start for home. My wound does well. At 7 p. m. took ord- 
 nance wagon for the M. & C. R. R. Camped two miles from 
 Columbia on the Mount Pleasant pike. 
 
 Dec. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 on the road to the Tennessee River. 
 Arrived at river opposite Barton station at 11 a. m. Cross at 
 7 p. M. Camp at R. R. shed. Sleet, rain, wind, and bitter freez- 
 ing weather from Mount Pleasant to Barton. Everywhere 
 covered with sleet and ice. Suffered greatly en route from 
 Columbia to Barton. The jolting over frozen roads and rocks 
 gave great pain to Smith and me. Hot rocks to our feet, 
 straw to lie on, and my invaluable pillow, great comforts to me. 
 
 Dec. 1 2th — Kindly cared for by Lieutenant Thompson 
 P. M. at Barton, until 3 p. m._, when take cars for Corinth. No 
 room in hotel at Corinth, nor in hospital. Ice covering the 
 ground. Conductor prohibits our remaining in car. Room 
 at depot, given coffee and good bed for soldier. Wound 
 painful. 
 
 Dec. 13th — No train for the south to-day. Cloudy, frozen, 
 and windy. Fever all day and night. 
 
 Dec. 14th — Cloudy and mild. Take freight train for West 
 Point at 9 A. M. Left at Prairie station. Spent comfortable 
 night at Mr. Fortson's. 
 
 Dec. 15th — Morning cloudy, evening mild, day mild. Took 
 cars at 9 a. m. and arrived at Meridian at 7 130 p. m. Stowed 
 away in Wayside hospital, comfortably. Wound doing well. 
 Oh, the loving kindness of my Father in heaven ! His Provi- 
 dence constantly shields and blesses me ! 
 
 Dec. 1 6th — Take cars at 6 a. m. for Selma, Ala. Arrive in 
 Selma at 6 p. m. Kindly met at depot and cared for by friend 
 Stradley at his room. No boat to-night for Montgomery. 
 Weather mild. 
 
 Dec. 17th — Cloudy and mild. Get aboard of the Duke at 
 3:30 P. M. and start for Montgomery at 7 p. m. A sorry 
 
FXLISON CAPERS 115 
 
 prospect for reaching Montgomery. The Duke an inferior, 
 slow boat. Smith and I make our bed down on a cotton bale. 
 
 Dec. 1 8th — Sunday, cloudy and mild. We made only about 
 thirty miles last night. To-day we have been creeping along. 
 Engine out of repair and everything slow. Weather remark- 
 ably mild. Wound doing well. 
 
 Dec. 19th — Arrived at Montgomery at 4 a. m. Weather still 
 cloudy and very mild. Take cars for Columbus at 8 a. m. 
 Make connection at Columbus at 7 p. m. and roll on to Macon. 
 
 Dec. 20th — Arrive at Macon at 4 a. m. Willis gets us passage 
 on wagon for Mayfield for one hundred dollars a seat ! Poor 
 mules and poorer driver. Make twenty-one miles. Stop at 
 Husson's. Rain at night. 
 
 Dec. 2 1st — Cloudy, windy, and cold. Arrive at Milledge- 
 ville at 10:30 A. M., and detained by high water in the Oconee. 
 Put up at hotel. 
 
 Dec. 22nd — Cross river in skifif. and take hack for Sparta. 
 Arrive at Sparta at 4 :$o p. m. Weather very cold. 
 
 Dec. 23rd — Take hack for Mayfield and cars at M. for Au- 
 gusta at II A. M. Fine day. Learn on the train of the fall of 
 Savannah. Reach Augusta at dark, and stop at Mr. Mann's. 
 
 Dec. 24th — Start for Charleston at 6 a. m. and arrive at 
 8 :30 p. M. Stop at Mr. Sage's. 
 
 Dec. 25th — Christmas ! Spend day with sister Tady and Mr. 
 Sage. Rainy day. 
 
 In the spring of 1865 the Twenty- fourth South Carolina 
 regiment was with Cheatham's corps, then operating between 
 Newberry, S. C, and Augusta, Ga. All the troops in that 
 department were being concentrated under the command of 
 General Joseph E. Johnston, who had been restored to com- 
 mand and ordered to stop Sherman's advance through the 
 Carolinas. 
 
 After some skirmishing and unimportant engagements, 
 Cheatham joined General Johnston near Bentonville, N. C, 
 but not in time to take part in that important and successful 
 
ii6 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 affair. Bentonville was the last pitched battle of the Civil War, 
 and was fought to the credit and advantage of the Confederate 
 troops. With General Johnston's surrender to General Sher- 
 man, General Capers surrendered Gist's brigade, of which he 
 had become in permanent command. His commission as a 
 Brigadier-General was issued upon indorsement of Generals 
 Joseph E. Johnston, Wm. J. Hardee and B. F. Cheatham. 
 
 Hd. Quarters Cheatham's Corps, 
 
 Feb., 1865. 
 Brig.-General E. Capers : — 
 
 Allow me to congratulate you upon your recent promo- 
 tion, a promotion which you have gallantly won and so richly 
 deserve. In conversation with General Johnston some weeks 
 since he on two different occasions remarked to me that your 
 commission was in his Adjutant-General's office, and was 
 anxious to know when you would be able to join us. 
 
 Hoping you peace and happiness through life, I remain. 
 Your friend and Commander, 
 
 B. F. Cheatham, 
 
 Maj. General, C. S. A. 
 
 At Smithfield, N. C, General Capers bid farewell to the 
 officers and soldiers of his gallant command. Here the soldier 
 sheathed the sword he was soon to exchange for the svmbol 
 of a higher warfare. Called by his commanding officer "the 
 intrepid soldier," he became throughout his ministry "the 
 steady column of the Church." The same loyal service he ren- 
 dered the military arm of the Confederate government char- 
 acterized this soldier of the cross in the service of the Prince 
 of Peace. 
 
 The following incident connected with the battle of Benton- 
 ville was recorded by Rev. Dr. Capers in his copy of "John- 
 ston's Narrative" : 
 
 "I spent a part of this day (March 20, 1891 ) and dined with 
 General Hampton at Millwood, his sisters, Kate, Ann, and 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 117 
 
 Carolina, being present. After dinner the General and I sat 
 in the piazza and fought our battles over. He gave a very 
 circumstantial account of the charge related at Bentonville. 
 and told me this anecdote of General Hardee, my old corps 
 commander in the Army of Tennessee. Riding back with 
 Hardee after the charge, the General laughingly said to Gen- 
 eral Hampton: 'General, that was "nip and tuck," and for 
 a while I thought "tuck" had it.' Riding on a little further 
 he met the body of his gallant and only son being borne from 
 the field, and, dismounting, kissed the brave boy's cold brow, 
 then remounted and proceeded to give orders respecting the 
 disposition of the troops." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 IN THE DAYS OF RECONSTRUCTION 
 
 With the surrender of General Johnston's army, April 26, 
 1865, the Confederate Government collapsed. In the seceded 
 States there remained but the semblance of civil authority. In 
 South Carolina the Governor was sent as a prisoner to Fort 
 Pulaski, Savannah; and the military arm of the United States 
 took charge of the citizens as well as the territory of the pros- 
 trate South. "Military courts and provost courts tried all 
 cases from petit larceny to murder." The South was indeed 
 a "conquered province." The first military Governor, Major- 
 General Q. A. Gillman, immediately upon assumption of office 
 issued a proclamation declaring "the people of the black race 
 are citizens of the United States, whose rights must be re- 
 spected accordingly." 
 
 The "Freedmen's Bureau" was established, with the avowed 
 purpose of caring for the emancipated blacks. At first its 
 efforts were worthy, and it rendered a real service. Later, 
 however, reckless politicians employed its organization to pro- 
 mote their own base designs, and when the Reconstruction 
 Acts (1867) of Congress armed the "Bureau" with military 
 power, it became the organized source of pillage, insurrection, 
 and murder. The ignorant negro was made to believe 
 that for his support of the "Carpet-bag" leaders he was to 
 receive forty acres and a mule, and soon have his former mas- 
 ter working in his fields and serving at his table. Social 
 equality was the goal the negroes were encouraged to work 
 and hope for. 
 
 No newspaper was allowed to be published "without the 
 
 118 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 119 
 
 consent of the major-general commanding." Thus bound and 
 gagged, an additional humiliation was forced upon the citizens 
 of the South by the presence of negro soldiers parading their 
 streets, challenging their rights, and supervising their ballots ; 
 and not infrequently, and under the circumstances not alto- 
 gether unnaturally, the negro soldiers became arrogant, im- 
 pertinent and even murderous. This unwarranted insult was 
 one of Secretary Stanton's methods of degrading the Confed- 
 erate soldier and citizens. By this act Stanton placed them 
 under the surveillance of their recent slaves and rendered 
 their women and children almost defenseless in the presence 
 of insult and outrage. The African menace was too crude 
 for President Johnson, and in time the negro troops were 
 withdrawn. 
 
 In April, 1865, General Capers rejoined his family, then 
 refugeeing in Spartanburg, S. C. A kind friend, an invalid 
 Confederate soldier, together with the good women of his 
 household, had welcomed Mrs. Capers and her two children, 
 who ref ugeed there when Sherman's army advanced upon Co- 
 lumbia. Captain Chichester and General Capers arranged that 
 their families should continue to occupy the house and share 
 living expenses until a new start could be made in the strange 
 and untried future. 
 
 Sometimes we feel that it is impossible to sympathize ade- 
 quately with the old Confederate soldier, not primarily for the 
 hardships and suffering of the war, but rather in the difficult 
 days after peace had been restored. Leaving the camp penni- 
 less, he returned to his ruined home, where in the midst of 
 universal wreck and demoralization he was expected to provide 
 for those dependent upon him. For such a task he was in no 
 way prepared. He was without training and without the 
 proper tools with which to work in the new environment in 
 which he found himself. And many times, because of wounds 
 and sickness, he did not have the physical strength to do the 
 only kind of work he could secure. The heroic wife and hun- 
 gry children made an appeal to him to which he could not 
 
I20 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 always respond. A negro soldiery held him at the bayonet's 
 point. 
 
 President Johnson struck an additional blow against the 
 South in demanding application for "special pardons" from the 
 more prominent and influential Southerners who had either 
 held high office in the Confederate government or army, or 
 who had enjoyed wealth. This rendered the more fortunate 
 men in the South less able to help their fellow-citizens, as they 
 instantly became objects upon whom those in power were apt 
 to vent their wrath. Had the South been less heroic, or had 
 patriotic friends at the North been less generous, such tyranny 
 and usurpation of power might have made shipwreck of the 
 entire nation. 
 
 However, President Johnson changed his course and became 
 more conciliatory and lenient toward the South. As a conse- 
 quence, he incurred the antagonism of revengeful men in 
 Congress and in some sections of the North, who sought to 
 have him impeached. 
 
 South Carolina at once recognized and obeyed the authority 
 of the United States, and her citizens set themselves to the 
 task of making the best of their desperate situation. But some 
 who had been gallant soldiers, demoralized by the failure of 
 their Cause, "went to the bad" ; others made a heroic effort to 
 maintain themselves and their families, but unaccustomed to 
 the only work available, they sadly failed. There were, how- 
 ever, men who proved themselves superior to adversity, and 
 with a splendid courage surmounted every obstacle. In the 
 face of the greatest difficulties such men maintained tlieir 
 self-respect, supported their families, helped to rebuild the 
 fallen institutions of the State, pledged themselves to its 
 redemption under a white man's government, and laid the 
 foundation for a new South, a South which could respect itself 
 and command the respect of the other sections of a reunited 
 country. General Ellison Capers belonged to this latter class 
 of ex-Confederate soldiers, who were, fortunately, in a large 
 majority throughout the late seceded States. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 121 
 
 General Capers took his family to the old home place, "Box 
 Cottage." Just a mile or two from Anderson Court House, 
 this little farm was the scene of his boyhood. Here with 
 brothers and playmates he had hunted and fished, learned to 
 ride and drive, and in these sports he soon became a leader 
 among his companions. When grown to manhood and com- 
 manding a regiment in the war some of the Twenty-fourth's 
 best companies went out to him from Anderson. And Ander- 
 son also enjoyed the distinction of being the home of the Hon. 
 James L. Orr, one of the most sagacious political leaders of 
 that day. Mr. Orr had been a member of Congress before the 
 War, and Speaker of the House of Representatives. Just 
 before the beginning of hostilities he was a member of the 
 Peace Commission sent to Washington by the Confederate 
 Government, and later a member of the Confederate Senate 
 and a colonel in its army. In 1866 Mr. Orr was elected Gov- 
 ernor of South Carolina, and when General Grant became 
 President he sent Governor Orr as United States ambassador 
 to Russia. 
 
 In the early fifties, when Bishop William Capers came to 
 live in Anderson, the Orr and Capers families became warm 
 friends. In 1865 Colonel Orr was a great admirer of his 
 young friend General Capers, whom he had known from his 
 boyhood. During this and the succeeding year Congress was 
 busy proposing and debating various theories and doctrines 
 for "reconstruction." There was the "Restoration Doctrine," 
 which declared "the acts of Secession invalid and of no effect. 
 No State therefore had seceded or could secede; the State 
 officers were guilty of illegal acts, which rendered them liable 
 to punishment, but the States themselves were not destroyed 
 nor their Constitutions abrogated, and as soon as their officers 
 returned to their duty, or others took their places, the States 
 would ipso facto resume their normal places in the Union." 
 
 The "Presidential Doctrine" held that before the States 
 could be restored to their rights and privileges under the Con- 
 stitution the President was empowered to dictate such terms 
 
122 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 as in his opinion seemed necessary to secure the Union from 
 further peril. These terms were eventually defined to be the 
 cessation of resistance, the appointment of a provisional Gov- 
 ernor, the taking of the oath of amnesty (profTered to all but 
 a certain specified class of leading men) ; the recognition of 
 the permanent freedom of the blacks, and the formation of a 
 new republican form of government by the State. But it was 
 expressly announced that the admission of Congressmen and 
 Senators from the lately seceded States rested, not with the 
 executive, but with the separate houses of Congress. 
 
 There were other "doctrines" and "theories" of "reconstruc- 
 tion," but the "Presidential plan" finally prevailed. By appoint- 
 ment of President Johnson, the Honorable Benjamin F. Perry 
 became the first provisional Governor of South Carolina. 
 
 "From his young manhood Colonel Perry had taken an active 
 part in politics, and had served in the legislature of his State, 
 and was a member of the Democratic National Convention 
 which met in Charleston in i860. At this convention Colonel 
 Perry refused to withdraw with the rest of the Southern 
 members. After Lincoln's election in November of that year 
 he had the moral and physical courage to declare openly and 
 earnestly against Secession. But when South Carolina acted, 
 he went out with his State. Going into the mountain section 
 of Greenville district, where the Union sentiment was very 
 strong, he urged the people to follow his example. The effec- 
 tiveness of his work is demonstrated by the fact that as brave 
 Confederate soldiers as were in the army went from among 
 the people to whom Colonel Perry spoke."* His oldest son, 
 Colonel William Perry, became a gallant Confederate soldier. 
 Governor Perry held the office of District Judge of the Con- 
 federate States Court, and he was elected to the United States 
 Senate in 1866, but never allowed to take his seat. 
 
 When on June 13. 1865, Colonel B. F. Perry became pro- 
 visional Governor of South Carolina, one of his first acts was 
 
 *Jno. S. Reynolds, "Reconstruction in South Carolina." 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 123 
 
 to issue the call for a convention, in Columbia, the following 
 September. This convention was to frame a Constitution and 
 put the new government in motion until the regular meeting 
 of the legislature. The Convention ordered an election for 
 State officers, to be held in October. James L. Orr was duly 
 elected Governor of South Carolina. 
 
 'Tn this the first reorganization of the State General Capers 
 was made Secretary of State, and so served for two years. 
 But the deep waters through which he and his people had 
 passed quickened in him the germ of another life purpose. 
 . . So the ministry to his people, to which a life such as 
 his could not but at such a time consecrate and devote itself, 
 naturally sought the most sacred channels of the Church. It 
 is related that, when he notified his old friend, Governor James 
 L. Orr, of his determination to resign his office of Secretary 
 of State in order to enter the ministry of the Church, the 
 Governor's reply w^as : 'You will be a fool to do it. A inan 
 with your war record, personal magnetism, and genial manners 
 can command anything from the people they have to give. 
 You can be Governor, Senator, or anything you like. You 
 will be a fool to give up all this to become a preacher.' "* 
 
 In the days of "reconstruction" there w^ere many humilia- 
 tions in store for the people of South Carolina. After his 
 "tour of inspection" through the Southern States General 
 U. S. Grant protested to his government against the practice 
 of detailing negro soldiers for army posts throughout the late 
 seceded States. He said : "The presence of black troops, 
 lately slaves, demoralizes labor both by their advice and by 
 furnishing in their camps a resort for the freedmen for long 
 distances around. White troops excite no opposition, and 
 therefore a small number of them can maintain order in a 
 given district." 
 
 The "black troops" in the regular army, of which General 
 Grant complained, and against the wickedness and folly of 
 
 *Dr. W. T. Dubose, in Sewanee Review. 
 
124 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 which his statesmanship, magnanimity, common-sense, and 
 Anglo-Saxon blood all protested, were in no wise so formidable 
 a menace to the peace of the people and prosperity of the 
 country as were the negro militia organized throughout the 
 State under the administration of Governor Scott, a military 
 governor from Ohio. This volunteer army of blacks was one 
 of the inevitable results of "reconstruction government." 
 
 Under the "Provisional Government" and the administra- 
 tion of Governor Orr, the government of the State had been 
 reconstructed in .a legal and righteous manner, and conditions 
 indicated a speedy return to the happiness and prosperity of 
 ante-bellum days. Such was the impression General Grant 
 received when making his inspection of the situation in the 
 South. In his report he states : "My observations lead me to 
 the conclusion that the citizens of the Southern States are 
 anxious to return to self-government within the Union as soon 
 as possible; that while reconstructing they want and require 
 that protection from the government which they think is re- 
 quired by the government, not humiliating to them as citizens ; 
 if such a course were pointed out to them they would follow it 
 in good faith." 
 
 The report of the Reconstruction Committee is hardly recon- 
 cilable with the personal observations of General Grant. After 
 the act of Congress January, 1866, declining to withdraw the 
 military forces from the South, and the "Civil Rights" act in 
 the following April, the Reconstruction Committee reported 
 as the conclusion of their investigation: "All feeling of con- 
 ciliation on the part of the North has been treated with con- 
 tempt. Indeed, the bitterness and defiance against the United 
 States have been unparalleled in the history of the world." A 
 wonderful contradiction of the statement just quoted of the 
 Commanding General of the United States Army! 
 
 The Fourteenth Amendment put the government of the 
 Southern States in the hands of the national Congress, and 
 its members were to declare what should be the measure of 
 citizenship in them. Under Generals Gillman, Sickles, and 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 125 
 
 Canby the military authority was supreme and took super- 
 vision of the Hfe and Hberties of the citizens and the direction 
 of all courts. 
 
 It was the golden opportunity for aliens, negroes, and 
 traitors to usurp the government. A Republican convention 
 was called. Two-thirds of its members were negroes. A half 
 of the remaining third were "indigenous to the soil," while 
 New York, IMassachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, 
 Georgia, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Turkey were all 
 represented in the remaining sixth. R. K. Scott was nominated 
 for Governor and in time duly elected. 
 
 A convention of the leading citizens and tax-payers of the 
 State assembled in Columbia to protest against the Recon- 
 struction acts, as well as the outrages and usurpations of the 
 new government. The address of that convention concluded 
 with this burning appeal : 
 
 "What do these Reconstruction acts propose? Not negro 
 equality, but negro supremacy ! 
 
 "In the name, then, of humanity to both races ; in the name 
 of citizenship under the Constitution ; in the name of a common 
 history in the past; in the name of our Anglo-Saxon race and 
 blood ; in the name of the civilization of the nineteenth century ; 
 in the name of magnanimity and the noble instincts of man- 
 hood; in the name of God and nature, we protest against these 
 Reconstruction acts as destructive to the peace of society, the 
 prosperity of the country, and the greatness and grandeur of 
 our common future. 
 
 "The people of the South are powerless to avert the impend- 
 ing ruin. We have been overborne; and the responsibility to 
 posterity and to the world has passed into other hands." 
 
 The unimpeachable evidence of Union men high in the ser- 
 vice of the National Government, as well as the protests of 
 the citizens, was of no avail. A reign of terror was impend- 
 ing. It was inevitable. Men "drunk with power" could not 
 be forced to a realization of the folly of their course. The 
 negro militia was the worst menace to the peace of the people. 
 
126 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Nearly every county in the State had its company of black 
 troops. Their arms were furnished them from the office of 
 the adjutant and inspector-general. Individually and col- 
 lectively, this insolent soldiery was everywhere in evidence. 
 They demoralized labor ; they controlled elections ; they 
 assaulted peaceable citizens, and were frequently guilty of 
 high-handed brutal murder ; they outraged defenseless women 
 and terrorized children. In this reign of terror the criminal 
 was secure. Negroes held high office in the county, in the 
 legislature, and in the State government. White citizens were 
 the victims of ignorance, brutality, and vandalism. Anglo- 
 Saxon Americans could not brook the black man's rule, even 
 though the army of the National Government stood doggedly 
 behind his usurpation of power. 
 
 In 1868 'The Circle" was organized in the upper part of 
 South Carolina. Its avowed purpose was to relieve the sick 
 and distressed, to protect defenseless women and children, and 
 to render benevolent service. But in the "Black Reign" "The 
 Circle" took its Greek name, Ku Klux. and thereafter its pur- 
 pose and scope were enlarged. It became organised self- 
 defense. Its members included "minute men," and a "vigilance 
 committee." Murder and outrage were on the increase. The 
 people of the State were prostrate and powerless. They could 
 not cope with a hostile condition in the State and a hostile 
 National Government. 
 
 For the overthrow of the usurpers a more invincible force 
 than material agencies must be used. The Ku Klux offered 
 the remedy. The invisible and mysterious empire of the 
 Cyclops was hurled against the organizers of plunder and 
 crime; at first cautiously, and then boldly. With long white 
 robes covering rider and horse, armed with revolvers and 
 sounding the "signal whistle," the Ku Klux "operated" at 
 night. They selected night as the time for "work" not pri- 
 marily that darkness might hide their deeds, but that the 
 mystery and fear of the unseen might contribute to their side 
 in so unequal a contest. Later, when there were recurring 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 127 
 
 disturbances and lawless acts, the Ku Klux in open day rode 
 in solemn procession through town or district. The effect 
 was magical. The mere word "Ku Klux" or the sound of 
 the "signal whistle" became a terror to the guilty. Their 
 imagination became invested with the grim images of retribu- 
 tion. When ! how ! where ! was this terrible unseen power 
 to strike? Who would be the next victim? Incendiary 
 negroes, criminals, and disturbers of the peace were warned 
 to "mend their ways," to cease their lawless conduct. When 
 persisting in their course, they paid the penalty of chastise- 
 ment or death. In the morning their neighbors viewed the work 
 of the previous night, and read the solemn warning of the 
 Ku Klux. Offensive negroes holding office were served with 
 notice to resign by a given time. Instantly their resignations 
 were forthcoming. The powers of darkness appalled those 
 who had been impregnable in riotous and insolent crime. 
 
 There is but one result of mob law. However worthy the 
 motives and however dire the necessity which employs it, the 
 ultimate result is anarchy. Republicans, negroes, and 
 some Democrats as well, took advantage of the Ku Klux 
 methods of self-defense, and, wearing their habit, they com- 
 mitted outrageous depredations in the name and under the 
 seal of Ku Klux. It was time that all good men in the State 
 should organize against irresponsible violence. 
 
 During the eight years of usurpation under Governors 
 Scott, Moses, Patterson, and Chamberlain many millions of 
 dollars were misappropriated. The taxes of the people passed 
 into the pockets of political leaders and their allies. Fabulous 
 amounts were charged as items for "furnishing the Capitol 
 and Governor's Mansion." Bonds were issued far in excess 
 of the amounts authorized. The State debt, the manipulation 
 of the Greenville and Columbia railroad, the Blue Ridge 
 scrip, were all rank and notorious scandals. The most flagrant 
 fraud was that of the public printing. For the seventy-eight 
 years previous to Reconstruction rule the State had paid 
 something like seven hundred thousand dollars for its printing 
 
128 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 bill. In the eight years of Reconstruction one million three 
 hundred thousand dollars was charged up to "Public Printing." 
 The renaissance of civic righteousness was ushered in with 
 the triumph of the Democratic Party in 1876, when General 
 Wade Hampton became Governor of South Carolina, and the 
 State was redeemed. A "New South" was to evolve from 
 similar triumphs in all of the Southern States. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 GENERAL CAPERS ENTERS THE CHURCH 
 
 There is a striking similarity between soldierly virtues and 
 Christian graces. Obedience, endurance, fortitude, courage, 
 faith, charity, and self-sacrifice are all soldierly qualities; they 
 are also Christian graces. But like other virtues, they reach 
 perfection only when translated to the higher and nobler sphere 
 of Christian living and are consecrated to God. 
 
 When the soldier retires from the tented field and lays his 
 armor by, to put on the panoply of God, and enlisting in a 
 higher and holier warfare, he has already acquired an experi- 
 ence and discipline highly profitable to a "warrior of God." 
 
 If we contemplate the militant Christian, our minds at 
 once revert to Loyola and other soldier-priests who led the 
 van when the Church went to war against heretic and infidel. 
 But we need not go back to that period. The Civil War 
 furnishes numerous examples. The bishop of the diocese of 
 Louisiana, Leonidas Polk, responded to the demand made upon 
 him by the President of the Confederacy, and laid aside his 
 episcopal robes to don the trappings of a soldier; he put up the 
 Shepherd's staff and drew his sword. He had been educated 
 a soldier, his military talents were of a high order, his country 
 called him to her defense, and he agreed to accept a com- 
 mission until the President could find someone to take his 
 place, and stated that he would then return to "the care of all 
 the churches" m his beloved diocese. Upon one occasion he 
 was interrogated as to the propriety of his conduct. He gave 
 the following unanswerable, if homely illustration: "Well, 
 if my house were on fire and I were in the pulpit I would lay 
 
 129 
 
I30 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 aside my robes and go fight the fire, and when the fire was 
 out I would return to my clerical duties. Now, my friend, my 
 house is on fire. My country is invaded. There is an impera- 
 tive and immediate need for help. When the fire is out, I 
 shall return to my work." 
 
 And it is remarkable how many Confederate soldiers be- 
 came ministers of the gospel. Many of this number were 
 elevated to the episcopate. We now recall Bishop Dudley, of 
 Kentucky; Bishop Peterkin. of West Virginia; Bishop New- 
 ton, of Virginia; and the soldier-chaplain. Bishop Quintard, 
 of Tennessee, as well as the subject of this volume. Bishop 
 Capers, of the diocese of South Carolina. 
 
 Though entering the ministry late in life, Ellison Capers 
 was from his boyhood a Christian soldier. 
 
 In the spring of 1857 Charleston, S. C, was visited by a 
 religious awakening. This revival was not centered in the 
 work of any one church or denomination, but pervaded the en- 
 tire city. In his memoir Colonel Henry D. Capers tells us that 
 his brother Ellison manifested a deep interest in this religious 
 movement, and in company with his venerable mother was a 
 regular attendant upon the services throughout the revival. 
 At his graduation, his brother. General Francis Capers, de- 
 livered the annual address, which made a profound impression 
 on Cadet Ellison Capers, and we have it upon his testimony 
 that he never forgot the counsel then given. 
 
 From a pocket diary of 1857, when Ellison Capers was but 
 twenty-two years of age, we glean the following : 
 
 'T held service in the morning for the negroes of Mrs. 
 Palmer, and in the afternoon preached to the negroes at 
 Dr. Peter Palmer's. Text: St. Luke 9:2." In the selec- 
 tion of this text he made an unconscious prophecy of his own 
 life's work. 
 
 About this time he entered the following lines in his diary : 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 131 
 
 "The woes of life! Why moan their weight? 
 God hath sent them, and whate'er the freight 
 With which he loads thy back, 
 Sail on or sink. His will be done." 
 
 In those early years there are frequent entries in his diary 
 of moneys paid out for "Lottie's charities" and for "my 
 charities." 
 
 June 10 — To-morrow rest! At least such as this world 
 affords. Lottie and I rode out to Clifton; pleasant evening. 
 Talked over "the position of the armies" in Europe with 
 Henry. May the God of battles keep the right ! 
 
 July 24 — Attended Sunday-school this morning. Lesson, 
 
 third chapter of Daniel. Hear Mr. B. and Mr. Bolles 
 
 in afternoon. At night Mr. Ewing preached in our church 
 and spent the most of the day with us. 
 
 July 25 — Hurrah! my dear mother and brother Theodotus 
 arrived at 8 130 p. m. May God spare my dear mother to 
 me for many years. 
 
 July 26 — Attended prayer meeting. Mother and I went 
 together ; Odd and my Lottie. How soon the ties which 
 hold us here are broken ! Together to-day, separated to- 
 morrow ; Heaven is Home ! 
 
 July 30 — Lot and I rode down to Columbia. Mother and I 
 visited Father's grave, and here where we played in childhood 
 we marked a spot in which to lay us down when we shall join 
 the loved ones gone. 
 
 July 31 — Still at Columbia. Very happy with my friends, 
 and above all with my mother, wife, and brother. This Sab- 
 bath will be long remembered by me. How sweet to meet the 
 loved ones and how grateful to the heart to be among your 
 friends. . . . May God bless my dear brother and make 
 him a useful man in society and give him a home in heaven." 
 
 His letter of resignation to the president of Winnsboro 
 Academy concludes : "May the blessings of Heaven attend 
 
132 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 your future efforts in the cause of education, and the love of 
 God abide with you and yours forever." 
 
 While in the army his letters to Mrs. Capers refer to the 
 profanity of the troops, which was a source of pain to him. 
 After a victory he writes as follows to his wife: 
 
 "To His glorious name be all the praise and glory! . . . 
 To our Father in Heaven I trust you and our little ones." 
 
 "The men of the regiment, brigade, and division profane 
 the name of God every hour in the day. The profanity of the 
 army is awful to contemplate, both among officers and men. 
 How powerful is the force of a bad example! My friend 
 
 S . who never defiled his lips with oaths, has come into 
 
 the habit of saying "Hell !" and "Damn !" as readily as G 
 
 or W . Watchfulness and prayer alone will preserve us 
 
 amid such a series of temptations ; and yet I repeat what I 
 have before said, that this army life is a grand school for the 
 cultivation and exercise of the sublime virtues of patience and 
 sacrifice." 
 
 Trying to comfort Mrs. Capers after a succession of re- 
 verses, he writes : 
 
 "Should this make us unhappy or discontented, for it is the 
 ordination of the good and gracious God, who had prepared 
 for us another and a better world. There he will wipe away 
 all tears from our eyes, and no more death or any crying, 
 neither shall there be any pain in that blessed home. And 
 there will be no night there, nor light of the sun or moon, for 
 the 'bright and morning star,' the Lamb, shall be the light 
 thereof. And, my angel, this beautiful happy home is prom- 
 ised to those who 'overcome' the difficulties of this present 
 life. That you and I may one day inherit a place in this happy 
 home is ever the prayer of your dear Ellie. I am quite well, 
 but don't think I am as stout as when you saw me last." 
 
 Again quoting from Bishop Capers' journal, under date of 
 1872, we read: 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 133 
 
 March 8 — Read the account of Bishop Patterson's massacre 
 by the savages of Santa Cruz Islands. Such a Hfe and such a 
 death make us feel the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
 for our sakes gave Himself for us. 
 
 March 10 — Read a sketch of Bishop Patterson and a letter 
 from him in which he describes a visit to Santa Cruz Islands 
 in 1864, when two noble lads who pulled his boat were mor- 
 tally wounded by arrows shot at him. My heart was deeply 
 affected by this noble self-sacrifice for the well-being of others 
 and the life of the Church. Yet a reverend Presbyterian 
 brother, who was present at the service, told me after 
 the service that a gentleman of the congregation remarked : 
 "What a useless sacrifice !" Alas ! is this the way our 
 labor of love is counted? Yes, but not so with all. And 
 because there is that in the human heart which looks upon 
 such a sacrifice as our dear Lord's as useless, therefore it was 
 needed, and ours is needed to preserve the Church and save 
 our brethren. 
 
 The following letters written in November, 1891, bring to 
 light an interesting incident which shows the concern Colonel 
 Capers felt for the spiritual welfare of his soldiers. 
 
 Charleston, S. C, 
 
 Nov. 5, 1891. 
 Rev. E. Capers, 
 
 Columbia, S. C. 
 Dear Colonel: I inclose with this a letter received by me a 
 short time since from Rowlinski, which fully explains what 
 he wishes. I also inclose the little Testament therein referred 
 to, so that you may gratify his commendable wish. He was 
 a real good fellow, discharging his duty best he knew how 
 during the changing fortunes of our service and evinces now 
 the never dying spirit that sustained many of us so long, under 
 untold public as well as personal trials and difficulties. I have 
 endeavored to please him with a short inscription in his book, 
 
134 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 and leave it with you to add more as he expects. To avoid 
 delay and expense you had better send the package directly to 
 him, and I have accordingly advised him you would do so. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 T. H. Steinmeyer. 
 
 Ponce Park P. O., Volusia County, Florida. 
 Mr. T. H. Steinmeyer. 
 
 Sir: I sent to Messrs. Walker, Evans & Cogswell a small 
 Testament to bind. I got it from General Ellison Capers 
 after the battle of Chickamauga ; it had been stolen, but got 
 it back. The blank leaves, on which Colonel Ellison Capers' 
 writing was, was lost. On the front leaf was written : "To 
 private William Rowlinski. with the wish of his Colonel that 
 he may make as cheerful a soldier of the Cross as he does of 
 his Regiment.- — Ellison Capers Comd. 24th S. C. V." I want 
 you to send the Testament to Colonel Ellison Capers, for him 
 to write the same as it was, and return to me the Testament, 
 to leave to my children when I am gone. There were several 
 more passages from the Bible in it, written by the colonel, 
 but have been torn out. I want you to write something in it, 
 so that you will be remembered, when I am dead and gone, 
 by my children. Do not disappoint me. What the expenses 
 will be I will cheerfully make up to you. By so doing. 
 You will oblige, 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 William Rowlinski. 
 
 General Capers formally began his ministry in Greenville, 
 S. C, as rector of Christ Church parish. Previous to this, 
 while farming near Anderson, he had, upon the advice of his 
 bishop, accepted the invitation of the vestry of Grace Church, 
 to serve that congregation as lay reader, the Rev. Mr. Elliott 
 having resigned the rectorship. During his service there he 
 so commended himself to that church and people that the 
 larger and more important parish of Christ Church, Green- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 135 
 
 ville. secured his consent, and that of Bishop Davis, to serve 
 it in a similar capacity until ordained deacon. Then he was 
 to assume charge of the parish as rector. 
 
 Greenville, S. C. is in the northern part of the State and 
 nestles close to the foot of Paris Mountain, a spur of the 
 Blue Ridge Range. Very early in the annals of the State 
 this little town had won an enviable reputation as a summer 
 and health resort. Its high altitude and invigorating climate ; its 
 rolling hills and purpling mountains ; its sparkling streams and 
 cool breezes, were all very inviting during the hot season, 
 when the wealthy and aristocratic families from the coast 
 would flock to this delightful refuge from the heat and fevers 
 of the low country. 
 
 South Carolina, like all other coast States of the Colonial 
 period, flourished first in her seaport towns. Their export 
 trade and close relation with the mother country tended to 
 make of these shipping points not merely marts of trade, but 
 centers of culture and fashion as well. The planter, with his 
 broad acres rich in rice and cotton, had the money, leisure, 
 and ambition to cultivate himself. He read the ancient classics 
 and was apt in the polite learning of the day. He was also 
 very careful that his children should have all advantages of- 
 fered at home and, if possible, a finished education abroad. 
 Prior to the war the planter was more frequently than now a 
 student of statecraft and philosophy. He was, above all, a 
 patriot. Proud of his ancestry, and ambitious to maintain 
 himself and family with becoming dignity, "the gentleman 
 from the low country" was a type of a charming civilization 
 that has now passed away. 
 
 But with all his excellences of culture, courage, and man- 
 liness, — often ornamented and strengthened- by Christian 
 graces, — he was somewhat narrow and short-sighted when 
 he came to estimate the worth and worthiness of the man 
 from the interior of the State, or what is generally known as 
 the "up-country." The environment of his life tended to 
 make him so, 
 
136 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 In the up-country the spirit of the people was more inde- 
 pendent of traditions ; they cared Httle for pompous cere- 
 monies and were less punctilious in observing the strict usages 
 of society. The up-country man was more democratic and 
 progressive, and, generally speaking, less cultured and with 
 fewer opportunities for higher education. But the up-country 
 was not a "fixed star." It progressed in every way, and insti- 
 tutions of learning rapidly sprang up on every hand. The 
 low-country man frequently lost sight of this when he be- 
 gan to estimate the men or resources of the "other section" 
 of his State. And yet even from the Colonial period the up- 
 country gave to Carolina men of high metal, noble aspira- 
 tions, and great qualities for leadership. John C. Calhoun, 
 and, later, Benjamin F. Perry and James L. Orr were 
 sagacious leaders from that section of the State. 
 
 However, during the summer months in this beautiful Pied- 
 mont region of South Carolina the people from low-country 
 and up-country intermingled in good fellowship, and this 
 opportunity for acquaintance was productive of great good 
 and promoted a better understanding among them. There 
 was intermarriage and frequent exchange of residence, all 
 of which in time gave to the people of South Carolina a whole- 
 some solidarity. 
 
 At an early period, when missionary work was begun in 
 Greenville, many prominent families from the low-country 
 gave the mission their support, as did those native to the little 
 town, as well as representative people who had come from 
 other sections of the State. There were also many poor in 
 the parish. Christ Church, Greenville, was already a cosmo- 
 politan parish in a cosmopolitan community. With but a 
 few thousand inhabitants, Greenville was by no means a 
 primitive mountain town. When in 1866 this parish became 
 vacant, the evident need was for a man of culture, personal 
 character, devotion, and the qualities of leadership. The most 
 distressing circumstances had recently terminated in the trial of 
 their rector. This disorganized and demoralized the little con- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 137 
 
 gregation, and brought reproach upon it in the community. 
 Such circumstances emphasized the necessity of securing as 
 rector a man whom everybody knew well enough to trust from 
 the very beginning of his ministry. 
 
 At the time of which we write General Ellison Capers — 
 though an avowed candidate for the ministry and reading for 
 orders under the personal direction of the bishop of the 
 diocese — was Secretary of State of South Carolina. He ac- 
 cepted the call to Christ Church, and held his first service in 
 that church on the third Sunday in Advent, 1866. 
 
 Methodical habits are not usual with persons of genial and 
 jovial temperaments. The social instinct and active disposi- 
 tion are somehow ground out by slavery to method. Then, 
 too, the methodical man is seldom imaginative. Orators, 
 musicians, and artists are not infrequently careless in business 
 habits. 
 
 In the Rev. Ellison Capers these temperamentally opposed 
 characteristics were very evenly balanced. From the begin- 
 ning of his ministry he kept a careful record of his official 
 services, while the personal notes and comments inserted from 
 time to time saved his journal from deadly dullness, and also 
 throws a light upon the personality of the man. 
 
 From the entries of this journal, which was only kept for 
 his use and for his personal supervision, it is seen how Mr. 
 Capers was indeed a true shepherd of the sheep, and how his 
 love and sympathy went out to the poor of the parish, and 
 how appreciative he was of the kindness of his friends. His 
 love for children was proverbial and characterized him 
 throughout life. In February, 1870, we find this note in 
 his journal : 
 
 "Buried Eva Fritz. Eva was the only child of a widowed 
 mother. She was an amiable, lovely child, cheerful and happy ; 
 the first one of the children of my charge whom the Chief 
 Shepherd has taken to Himself. Dear little Eva!" 
 
 In his private diary his habit was to devote a page 'Tn 
 
138 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Memoriam" to a friend or a benefactor of the parish. These 
 were expressions of appreciation of character and friendship. 
 For example: 
 
 November 19, 1869. — • 
 
 In Memoriam. 
 
 Buried my valued friend 
 
 Dr. William Michael at 3:30 p. m. 
 
 He breathed his last on Wednesday, 17th inst. 
 
 Born May loth, 1795. 
 
 Died Nov. 17th, 1865. 
 
 I hold his memory in grateful remembrance. Converted 
 
 to Christ by the grace of God under my father's ministry, 
 
 he was my brother in Christian sympathy, my true and valued 
 
 friend, my genial associate and a blessing to my family. 
 
 May we meet in Heaven ! 
 
 One Other of these personal touches in his journal : 
 
 Sacred to the memory of 
 Miss Martha McCall, 
 who died in the comfort of the Christian's faith, on the — 
 day of July, 1872, having lived 84 years. 
 
 Miss McCall was a cheerful, gentle old lady, whose kind 
 love and confidence I had, and whose Christian spirit was 
 always an example of instruction and comfort to me. 
 "I am in perfect peace." 
 
 Mr. Capers served the parish as a lay reader for five 
 months, and seems to have read largely from Frederick W. 
 Robinson's sermons. He was ordained to the diaconate on 
 Friday, May 3, in St. Luke's Church, Charleston. The Rev. 
 W. B. W. Howe — afterward the beloved Bishop of South 
 Carolina, and the valued friend of Mr. Capers — read the 
 service,, while the candidate's brother-in-law, the Rev. P. F. 
 Stevens, preached the sermon, taking as his text II Timothy 
 4.2: "Preach the word." 
 
 On the fourteenth Sunday after Trinity — being the 13th of 
 September. 1867 — ^t Abbeville, S. C, the Rev. Ellison 
 Capers was advanced to the priesthood, 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 139 
 
 His ministry was an exceedingly active one. Sunday ser- 
 vices morning and afternoon at Christ Church, while at night 
 he preached regularly to the negroes. He organized a Bible 
 class to meet on Tuesdays, and a similar class for men on 
 Sunday mornings, and during the week held regular services. 
 He was a "Prayer Book Churchman," and held the services 
 on Saints' Days and other days regularly, as appointed in the 
 Calendar of the Prayer Book. During Lent the records show 
 daily service, while during Passion Week services were held 
 morning and evening. 
 
 Greenville was a "factory town." To these people Mr. 
 Capers was a true shepherd. In this work he was loyally 
 assisted by his devoted wife. Greenville was also a summer and 
 health resort, and those who have labored in such parishes 
 know the incessant demands to visit the sick and the "stranger 
 within the gates" made upon a clergyman's time. 
 
 In addition to the burdens of his own parish, with four 
 services a week and the conduct of two Bible classes, we find 
 repeated records in his register of services at night, as well 
 as upon special occasions when officiating in the different 
 churches in the town. 
 
 The vicissitudes of war had tended to minimize the im- 
 portance of theological controversies and denominational 
 antagonisms among the people. Common experiences, com- 
 mon trials, and the loss of a Cause equally dear to all served 
 to bind the people more closely together, emphasizing the 
 common bond of their common faith. In a sense the Rev. 
 Mr. Capers was "General Capers" to the community. He 
 belonged to them all ; they all claimed his services ; they all 
 looked to him for advice and help, encouragement and sym- 
 pathy, and in a frank and unostentatious manner he endeav- 
 ored to comply with their appreciative demands. 
 
 However, as the demands of his own parish increased, as 
 the parish grew and strengthened, and as the burden of the 
 missionary enterprises in the surrounding counties devolved 
 upon him, he appears less frequently in the pulpits of other 
 
140 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 churches, and there are correspondingly more frequent notices 
 of mission services in adjoining communities. 
 
 In 1870 a convocation for the "up-country" was formed 
 by a few clergy to look after mission work from Abbeville 
 to the Blue Ridge Mountains. In this self-sacrificing and 
 noble work the Rev. Mr. Capers bore his full share of the 
 burden. 
 
 In pursuing the very interesting record of his early ministry, 
 his development as a preacher is of special interest. The 
 first year or two of his ministry his sermons were largely Old 
 Testament character studies. Then followed lectures upon 
 the Epistles and the parables of Our Lord. The sermons 
 were more or less pictorial and exhortatory. Later the 
 preacher begins to speak from the experiences of his own 
 life and to analyze more carefully the laws of the 
 Christian life. His sermons run more frequently along 
 the lines of "Christian service," "Christian humility," 
 "Christian patience," "Christian peace," "Needless fears," 
 "The Christian's responsibility," "The spirit of truth," 
 "Obedience proven in love." In his sermon before the Con- 
 vention in Columbia in 1879 his subject was: "Need of a 
 deeper conviction and the power of a consecrated ministry." 
 
 The concise and business-like record he kept of his income 
 and expenses reflects another side of his character. It shows 
 how in these years of hard service and small income he had 
 stood on the Mount of Transfiguration and also prayed in the 
 shadow of the Cross. Throughout his entire ministry in 
 Greenville, covering a period of twenty years, he taught at 
 intervals in the colleges of the town, to augment his salary. 
 He taught in the Greenville Female College ; the Greenville 
 Military Academy, and in the absence of Professor Judson 
 filled his chair in mathematics in Furman University. He 
 sacrificed himself in all ways and used every opportunity to 
 free himself from debt and maintain his independence. Those 
 similarly placed can appreciate how hard the struggle was. 
 His generosity, his impulsiveness, and his charity frequently 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 141 
 
 outran his judgment, and we find him. out of all proportion to 
 his income, giving to worthy and unworthy objects. 
 
 Mr. Capers had a most tactful and attractive way of dealing 
 with young men. While never condoning sin, he was lenient 
 toward youthful follies. He led, rather than drove youth 
 from the paths of indiscretion. Stern or gentle, as occasion 
 demanded, a reproof given by him was seldom without the 
 happiest results. 
 
 During the first years of his ministry in Greenville he was 
 in frequent demand to officiate for friends and former parish- 
 ioners in Anderson. We have in mind a wedding, the bride 
 residing in Anderson and the groom a young man of Green- 
 ville. The story as recently related to the writer by one of the 
 party is about as follows : 
 
 "General Capers, having gone over to Anderson to marry 
 two of my friends, was present at the bridal supper. The 
 custom of serving wine upon such occasions then was more 
 general than nowadays. Before the supper I had been drink- 
 ing some, and therefore the champagne affected me. 'The 
 General' had his eye on me. He was uneasy on my account, 
 and for the sake of the company, yet he neither did nor said 
 anything to cause embarrassment. Finally beckoning to me 
 with his finger, as I went to him he said in a quiet but audible 
 
 voice : 'T , I would like mighty well to have a smoke. 
 
 Have you a cigar?' Upon my replying in the affirmative, 
 and handing him one, he suggested that we go out on the 
 piazza and smoke. I was flattered by this invitation. He 
 began at once to relate the most interesting reminiscences of 
 his boyhood in Anderson, and then branched off on 'war 
 stories,' relating personal experiences. Thus we sat and 
 smoked for an hour, until the fresh air and 'cessation 
 of hostilities' had done their work. In a natural manner he 
 suggested that we rejoin the guests, who had withdrawn to 
 the parlors. The result of his goodness and thought for me 
 was that I was 'in shape' for the wedding next morning." 
 
 Another incident. An infant was to be baptized during 
 
142 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 morning prayer, as directed by the rubrics. Just before the 
 service the party arrived, when, to Mr. Capers' surprise and 
 distress, he learned that a young man, noted for his "sporting 
 procHvities" and dissipated habits, as well as his bonhommie, 
 was to be the child's godfather. What was the clergyman to 
 do? The hour had arrived, the people were there. The 
 prospective sponsor, with his silk hat and Prince Albert coat, 
 was especially in evidence. Mr. Capers sent for this young 
 man. and thus addressed him : "Old fellow, whatever your 
 faults may be, I know you are a sincere man. Therefore, I 
 am going to ask you to sit down here and read over the prom- 
 ises you will have to make, and the statement of faith re- 
 quired of you, W'hen you become a sponsor for this child. 
 During the singing of the first hymn I will come back into 
 the vestry room, and then you can tell me if under the cir- 
 cumstances you are willing to assume the obligation." When 
 he returned, M handed him back the prayer book, say- 
 ing : "General, I am against the proposition. You are right. 
 I had no idea I was going to put the Church in such a position 
 
 and make such a fool of myself." "But some day, M , 
 
 I hope you may be a sponsor within the spirit and require- 
 ment of the rubrics," was the rector's reply. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 NINE YEARS AT CHRIST CHURCH, GREENVILLE 
 
 From the beginning of his ministry "General Capers" was 
 recognized as a leader in the work of the diocese, and his 
 influence was felt throughout the State. Just prior to the War, 
 and during the first decade following, the literary societies of 
 schools and colleges occupied a more dignified relation to the 
 work of the college, and wielded a more extensive influence 
 than they do in modern times. The records in the old scrap 
 book before us show "General Capers" to have been "unani- 
 mously elected an honorary member" of a majority of such 
 societies throughout the State. Institutions of learning for 
 girls and young women appear to have been equally zealous 
 in according him such recognition. He was in constant de- 
 mand as "Commencement orator." 
 
 Each year of his ministry in Greenville he was the recipient 
 of calls to larger and more influential parishes than Christ 
 Church. In 1874 the Rev. Mr. Dudley, rector of Christ 
 Church, Baltimore, Md., was elevated to the episcopate, and 
 Mr. Capers was offered the rectorship of that parish. In urging 
 this call upon his consideration, a distinguished citizen, a 
 member of that congregation, writes : "I have cherished for ten 
 years the most lively recollections of our association in the 
 army, and this, in connection with much that I have heard of 
 your successful ministry, make me think that of all the men 
 I know engaged in your sacred calling you are best fitted 
 for this large field." 
 
 His parishioners, as well as the citizens of Greenville, were 
 
 143 
 
144 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 universally kind to and thoughtful of him. Each year his 
 salary was increased, and through his journal there are fre- 
 quent entries of gifts to himself and members of his family. 
 With each such entry he makes a fitting expression of appre- 
 ciation. 
 
 In 1874 he was elected as a delegate to the General Conven- 
 tion, which met in New York, and, as it appears from his 
 journal, "friends from the parish and elsewhere made it pos- 
 sible for me to go." These contributions he placed against his 
 personal account with this entry: "These gifts were made 
 to enable me to attend the General Convention in New York, 
 and by my friends also who were in New York." 
 
 The Reverend Ellison Capers could not enjoy New York 
 without an effort to share this, then (1874) novel experience, 
 with his family. This he did through his letters to the chil- 
 dren. Two of the most interesting we give here : 
 
 New York, Friday night, 
 
 Oct. 14, '74. 
 My Dear Frank : 
 
 Suppose I tell you where I have been and what I have seen 
 to-day ! 
 
 Well, at 9 o'clock a. m. I had an engagement to be at Trinity 
 Chapel to see the worship and parish school, etc. Trinity 
 Chapel is on Twenty-fifth Street, west of Fifth Avenue, this 
 Fifth Avenue being one of the great streets which run north 
 and south in this great city. The chapel is larger than our 
 church in Greenville, and is very beautiful. Some sixty boys, 
 a few ladies and gentlemen, and the choir boys said and sang 
 the Litany service. Several of the choir boys were smaller 
 than Johnny, and one dear-looking little fellow was about half- 
 way between Od and Ell ! After service I went into the 
 schoolroom and saw the boys at their books. Then I went to 
 Fifth Avenue and walked down to 596 Broadway, which 
 must be two miles from Twenty-fifth Street, and then at 596 
 I saw Mays Cleveland. He looks quite well, and was busy 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 145 
 
 having boots and shoes packed in boxes to send away, N., E., S., 
 and W., for New York is the great market for the whole of 
 our country. Really, my son, you can form no idea of the 
 trade of this great city unless you were here. Blake Howe 
 is here with his father, and if I live, you, too, shall see New 
 Vork. 
 
 From No. 596 I went on down a mile farther in Broad- 
 wav to 471, to see Mr. John Beattie, and after a pleasant 
 visit to him I took the street cars from Fulton Ferry and 
 rode two more miles, and then crossed over to Brooklyn. 
 Here I visited the Packer Institute, and saw Annie Cox, and 
 heard beautiful reading from the girls and some good poetry 
 recited. Good reading is rare, by the by. These Packer girls 
 read better than any minister I have yet heard, but I think 
 Mother reads better than the best of the girls I heard. 
 
 From Packer I came back to New York, met the Bishop at 
 St. John's Church, where the Convention is sitting, and he 
 and Mr. McCullough and I went to Central Park. And this 
 Central Park is a paradise! It is perfectly beautiful and most 
 lovely. I send you a card which the conductor of the Park 
 carriage hands to everyone who rides. But the true way to see 
 the Park is to walk over it, and take all day for it. The 
 menagerie is very fine indeed. Here they have an animal they 
 called a sea lion, which comes from the Northern Pacific 
 Ocean. Just imagine a splendid Bengal tiger, with great fins 
 instead of legs, and two great fins behind instead of a tail, 
 and you have the sea lion! Then there is a splendid hippo- 
 potamus, as large as an elephant, and ever so many animals. 
 And all of this for only the trouble of getting there. Every- 
 thing, but the eating, is free to the poorest. 
 
 When the Bishop and I got back to Broadway it was half 
 past six, so we went into a restaurant and took our dinner. 
 Then at 7:30 went to the Board of Missions at St. Ann's, 
 West Eighteenth Street, and there I left them all at half past 
 nine, and came to Mr. LeRoy's, No. 20 West Twenty-third 
 Street. And now, my son, it must be one o'clock, and I must 
 
146 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 say good-night. Kiss Mother and May and Johnny and Oddy 
 and Ell and Walter and Lottie, and Aunt Lila and Videau, 
 and let May kiss you for your own dear, 
 
 Father. 
 On the value of prizes. 
 
 At Mr. LeRoy's, 20 West 23RD St., 
 New York, Oct. 21, '74. 
 My Dear Son : 
 
 I read a letter from Mother written last Friday and Satur- 
 day, this morning, and I was glad to learn that you had taken 
 the prize for good riding. Father thinks he owes it to his dear 
 boy to seize this occasion to be of service to you, Frank, by 
 giving you a word of caution, as well as congratulation. The 
 prizes we take in life, my son, are only valuable to us as w-e 
 make them serve us as a real good purpose. For instance, the 
 blue ribbon is just as valuable a prize as a five-dollar bill 
 would be if we make it remind us of the effort and persever- 
 ance and an honorable emulation. But if it makes us vain 
 and boastful and pretentious, and unmindful of the nobler feel- 
 ings of modesty and humility, and consideration for our in- 
 feriors, then it has only done us harm. Never boast or brag 
 of your good riding, or allude to your prize in a vain spirit. 
 The greatest men are always the simplest and the humblest. 
 Your grandfather Capers was one of the first men of his day, 
 and he never once to my recollection alluded to his great 
 success as a preacher, or his fame among men. 
 
 Great men shine, says a writer, as the sun shines, because 
 they are full of light and must shine. Small men are like an 
 illuminated sign I see every night on Fifth Avenue; they 
 shine by great effort and much ado, and all sorts of arrange- 
 ments to attract attention. 
 
 This blue ribbon is your first prize, my son, and tho' I 
 would have rejoiced if you had taken it for good reading, or 
 speaking, or singing, far more than I do, yet if you make it 
 help you to repress any temptation to vanity or boasting, and 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 147 
 
 to spur you on to higher and nobler effort, it will only be 
 the beginning of the prizes which you will win in life. And 
 may you and I, my dear boy, win the prize which can never 
 fade away, and which is laid up for us through the love of 
 Jesus our dear Saviour. 
 
 If it pleases God to unite us all again I will have much 
 to tell you of this great city. 
 
 I expected to have received a letter from you before this, 
 and have been disappointed in your not writing to me. If 
 your life is spared and you become a man, and a father, you 
 will be sure to look for letters from home with all the interest 
 which Father has felt to hear from you all. 
 
 Kiss dear Mother for me and tell her I enjoyed her letter 
 this morning ever so much. Love and kisses to Mary, John. 
 Od, Ell, Walter, and Lottie. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 E. Capers. 
 
 Rev. Ellison Capers took a deep interest in the Sunday 
 school, and every department of the church's life and work 
 steadily grew and prospered under his devoted care. In 1866 
 Christ Church was a divided, demoralized, and discouraged 
 congregation, with but few communicants. 
 
 The journal of his early ministry reveals, among other 
 things, the sentimental estimate our forefathers placed upon 
 the wedding fee. This fee was given in a spirit of gratitude to 
 the man who "gave the groom his bride." It was not then a 
 formal, meaningless custom. Consequently wedding fees 
 then were largely in excess of such fees to-day. These fees 
 ranged from twenty to fifty dollars, and were invariably "paid 
 in gold." 
 
 There are but few entries in his journal of five and 
 ten dollar wedding fees. Many were the occasions when 
 there was no fee at all. The rectory was the popular sanctuary 
 at which the less fortunate Confederate soldier and his bride 
 were frequently united in the holy bonds of wedlock by the 
 
148 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 "General" ; likewise with the poor of the parish, and often 
 family servants. Such service was of course freely rendered 
 and never failed to be the occasion of much interest to the 
 large family of children, as well as visiting friends at such 
 times. Many and amusing are the incidents that occurred 
 at these impromptu weddings, all of which the Rev. Mr. 
 Capers enjoyed with a keen relish, and often related with 
 delightful humor. We recall his intense amusement upon 
 two occasions especially. One was the marriage of a couple 
 from the factory, the "best man" being the bride's brother. 
 At the conclusion of the service the groom asked : "What 
 do you charge?" The reply was: "There is no charge; any- 
 thing given is purely voluntary." The groom thereupon pulled 
 the "best man" aside, and in a moment he returned and 
 handed the officiating minister four dollars. With keen insight 
 into human nature, Mr. Capers noticed the sullen and down- 
 cast expression of the "best man's" face. When the couple 
 withdrew he asked the best man to wait a moment. Making 
 inquiry as to the source from which the groom secured his 
 wedding fee, the brother-in-law said : "From me, and I will 
 never see a cent of it again." The money was promptly given 
 back and the "best man" retired light-hearted and happy. 
 
 Upon another occasion a colored couple were married in 
 the parlors of the rectory. The children and members of the 
 family were all assembled to witness the ceremony. The cere- 
 mony concluded, the blushing and agitated bride heaved a 
 heavy sigh and sank upon the sofa. The groom stepped for- 
 ward to "salute" her with a kiss. Looking at him reproach- 
 fully she said: "Oh, shu, Tom, can't you wait?" The incon- 
 gruity of this feigned modesty provoked the children to laugh- 
 ter, and was the source of great amusement to us all. 
 
 In recalling the days when patriarchal sentiment existed 
 between the races, we marvel at the unwisdom of outside 
 interference, which has only tended to drive white and black 
 farther and farther apart. Even in the '70's and '8o's, when 
 guided by our own inclinations, and not directed to perform 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 149 
 
 a stated service, and without a thought of social equahty on 
 the part of either black or white, the ministers of the parish 
 administered to the spiritual needs of both races. They were 
 members of the same church and partakers at the same altar. 
 In the parish register of Christ Church, Greenville, there is 
 a record of eight colored families, members and communicants 
 of the parish. In Mr. Capers' personal journal is a scrap of 
 paper bearing the signature of seven negroes, with the amount 
 subscribed placed opposite their names (amounting to $7.50). 
 This is accompanied by the following: "For Mr. Capers' 
 Christmas present from the colored members of his congre- 
 gation, to whom he is always so kind." Such would be im- 
 possible to-day. Is the change for the betterment of the 
 negro race? 
 
 In the summer of 1875 Mr. Capers received and accepted 
 the call to St. Paul's Church, Selma, Ala., salary three thou- 
 sand a year, and rectory. The accompanying letter in con- 
 nection with this call gives us an interesting picture of Mr. 
 Capers at the age of thirty-eight. 
 
 Charlotte, N. C, July 29, 1875. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 In accordance with the resolution of the vestry, communi- 
 cated to me by Captain Nelson, I went down to Greenville 
 on Tuesday last to see Mr. Capers, and communicate with him 
 in regard to his acceptance of the call to Selma. I was quite 
 favorably impressed with him. I found him to be a gentle- 
 man of pleasant manners, frank, earnest, intelligent, and 
 zealous. He appears to be highly esteemed in Greenville by 
 the church people and citizens generally. He seems to be a 
 man of strong sympathies, and I was told paid great attention 
 to the poor and the sick. I found him almost settled in his 
 determination to decline our call. His main objections were 
 two. First, his wife's incapacity to endure hot weather, and, 
 second, the strong disinclination of Bishop Howe against his 
 leaving the diocese at this time. He told me that Bishop Howe 
 
150 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 was his father in God, and he would not leave the diocese with- 
 out his full and free consent and advice, however hard it 
 might be for him to remain, — and he means it. It seems that 
 there are but one or two ministers in the whole northern 
 portion of South Carolina, and Greenville is the only place 
 where the Church is growing. He said, too, that he felt it 
 almost impossible to leave his congregation, that they have 
 been so kind and affectionate that he must sacrifice much to 
 leave them. His salary, however, is only twelve hundred 
 dollars, and he has seven children, so that it is almost impos- 
 sible for him to live and educate his children. The youngest 
 is four years old. 
 
 His wife appears to be delicate, but seems to take an active 
 part in church work. He finally told me that he would give 
 our call a favorable consideration, and would advise with 
 Bishop Howe, who reached Greenville last night. I think he 
 will accept if Bishop Howe does not take strong ground against 
 it. He told me very frankly that the salary was an important 
 thing to him, that he could give his children nothing but 
 an education, and that they could not get it as he is now 
 situated. 
 
 I told him I thought there would be but little trouble in his 
 getting a vacation of two months in the heat of the summer, 
 and I think it must be conceded to him. I believe, however, 
 this has been customary when the health of the family required 
 it. I heard Mr. Capers read the service and lecture yesterday 
 evening. He is a capital reader, has a clear, musical voice, 
 not loud, but quite distinct; reads with earnestness. He lec- 
 tured ten minutes extempo; speaks readily and easily; no 
 affectation, talks very well. He writes his sermons. He told 
 me he feared he would not give satisfaction as a preacher. 
 The church people in Greenville say he is a capital preacher; 
 the outsiders say, good. 
 
 Mr. Capers will impress anyone very favorably socially. 
 He is a polished gentleman, with easy and attractive manners, 
 and I am told is quite a trump in the social line. He appears, 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 151 
 
 however, to be a man of prudence, and to have a will of his 
 own, which he doesn't hesitate to express to his vestry. He 
 is a son of the late Bishop Capers of the Methodist Church. 
 He told me that he got along very pleasantly with his dis- 
 senting brethren; they call him "Brother Capers." I take it 
 that he is somewhat Low church — classing him on a cotton 
 basis; — as to his churchmanship, I would rank him about 
 "good ordinary." He is a man of a cheerful temperament, 
 and looks on the brigiit side of things. I have given you a 
 pretty thorough estimate of his character from a day's obser- 
 vation and investigation. It only remains to give a brief de- 
 scription of his appearance. He is about five feet, ten inches ; 
 will weigh about 145. has blue eyes, brown hair, — a little 
 inclined not to stay on his head (like Colonel Dawson), has 
 a prominent but pleasant nose, one that you would not feel 
 inclined to pull, but bow to; has something of the appearance 
 of a college professor, but rather more genial. He dresses 
 neatly and harmoniously, and the general get-up is pleasant 
 and agreeable. To sum up, I think his selection is the best 
 that could have been made, and I would vote for him now 
 against the field, if such an expression is permissible in a 
 vestryman. He was Secretary of State of South Carolina in 
 1867, ^"d resigned that office, four thousand dollars salary, 
 to take charge of the church at Greenville. 
 
 He told me that if Bishop Howe did not seriously oppose 
 his leaving, he thought he would run down to Selma next 
 week and see what he thought of it as a residence for his 
 wife. Perhaps you had best get tickets for him and send him. 
 If he comes you had better put a lump of ice under his bed. 
 I have written more at length than I had any idea of when 
 I commenced, and hence the rambling style of my note. Mr. 
 Capers asked me to tell you that he would write you in a few 
 days. He received a call from Christ Church, Macon, Ga., 
 the morning I reached Greenville, and had one the day before 
 from some other place. We have the go on them, however, 
 as he seems more inclined to Selma than anywhere else. T 
 
152 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 would rather pay him three thousand dollars than to take the 
 chances on any other parson at two thousand dollars (except 
 Mr. Cobb). Yours truly, 
 
 (Signed) Jos. F. Johnston. 
 
 When the Reverend Mr. Capers had definitely decided to 
 accept the call to Selma, the public press took notice of his 
 intention in the following editorials : 
 
 "rev. ELLISON CAPERS 
 
 "This gentleman is so generally esteemed by the people of 
 Greenville in all the walks of life, in and out of the church, 
 that we fear his place will not easily be filled. 
 
 "We love the man for his social qualities, his warm, genial 
 temper, for his earnest discharge of the duties in his pro- 
 fession. We honor him as a Christian gentleman. We who 
 love Mr. Capers can only regret his leaving. We are assured 
 that wherever he goes he will be honored as the people of 
 Greenville have honored him. 
 
 "The people of Selma may well congratulate themselves in 
 being able to take from us one of the most useful and promis- 
 ing men of our young city." — Greenville Daily Nezvs, Septem- 
 ber 5, 1875. 
 
 Dr. Buist, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Greenville, 
 in a communication to the Mountaineer, writes the following 
 notice of this gentleman : 
 
 "The Rev. Ellison Capers, for many years the beloved and 
 honored rector of Christ Church in this place, has resigned 
 his charge here and accepted an unanimous invitation to the. 
 Episcopal church in Selma, Ala. Both churches are important 
 fields of usefulness, but the church in Selma is the largest and 
 furnishes most probably the more extensive and abundant 
 materials for doing good. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 153 
 
 "The Rev. Mr. Capers is much esteemed in this community 
 and greatly beloved by his church. Few men will be more 
 useful and many a cloud will rest upon us as a people by his 
 absence. 
 
 "His pure and Christian life, his charming and genial man- 
 ners, his delightful instruction in the pulpit, his unwearied 
 attention to the poor and sick, will be our loss, but they will 
 be Selma's gain, and the light and joy we lose we trust will 
 be redoubled to the people among whom he goes, and long 
 may he live to bless them, and oft may he visit his devoted 
 people to cheer and enlighten them." 
 
 Preamble and resolutions adopted unanimously by Colum- 
 bia Convocation at the meeting in Trinity Church, Columbia, 
 S. C, January 27, 1876: 
 
 Whereas, since our last meeting. Rev. Ellison Capers, one 
 of the original movers and most efficient promoters of this 
 Convocation, has been, in God's Providence, called away from 
 our fellowship, to a field of duty beyond our limits and 
 those of the diocese : 
 Resolved : 
 
 1st — That we sincerely regret the severance of those bonds 
 which bound our dear Brother Capers to us as a mem- 
 ber of this body. 
 2nd — That we will always cherish him in our remembrance, 
 and that he has our earnest prayers and best wishes 
 for his happiness and success in his new field of labor. 
 3rd — That this tribute be entered on our minutes and a 
 copy transmitted to him by the Secretary. 
 
 (Signed) P. J. Shand, President. 
 John Kershaw, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 In connection with this call and his return to Greenville 
 there is this unique circumstance. Called from Christ Church, 
 
154 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Greenville, to St. Paul's, Selma, the former church became 
 vacant after Mr. Capers had been in Selma a year. The retir- 
 ing rector, the Rev. Mr. Jackson (afterward Bishop of Ala- 
 bama), the vestry, the congregation, the various societies in 
 the church, the town as a municipality, and various organiza- 
 tions of citizens all united in petitioning Mr. Capers to return 
 to his former charge. This call he accepted. When he had been 
 in Greenville three years St. Paul's, Selma, became vacant, and 
 he was called back to that parish, similar action being taken 
 there, as in Greenville, by congregation, vestry, citizens, and 
 officials of Selma. When, twelve years after the second call to 
 St. Paul's was extended him Dr. Capers was elevated to the epis- 
 copate, a beautiful episcopal ring, the seal of the Diocese of 
 South Carolina, was the offering this loyal parish made to the 
 bishop who had served them as rector for just one year. 
 
CHRIST CHURCH, GREENX H.Li:, S. C. 
 
 Opposite pacjc 155. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 RETURN TO GREENVILLE 
 
 September 14, 1876.* — On this day I received a call to return 
 to Greenville, the Rev. Mr. Jackson having determined to 
 return to Virginia. 
 
 October 31. — Left Selma. from Colonel Dawson's, in com- 
 pany with Mr. Hallam, my successor, and arrived at Dalton 
 at 8 p. M. 
 
 November 2. — Frank, John, and Oddy left with me at eight 
 this morning for Atlanta, by dirt road ; arrived at Atlanta at 
 2 130 p. M. on the 4th, after a delightful travel over the same 
 road on which I marched and fought and suffered with Gen- 
 eral Johnston's army in 1864. 
 
 Sunday 5. — Spent the day in Atlanta and preached at night 
 from these words : "Be strong in the faith." 
 
 November 6. — Arrived in Greenville at midnight. 
 
 Sunday 12. — Resumed my duties as rector. Celebrated holy 
 communion, read morning prayer and preached from Ephe- 
 sians, 
 
 Nov. II, 1877. — I have not kept my official journal for 
 1877 with any regularity. During the year I have officiated 
 regularly in my parish and discharged the usual duties. The 
 year had been an eventful one in my family. John, Ell, and 
 May has each been ill with typhoid fever, and Mrs. Capers 
 has been unusually tried by bad health. We sent our eldest 
 son off to school in September. We lost our valuable horse 
 in December, the second horse lost since our return to Green- 
 ville. 
 
 The writer's first recollections of Greenville go back to the 
 
 *Private journal. 
 155 
 
156 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 return from Selma in 1876. The old rectory of Christ Church 
 was a big, square, two-story frame house, with a large garret 
 in which the children delighted to play. Between the rectory 
 and the lawn was an old-fashioned circular flower garden, 
 around which was the "driveway." From this "driveway" a 
 gravel walk led -up to the house. Beautiful oak and hickory 
 trees cast their grateful shade about the premises. Beyond 
 the grove was the meadow, where the "family horse" and the 
 "parson's cow" spent their leisure hours grazing, and, in sea- 
 son, "fighting flies." Here the boys had a baseball diamond, 
 marked out for them by their ever indulgent father's own 
 hands. The churchyard was entered through a gate at the 
 foot of this lawn. To the east and north of the churchyard 
 lay about two acres of glebe land. Part of this was cultivated 
 as a garden, and the remainder planted in "provender" for 
 horse and cow. Mr. Capers was a devoted gardener. He 
 loved nature. It delighted him to be in "the open," to work 
 in the soil, and to watch the development and growth of fruit 
 and flower, tree and plant. The yield of his garden was 
 sufficient to supply his family an abundant table. This was 
 quite a feat, for in addition to the regular family of nine 
 there were always friends, relatives, and some times, "the 
 stranger within the gate" to sit down to each meal. 
 
 During the hot June of 1878 Mr. Capers worked so indus- 
 triously in his garden that he suffered a sunstroke. He was 
 afterward quite sensitive to such exposure. Unwilling to 
 forego the pleasure, the profit, and the exercise — all so neces- 
 sary to him — which work in the field gave him, he adopted 
 the device of a sunshade. This was a kind of umbrella, which 
 rested upon steel rods fastened about his waist, a prong rest- 
 ing upon his shoulders. 
 
 The life at the rectory was simple, but strenuous. The 
 hospitality extended there was "open hospitality," where 
 friends "just dropped in to a family meal." 
 
 Mr. Capers inherited from his father a mechanical turn. 
 He was "a born carpenter." In his zeal to keep up the rec- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 157 
 
 tory premises, he often made an appeal for materials and 
 pledged himself as responsible for the carpenter work. Dur- 
 ing his long rectorship the stable and other outhouses were 
 often shingled by him, while, with "old Uncle Ned" to dig 
 the postholes, he and his "boys" ran the fences around and 
 the cross fences through the entire place. 
 
 Upon one occasion the rectory needed enlarging. A dining- 
 room, pantry, and kitchen were required. The loyal little con- 
 gregation was much interested in the enterprise, but in the 
 face of other obligations its accomplishment was doubtful. 
 Mr. Capers solved the difficulty by offering to build the addi- 
 tion himself if the materials were furnished. This work he 
 accomplished without detriment to his parish or pulpit duties, 
 and in the midst of demands for additional addresses and 
 sermons outside of his own parish. The work was neces- 
 sarily "long drawn out," but when finally finished the parish, 
 as well as the rector and his family, was very proud of the 
 result. Though his sons helped him in such work, he was 
 always thoughtful of their pleasures and sacrificed himself 
 to do the "lion's share." 
 
 He took the liveliest interest in his children's pets. The 
 chickens, pigeons, goats, and dogs all claimed and received his 
 interested attention. He taught his sons to shoot, ride, and 
 swim, and encouraged them in manly sports. He made fine 
 parallel and horizontal bars for them to "act" on, and often 
 took his guests out to see the boys take their gymnastic exer- 
 cises. In the summer months he frequently drove his sons 
 and their friends to Goldsmith's pond. There, under his 
 instruction, we all learned to swim. He was a strong man 
 and a good swimmer. As a child, and later as a cadet at the 
 Citadel, he enjoyed the surf and swam in the fresh-water 
 streams of the low country. When quite small we boys 
 would straddle his back and he would swim the pond with 
 us, one at a time. We recall the excitement on one occasion 
 when engaged in this sport. John, the boy on his back, be- 
 came frightened; in spite of the commands of "the General" 
 
158 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 to sit steady in his position, the little fellow kept moving up 
 toward his father's neck. Protests were of no avail; the child 
 reached the neck and frantically clutched his father's head. 
 The result was inevitable. Down went swimmer, rider, and 
 all ! Mr. Capers came up badly strangled and gasping for 
 breath. He endeavored to locate the child, who, when under 
 the water, had gotten from him. The moment was critical. 
 The little fellow came up and screamed. The eldest son, 
 Frank, had already started to their assistance, and by the 
 time his brother rose the second time he had him by the hair 
 and was swimming toward the shore. Mr. Capers, having by 
 this time recovered himself, lent his aid, and soon they were 
 out of the water that had been beyond their depth. We do not 
 recall that the practice of "riding father across the pond" was 
 ever indulged in again. 
 
 The second ministry of Mr. Capers at Christ Church was 
 one of ever-increasing activity in the missionary work of 
 the church. During the week he was frequently away from 
 home holding services in the country. In this connection we 
 recall an incident which illustrates his aggressiveness and 
 determination when in the performance of duty. With the 
 Rev. Mr. Hallam, of Abbeville, he was to hold a mission at 
 Laurence, some thirty miles distant. Mr. Hallam arrived 
 the night before, as they were to start early the next morning. 
 Two of the boys went down to the livery stable to bring up 
 the conveyance in which their father and Mr. Hallam were to 
 make the journey. A splendid pair of horses, rigged to a 
 light buggy, was soon at the door. The two youngsters asked 
 their father to let them "take a turn" before he made his 
 start. He was always anxious to please his children. How- 
 ever, upon this occasion he was afraid to trust the boys alone 
 with the spirited horses. He therefore offered to go along, 
 letting the elder of the two "do the driving." After a short 
 spin they returned to the rectory. The little fellow driving 
 thoughtlessly dropped the reins as he jumped out. The other 
 boy was standing at the horses' heads. As Mr. Capers got out 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 159 
 
 of the buggy the loop of the reins caught him about the 
 feet. He fell forward heavily, striking his head a tremendous 
 blow on the brick steps. He was knocked unconscious. Elli- 
 son struggled manfully to lift his father, while Walter held 
 the horses. Both boys called lustily for help. In a few 
 moments the family and servants were upon the scene. Mr. 
 Capers was taken into the house, where he regained conscious- 
 ness. Resting for an hour or two he then proceeded on the 
 drive, in spite of the protests of his family, the advice of his 
 doctor, and the appeals of Mrs. Capers. He was always 
 impatient of restraint in the face of what he conceived to be 
 his duty. "Why, they will be coming for miles to attend the 
 services. I cannot disappoint them. It will be too bad to 
 postpone the mission. The blow is nothing." That was his 
 final answer to their protests. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 NOMINATED STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION 
 
 The Republican usurpation in South Carolina during "Recon- 
 struction" made Democracy a unit. But after the Democratic 
 triumph in 1876 men began again to think for themselves 
 along economic lines. They acted more independently in the 
 agitation of political questions. 
 
 In the Middle West the Greenback party was organized to 
 further the increased use of "greenback" currency and a more 
 complete recognition of such currency as a legal tender. This 
 party finally united its strength with the Labor Party, and 
 in 1880 cast more than three hundred thousand votes for 
 James B. Weaver (recently dead) for the Presidency. Under 
 General William Mahone, "the Hero of the Crater," the Read- 
 juster party dominated Virginia politics in i88t. This party 
 made its fight on the proposition either to reject entirely or 
 else scale down and readjust the enormous State debt con- 
 tracted during the war and Reconstruction era. 
 
 About this time the "Grange" or Farmers' Alliance sprang 
 up, and Mr. Bland also began his agitation in Congress for 
 "free silver." It was an era of political unrest. Following 
 the panic of 1873 was a period of prosperity. Then values 
 began again to diminish. The year 1882 was not a prosperous 
 one. Somebody was to blame ! Why not the political party 
 in power? A faction of the Democratic party and elements 
 belonging to and in sympathy with Republican, Greenback, 
 Labor, Readjuster, "Grange" parties respectively were ready 
 to fuse for the overthrow of the "common enemy." 
 
 160 
 
ELLISON CAPERS i6i 
 
 The Democratic party was alive to the situation. Party- 
 leaders had been advising, feeling the pulse of the people, with 
 a view to securing the strongest men to be nominated for the 
 various offices on the State ticket in South Carolina. 
 
 In addition to questions and agitations of general political 
 interest, the question of the re-establishment of the Citadel and 
 the State College was made a dominant issue in the impend- 
 ing campaign in South Carolina. The Citadel, the military 
 school of the State, and the South Carolina College, at Co- 
 lumbia, had but recently been re-established. While these 
 colleges were closed the denominational colleges had taken 
 full possession of the educational field and now strongly op- 
 posed their re-establishment. Strong in the support of their 
 alumni in the Legislature, these colleges endeavored to check 
 the growth of the State's halls of learning and their first point 
 of attack was opposition to the free tuition feature of these 
 institutions. 
 
 The position of the denominational colleges in reference to 
 "free tuition" may be summed up in the words of Dr. Furman : 
 
 "Free tuition was established in the State college, and imme- 
 diately other colleges felt the damaging effect in the with- 
 drawal of students, lured away by this sole consideration. We 
 will not charge this upon the Board of Trustees as an inten- 
 tional plan of injury to the other colleges, since they have 
 attempted to excuse it as a measure necessitated by the Consti- 
 tution. But since that position has been demonstrated to be 
 untenable, and the Constitution creates no such necessity, it 
 would have been a fitting thing if some word had been said 
 about this unequal and unjust state of things." 
 
 The position maintained by Mr. Capers and others support- 
 ing the State colleges was: First, as far as "free tuition" 
 being leveled at the denominational colleges, the character 
 of the men on the board of trustees should be a guar- 
 antee that no such ignoble scheme was contemplated.* 
 
 *Among the board were Governors Hampton, Simpson, Jeter, Hagood, 
 and Thompson, ex-officio chairman. 
 
i62 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Second: As to the "untenable position" that "the Con- 
 stitution created no such a necessity" : "the Constitution of 
 1868 declared that the General Assembly shall provide for the 
 maintenance of the State University . . . (sec. 10). 
 All the public schools, colleges, and universities of this State, 
 supported in whole or in part by the public funds, shall be 
 free and open to all the children and youths of the State, with- 
 out regard to race or color. The board of trustees construe 
 this section as a command that the University, being supported 
 in part by the public funds, must not only be open to all the 
 children and youths of the State without regard to race or 
 color, but also must be free,^ — that is, that the instruction 
 therein must be given to all the children and youths of the 
 State without charge." 
 
 This construction of the Constitution was not only accepted 
 by the ablest lawyers in the State, but was upheld by the Hon. 
 Leroy F. Youmans, Attorney General, and the chief and asso- 
 ciate justices of the State Supreme Court. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Capers gave this movement his sympathetic 
 interest and strong support, accepting invitations to deliver 
 addresses throughout the State ; and endeavored to arouse the 
 interest of the people through the press. 
 
 We give below an excerpt from a letter written to him by 
 one of the most prominent educators in South Carolina com- 
 mending him upon his course. The writer was a prominent 
 Methodist. 
 
 "Partisan zeal is the same one-sided, unnecessary thing in 
 Church or State. Our Methodist bishop, Mactyeire, led the 
 way in a bold demand (which his organ endorses) for educa- 
 tion by denominational colleges and schools only. I showed 
 up his selfishness in an article to the 5. C. Advocate. Narrow, 
 selfish, and unpatriotic, they work only to their selfish indi- 
 vidual advantage. You spoke as a South Carolinian rejoicing 
 in the recuperated strength of his State, as a son in the halls 
 of his ancestral home delighted to see his mother arrayed in 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 163 
 
 her robes of state, and leading in the education of her sons, 
 preparing to prescribe a standard in every branch of training 
 to which all of the colleges must conform, if they would escape 
 inferiority by declaring cx-cathedra what shall be considered 
 an education in her domain, be it Baptist, Methodist. Presby- 
 terian, or Episcopal. The difference between these positions is 
 the difference between patriotism and party spirit. There will 
 be abundant opportunity for speech. The fight will last a 
 long time." 
 
 It must be understood that Mr. Capers cheerfully conceded 
 that denominational colleges served a high and noble purpose, 
 and should be maintained, but their maintenance should not 
 conflict with or upset the obligation of the State to give her 
 sons and daughters the opportunity for higher education as a 
 natural sequence of the admitted obligation of the State to 
 give them the foundation of an education through the public 
 school system. 
 
 A contributor has sent the following anecdote : "Dr. J. C. 
 Furman, president of Furman University fa Baptist College), 
 and Mr. Capers were devoted friends. Dr. Furman was much 
 Mr. Capers' senior and always addressed him as 'Ellison.' 
 The two men met by appointment to discuss the situation. 
 Mr. Capers explained his attitude to the Doctor; they parted 
 feeling that there was 'honor enough for all,' and Dr. Fur- 
 man from and after that interview gave his splendid support 
 to the State colleges, with no less loyalty, of course, to his 
 own university and other denominational schools." 
 
 When the Citadel and State College were re-established, 
 Mr. Capers was frequently mentioned as the probable head of 
 one or the other. Dr. John M. McBryde, who became presi- 
 dent of South Carolina College in 1882, writes: "In 1882, 
 when T returned to South Carolina, the Rev. Ellison Capers 
 was living in Greenville. When President Miles resigned in 
 August of that year Mr. Capers was spoken of through the 
 press as a splendid man for the presidency of the re-established 
 
i64 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 college. He at once made it known that he did not desire the 
 position." The circumstances were similar in reference to 
 the superintendency of the Citadel. He did, however, accept 
 the invitation to deliver the opening address for his 
 alma mater. This address was to be in the nature of a re- 
 sume of the Citadel's work for the State, and an appeal for 
 loyal and liberal support from the citizens. The address ap- 
 pears in full elsewhere in this work. 
 
 Mr. Capers advocated a broad and patriotic platform of 
 education. He was honored by his fellow-citizens and brother 
 clergy, irrespective of creed; loved by his old soldiers and 
 trusted by the masses of the people; while he enjoyed the con- 
 fidence of the denominational colleges, and numbered among 
 his warm, personal friends Drs. Furman, Duncan, Judson; 
 the distinguished Baptist divine, Dr. John Broadus, and Dr. 
 Woodrow. 
 
 Thus Mr. Capers seemed the logical man for the office 
 of State Superintendent of Education. The Democratic 
 convention of August 2 nominated him for that office, nomi- 
 nating for Governor the Hon. Hugh S. Thompson. Mr. 
 Thompson was then the Superintendent of Education. He 
 was later appointed United States Civil Service Commis- 
 sioner by President Cleveland, and afterward became Auditor 
 of the New York Life Insurance Co. 
 
 While the State convention was in session in Columbia, Mr. 
 Capers, all unconscious of the effort to draw him into politics, 
 was at his home in Greenville. In fact, he was making every 
 preparation to take a camping trip with his sons. For several 
 summers he had spent his vacation in this manner. He took 
 great delight in this form of recreation, and was deeply inter- 
 ested in instructing his boys in the craft of "camp life." With 
 him it revived pleasant memories of army life, while we 
 greatly enjoyed "war stories" told around the camp-fire. Upon 
 the occasion of his nomination the camping party was on the 
 way, and had reached Sans Souci. three miles from town, 
 when a messenger overtook us with a telegram from Columbia, 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 165 
 
 informing Mr. Capers of his nomination, and urging his ac- 
 ceptance by wire. We well remember his surprise and evident 
 distress, as well as our sense of pride and pleasure that he had 
 been thus honored. Being little fellows, we did not then appre- 
 ciate the situation. Immediately he wrote a telegram, declin- 
 ing the nomination, and also one to a warm personal friend 
 in the convention, requesting him to act for him and see to 
 it that his name was taken off the ticket. We then proceeded 
 on our way to the mountains, and there spent a very happy 
 vacation. 
 
 The convention adjourned and the "ticket" was announced, 
 with Mr. Capers as the nominee for State Superintendent of 
 Education. When he returned he found himself "on 
 the horns of a dilemma." The politicians appealed to his 
 "patriotism," his "party obligation." They suggested that the 
 educational interest was clearly a ministerial obligation. When 
 he demurred, they put forward the argument that he could 
 employ a competent assistant to do the detail work and he 
 continue his parochial duties, giving the office the strength 
 of his name and the work a general superv^ision. Finally 
 they urged him to allow his name to remain on the ticket until 
 the election was over, and then, if he found the office inter- 
 fered with his duties as rector of Christ Church, he could 
 resign the State office. Further, they asserted that taking his 
 name off the ticket would create confusion and work mate- 
 rially against party success. These appeals he withstood until 
 some of the ablest and best men in the State, many of them 
 his lifelong friends, leaders in the work and council of the 
 Church, began to urge his acceptance. He then yielded a 
 reluctant consent to give the proposition a trial, provided he 
 had the consent and approval of his bishop and the vestry and 
 congregation of Christ Church. Giving the matter further 
 consideration, he decided that the demand made upon him 
 to foster the educational interests of the State were subordi- 
 nate, under any circumstances, to his obligations to the Church, 
 and he therefore wrote the Executive Committee to that 
 
i66 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 effect. The subjoined letters indicate the pressure that was 
 brought to bear on him to accept the nomination : 
 
 State Normal Institute. 
 
 Columbia, S. C, Aug. 3, 1882. 
 My Dear Mr. Capers: 
 
 I have the honor to transmit to you through this morning's 
 mail the following resolution adopted by the members of the 
 State Normal Institute, assembled in their rooms to-day: 
 
 "Whereas, the Democratic State Convention, realizing that 
 the promotion of Col. Hugh S. Thompson, our honored and 
 successful Superintendent of Education, marks a crisis in the 
 interests of our educational system, did on yesterday unani- 
 mously nominate as his successor to that office the Revd. 
 Ellison Capers, of Greenville; 
 
 Be it resolved, that we, the teachers of South Carolina, 
 assembled in the State Normal Institute, do hereby heartily 
 endorse the action of the Convention, do cordially congratu- 
 late Revd. Mr. Capers on his having been chosen under cir- 
 cumstances of such unusual honor, and do earnestly urge him 
 to hear the voice of the people and to accept the nomination. 
 
 A. P. Henry, 
 Secretary. 
 
 Office of State Superintendent of Education 
 
 Charleston, S. C, Aug. 3, 1882. 
 Dear Mr. Capers : 
 
 It is rumored here that you may not accept the nomination 
 of the convention. 
 
 I have but time to beg that you will not announce your deci- 
 sion to decline, if such should be your purpose, until I can 
 communicate with you. 
 
 I desire to offer some suggestions to you which may possibly 
 have weight in deciding the course which you will pursue. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 167 
 
 I need not say how much pleasure it would give me to be 
 united with you on the same ticket, but I have even a higher 
 purpose in asking you not to decline the nomination. 
 In haste. Very truly, 
 
 Hugh S. Thompson. 
 
 Columbia & Greenville Railroad, 
 A. C. Haskell, Pres. 
 
 Columbia, S. C, Aug. 4, 1882. 
 Dear Capers : 
 
 I am not in politics, but I was in the struggle of 1876, and 
 I feel a deep interest in all that concerns the State, and a never 
 ceasing desire to see all done that can be done to secure to 
 our people of both races the good which had a right to grow 
 out of the triumph of 1876. and which would have grown, 
 I think, without a break or halt if the pledges of 1876 had not 
 been so much forgotten as they were in 1878. 
 
 The nomination of Thompson for Governor is an assurance 
 to me. for he will stand on the platform of 1876, and has the 
 confidence of both races. 
 
 The Superintendent of Education is really the connecting 
 link between the races. He meets them on a common ground 
 and controls the formation of character in both, and can best 
 reach the heart of each. It is, in my judgment, the most 
 important office in the State, for it is the one which has direct 
 means of doing most good among our people and in the eyes 
 of the world. In the hands of a man not well fitted, however 
 worthy he might be in other respects, the office will be a failure, 
 and its failure is a foundation of incalculable evil. Of all 
 men that I know, I should regard you as best qualified to 
 meet the demands of this office. And, so far from being in 
 conflict with your spiritual charge, it only magnifies your 
 field and enables you to mingle the broad principles of religion 
 with the entire training of the young people of the State. I 
 
i68 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 pray that your conscience and your judgment will lead you 
 to the acceptance of the charge which has thus unexpectedly 
 been put upon you. Don't "accept for the canvass,'" but accept 
 in earnest, as you always are, and take the trust with all the 
 power that goes with it, and make us all feel the power you 
 have and be grateful, as we will be, that you have taken it 
 and put it in exercise. 
 
 Pardon my presumption, and further, the haste with which 
 I write, for the train is about to leave and I can't express 
 fully what I wish to say. 
 
 With great respect and regards. 
 
 Faithfully yours. 
 
 A. C. Haskell. 
 
 Law Office of Perry & Perry 
 
 Greenville, S. C, Aug. 12, 1882. 
 
 My Dear General Capers : 
 
 I hope you will excuse the presumption of my writing to 
 you in reference to your acceptance of the nomination for 
 Superintendent of Public Education in South Carolina. 
 
 I think you should by all means accept the position. I 
 would by no means give such advice if your acceptance re- 
 quired you to give up the rectorship of your church, but I am 
 sure you can perform both duties without much difficulty. 
 Education is in the line of your profession and not at all con- 
 nected with party politics. 
 
 The salary is $2100, and you have a clerk with a salary of 
 $1200, who can do most of the office business. You owe it 
 to your family, as well as to your country, to accept the office. 
 
 Let me entreat you to consider well your duty to your inter- 
 esting and growing family before you refuse an office worth 
 $3,300. It will place you, with your salary from your Church, 
 above want, and by industry you can discharge all your duties 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 169 
 
 to both and be of service to your country and the cause of 
 education With great respect, etc., 
 
 B. F. Perry.* 
 
 Philadelphia, Aug. 9, 1882. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I see by a Charleston paper that you have been nominated 
 for Superintendent of Education. The State can get no better 
 man, and I heartily congratulate it, and yourself also, if the 
 office is one of either pleasure or profit. 
 
 I wish I were a citizen of South Carolina, for the election 
 day at least, and I trust you will largely lead the ticket. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 W. C. Patterson, Jr. 
 
 Office of the Deutsche Zeitung 
 F. Melchers & Son, Proprietors 
 
 Charleston, S. C, Aug. 3, 1882. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 As an old friend and comrade, I desire to add my congratu- 
 lations to the host of friends you have, to your nomination as 
 Superintendent of Education. You did not seek the office, but 
 the office sought you. As the right man in the right place you 
 will no doubt do your part to the regeneration of our good 
 old State. 
 
 With a Thompson at the helm and with your ripe experi- 
 ence at the head of education, the State must make rapid 
 strides forward. 
 
 Advanced education is the watchword of the world now. 
 The pen is mightier than the sword. 
 
 I must congratulate the State for having called you to the 
 position of Superintendent of Education. 
 
 With respect. Yours truly, 
 
 F. Melchers. 
 
 *Mr. Perry was Provisional Governor of South Carolina. — Ed. 
 
I/O THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Peru, Hillsboro Co., Fla., Aug. 23, 1882, 
 My Dear Ellison : 
 
 I hope the congratulation of an old friend upon your nomi- 
 nation to the important office of Superintendent of Education 
 by the late Democratic Convention in South Carolina will not 
 be unpleasant to you. 
 
 It has been delayed until I could see your acceptance, for 
 which I have anxiously looked. That pleasing intelligence was 
 conveyed to me upon the receipt of my Anderson paper yes- 
 terday. 
 
 My removal from South Carolina has not diminished my 
 interest in her welfare, and I assure you, my friend, that the 
 nomination of Hugh Thompson and yourself for the two 
 offices of highest importance in the State, while personally 
 pleasing to me, are assurances equally that my old State is 
 alive to her best interest and welfare. 
 
 I hope and believe that the choice of the convention will be 
 overwhelmingly reiterated as the voice of the whole people, 
 or at any rate, its best element. 
 
 With sincere regards, I am, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 G. H. Symmes. 
 
 The view point of i\Ir. Capers is clearly given in the fol- 
 lowing letter ; 
 
 To Gen. Jas. F. Izlar, Chairman, etc. 
 
 My Dear Sir: The reluctant consent I gave to the executive 
 committee to accept the nomination of the convention for the 
 office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction places me 
 in a position I cannot consent longer to hold. 
 
 If elected to this office by the people I am bound in honor 
 to enter upon the earnest discharge of its duties. 
 
 I am satisfied, after a careful review of the duties of the 
 office as defined in the statute, that I could not be a faithful 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 171 
 
 superintendent of education and remain the rector of my 
 parish. 
 
 The claims of the latter are paramount, and must command 
 my unqualified consideration. 
 
 This has been my conviction from the first intimation I had 
 of my nomination, but I was constrained to yield it to the 
 opinions and wishes of others, and especially in deference to 
 the urgent request that I should defer to a later period my 
 final determination. 
 
 After a review of my action, I am satisfied that I have erred 
 in thus yielding my consent to the nomination against my con- 
 victions, and that my duty now is to make as full a correction 
 of my action as I can. 
 
 To my fellow-citizens who have conferred upon me their 
 confidence I am most sincerely grateful. If I could serve them 
 in the office to which they have called me without detriment 
 to the higher service which for their sakes I feel bound to 
 maintain, I would not hesitate a moment. 
 
 I attach no blame whatever to anyone but myself for the 
 awkwardness of this withdrawal. With my best wishes for 
 the full and highest success of the approaching canvass, I 
 hereby resign my nomination as the candidate of the Demo- 
 cratic party of South Carolina for the office of State Superin- 
 tendent of Education. 
 
 With great respect, I am, your obedient servant, 
 
 Ellison Capers. 
 
 Office of James F. Izlar, 
 Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee. 
 
 Orangeburg, S. C, Aug. 24, 1882, 
 Revd. Ellison Capers, 
 
 Greenville, S. C. 
 My Dear Sir: Your letter declining the nomination of 
 State Superintendent of Education was received yesterday. 
 I regret exceedingly to give you up. Your nomination gave 
 
172 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 entire satisfaction. I was in hopes that you would find the 
 office compatible with your higher calling, and suffer your 
 name to remain on the ticket, be elected, and serve the people 
 in this important position. Upon calmer reflection, however, 
 I must say that I, at least, am satisfied that you have acted 
 wisely. 
 
 I received a letter from our beloved bishop asking that you 
 be relieved, and giving fully his views. 
 
 I have issued a call for a meeting of the Executive Com- 
 mittee on the 29th inst. Your letter will be laid before the 
 committee and I feel sure the committee will relieve you. 
 
 Your letter, as requested, shall be published. 
 
 I will telegraph you from Columbia the action of the com- 
 mittee, and you can then publish also the letter in the Green- 
 ville papers. 
 
 I am, very truly and fraternally, 
 
 Jas. F. Izlar. 
 
 The letters following present the viewpoint of friends who 
 rejoiced that Mr. Capers declined the nomination : 
 
 Bishop's House 
 
 Charleston,, Aug. 24, 1882. 
 Dear Brother Capers : 
 
 Yours to General Blair just in, and it puts you, as I see it, 
 all right before the Church and before the State. If you made 
 a mistake in accepting temporarily the nomination, under the 
 strongest kind of pressure, which nobody else in the State 
 would have been subjected to — for I know no one so popular 
 as yourself— you have more nobly redeemed your mistake. 
 I believe that so far from limiting the prospects of the Demo- 
 cratic party, it will in the long run help them. What all good 
 men sigh to see is some touch of conscience in our politics, and 
 I am sure they will welcome this evidence of what you have 
 given. That so popular a man as yourself has withdrawn, and 
 for conscience' sake, will tell for good. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 173 
 
 Of course, my dear brother, you will be sharply criticised. 
 It will be said you should have thought of all these things you 
 mention in your letter before, etc., but if words hurt, and no 
 doubt they will, do you just look right straight into heaven 
 to Him whom St. Stephen saw. He knows all about it, a 
 great deal more than newspapers. I think, too, it is better 
 for you to come right out, as you have done, and look the 
 State in the eye and say : "I have been mistaken," than for 
 me, as Bishop, to have expressed to you a "godly judgment," 
 not because I am unwilling to back you up, but because when 
 one feels a mistake has been made there is something bracing 
 in standing up as you have done. 
 
 And I am sure your course will comfort a great many of 
 your friends here in Charleston. I have not seen many to talk 
 with, but all I have met expressed regret at your acceptance. 
 You heard one side and I heard the other, and all will rejoice 
 that the diocese is not to lose the services of one of her most 
 effective clergymen. 
 
 May God bless you, dear Brother Capers, and keep you, 
 through Jesus our Lord. 
 
 Affectionately, 
 
 W. B. W. Howe. 
 
 Law Office of Simonton & Barker 
 
 Charleston, S. C, Sept. i, 1882. 
 My Dear Capers : 
 
 I sincerely congratulate you on your high and manly letter. 
 I could not answer your letter written to me from Columbia 
 because you did not ask my opinion or advice as to your 
 "reluctant assent" to the request of the Executive Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 I could not have answered your letter frankly without vol- 
 unteering my opinion, and therefore adopted the alternative 
 of letting your letter go by unanswered, as if I were indifferent 
 to the painful conflict through which you were passing. 
 
174 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Your action, uninfluenced by opinion or advice from me, 
 releases me from the enforced silence, and permits as well as 
 prompts me to express to you my very great sympathy. Your 
 best impulse, the desire to serve the State, as the partiality of 
 warm and admiring friends told you you could do, has sub- 
 jected you to a great risk of being placed in an untrue posi- 
 tion from which your manliness and moral courage has rescued 
 you. 
 
 I was doubly bound to keep from advice to you. I had 
 warned the convention that it would by its action cause you, 
 or the party, perhaps both, great embarrassment. They would 
 not listen to me, and the trouble came. I was in position to 
 say, "I told you so." 
 
 If I had advised you, or expressed to you my opinion, that 
 you should withdraw, the committee (and the public) might 
 say, "His wish (to prove that his warning to the Convention 
 was well taken) prompts his advice to Mr. Capers to decline 
 the nomination. He thus contributes to create the embarrass- 
 ment he predicted." So I kept silent — and waited for the time 
 when I could tell you the reason why I did not reply to your 
 letter from Columbia. I know you must feel better in getting 
 yourself clear of the scrape even at the risk of being con- 
 demned for "embarrassing the party," and for "not knowing 
 your mind, etc.," but it is infinitely better to carry this light 
 load of unreasonable reproach (if any there be who fail to 
 sympathize with your action in withdrawing) than to have 
 gone on, as your letter to me told me you wxre going, on a 
 false basis — one which you felt to be "too insincere." 
 
 In what I did and said in the convention I felt that I was 
 acting best the part of true friendship. I also knew that if I 
 voted against your nomination on that line (which I did, by 
 the way), no one would more readily appreciate the friendship 
 expressed in the vote than yourself. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Theodore G. Barker. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 175 
 
 The Piedmont Mfg. Co. 
 H. P. Hammett, Pres. and Treas. 
 
 Greenville, S. C, Aug. 31, 1882. 
 My Dear Mr. Capers : 
 
 At the risk of appearing presuming, I desire to congratulate 
 you upon the firmness you have exhibited in following the 
 convictions of your judgment and withdrawing from the can- 
 didacy for Superintendent of Education. 
 
 I felt great solicitude about it. I would not, however, have 
 presumed to advise you, or intrude my opinion, while you 
 were a candidate. My opinion is that when anyone who has 
 chosen the holy profession of minister of the gospel allows 
 himself to be drawn into a struggle for a political office, he 
 very seriously jeopardizes his usefulness as a minister. For, 
 however pure his motives may be, or whatever of a personal 
 nature influences him to accept it, his motives are misrepre- 
 sented and misunderstood. 
 
 There are plenty of competent men in the State well quali- 
 fied and of the highest character who would gladly accept the 
 office, and in whose case there would be no impropriety in 
 doing so, but, on the contrary, the greatest propriety; but in 
 my judgment they are not prominent ministers of the gospel. 
 
 Perhaps I am risking a great deal in thus speaking plainly 
 my opinion, but I do so with the purest motives and the kind- 
 est feelings of friendship. No one can possibly have a higher 
 idea than myself of the exalted office of a pure Christian min- 
 ister of our holy religion, and I want to see it forever sepa- 
 rated from the politics of the State. 
 
 If you feel that you want to do something to increase your 
 income, and you feel that you can have the time to do it with- 
 out neglecting your pastoral duties, I suggest that you teach 
 a boys' school in Greenville. You can have a large one. I 
 will send two to you. I think a first-class school of that kind 
 here a great necessity, and many others think so. 
 
176 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Pardon me the liberty I have thus taken, and the haste 
 with which I have been compelled to throw my thoughts to- 
 gether this morning before leaving for Piedmont, and believe 
 me, Your friend and well wisher, 
 
 H. P. Hammett. 
 
 The Rectory 
 
 Beaufort, S. C, Aug. 30, 1882. 
 My Dear Capers : 
 
 When some two weeks ago I saw in the papers that you had 
 accepted the nomination of the Democracy for State Superin- 
 tendent of Education I was, metaphorically, "knocked into a 
 cocked hat," for I had been so confident that you would not 
 accept that I had serenely smiled and said so to several per- 
 sons. I thought of writing to you then, but I came home to 
 find Mrs. Kershaw quite seriously sick and was in harness 
 as chief-nurse from that day to this, so that I could not find 
 time to do the subject justice. She is better now, and your 
 own manly, frank, and courageous action as shown in your 
 letter published to-day relieves me of any further anxiety on 
 the subject, as well as from arguing it with you and showing 
 you how it struck a friend and admirer. 
 
 I know you were never for a moment disloyal in heart or 
 thought to the Church or to your sacred office in the same. 
 
 Your real friends, and they are many and sincere, will 
 honor you more than ever, and there are few who will not 
 agree with you that the claims of the Church are paramount. 
 
 I know you will pardon my freedom of expression in con- 
 sideration of my sincere friendship and affection for you. 
 
 Faithfully your friend, 
 
 John Kershaw. 
 
 Office of State Superintendent of Education 
 
 Columbia, S. C, Aug. 28, 1882. 
 My Dear Ellison : 
 
 Your letter caused me much surprise, but far more regret. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 177 
 
 I can well understand the struggle that you have had in order 
 to decide what your duty is. I know that it would have been 
 much more natural and easy to heed the voice of the thousands 
 who desire you to be the Superintendent of Education than to 
 listen to "the still, small voice" which bids you remain at your 
 post of duty. 
 
 I infer from your letter that you have notified the executive 
 committee of your determination to decline the nomination. 
 The committee will meet here Tuesday night, and I presume 
 that some action will then be taken. 
 
 I need not tell you that while personally and officially I 
 deeply regret your withdrawal from the ticket, I accept it as 
 the result of your conviction of duty. 
 
 I feel sure that the executive committee will take this view 
 of the matter, much as they will lament your withdrawal. 
 
 Most sincerely, 
 
 Hugh S. Thompson. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 ELECTION TO THE DIOCESE OF EASTON 
 
 We referred in a preceding chapter to Mr. Capers' increas- 
 ing activity in missionary work, especially in the upper sec- 
 tion of the State. His election as secretary and treasurer of 
 the Diocesan Board of Missions was in recognition of the 
 efficiency of this work. Under the canons of the diocese, the 
 secretary and treasurer of the Mission Board was the execu- 
 tive and administrative representative in this most important 
 department of the Church's work. Mr. Capers was also 
 elected secretary of the Diocesan Council. From 1874 until 
 he was elevated to the episcopate in 1893, he was a dele- 
 gate from the diocese of South Carolina to the General Con- 
 ventions of the Church. 
 
 The increasing burdens of Bishop Howe's episcopate, grow- 
 ing out of the "negro question" in the Church, led him to 
 throw upon Mr. Capers the whole burden, if not responsibility, 
 of the missionary work of the diocese. 
 
 There were "breakers ahead" for Bishop Howe in the ad- 
 ministration of his diocese. In rendering the bishop and 
 diocese a faithful service during these distressing years of 
 strife and dissension Mr. Capers was unconsciously ripening 
 his own experience for "the office and work of a bishop in the 
 Church of God." 
 
 Christ Church continued to grow and prosper under the 
 devoted pastorate of Mr. Capers. An attractive Sunday 
 school building was erected, which stands to-day as a monu- 
 ment to his work and the loyal co-operation of the congrega- 
 tion. The church was enlarged by the addition of transept 
 
 178 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 179 
 
 and chancel, and new heating and lighting plants were in- 
 stalled. The work and sacrifices of past years were bearing 
 fruit, while each succeeding year gave promise of a brighter 
 future. His ministry in Greenville had now been of such 
 duration that he was frequently called upon to marry couples 
 whom in their infancy he had baptized. The rising genera- 
 tion looked to him as their "father in God," while he led his 
 own congregation with a shepherd's care, and the community 
 regarded him "a. master in Israel." 
 
 The war had wrecked Mrs. Capers' health. Though active 
 and energetic, she was never strong after her war experience. 
 Of rather slight stature, with delicate classic features, clear 
 blue eyes and patrician brow, she retained her personal beauty 
 through long years of semi-invalidism. Her indomitable will 
 and untiring energy enabled her to meet the demands of her 
 large household, and also to take an active part in the work of 
 the parish. But it became necessary for her to be spared the 
 heat of summer, even in so invigorating a climate as that of 
 Greenville. With that tender, faithful guardianship her hus- 
 band exercised over her health, and his untiring endeavor to 
 save her strength, he now determined to purchase a small 
 place, somewhere in the mountains, to which he could take 
 his family during the hot season. In 1886 he purchased a 
 few acres at Cedar Mountain, North Carolina, where the 
 elevation was about three thousand feet above the sea level. 
 The purchase consisted of fifteen acres, with an humble cot- 
 tage. 
 
 The plan for occupation was to ''rough it" through the 
 summers; therefore the furnishings were rather scanty and 
 most primitive. The little house and mode of life suggested 
 the name "Camp Cottage." Thirty-two miles by dirt road 
 from Greenville, this mountain home was reached in a day's 
 drive. There being no railroad, provisions were hauled by 
 wagon. 
 
 Hotel de Gower was soon built at Cedar Mountain and the 
 place became a popular resort. For more than twenty years 
 
i8o THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 "Camp Cottage" was the summer rendezvous for the Capers 
 family. Bishop Capers spent his vacations there, and as his 
 OAvn children grew to manhood and womanhood, and became 
 "heads of families," he and Mrs. Capers lived their lives over 
 again in their grandchildren. This younger generation 
 idolized their grandfather, while he was never too busy or 
 absorbed in his work to lay it aside and do something for the 
 childrens' pleasure. He "carpentered" for the little boys as 
 industriously as though his living depended upon it, and al- 
 ways with infinite delight to himself and to the joy of the 
 children. 
 
 Here in the mountains "vacation" for him was one only in 
 the sense that he changed the scene of his activities. A part of 
 every day he was in his office engaged in an enormous cor- 
 respondence; the remainder of the day he spent in manual 
 labor or devoted it in some way to promote the pleasure of 
 others. On Sundays he regularly preached for the moun- 
 taineers in their churches. Their estimate of him was proba- 
 bly summed up in the declaration of their justice of the peace, 
 when he said : "I reckon that Bishop Capers and Saint Paul 
 was two of the greatest preachers and biggest men that ever 
 lived." This encomium was given a practical turn when he 
 was stricken with paralysis in their midst, for they nursed 
 him with tender, manly care, and throughout that summer the 
 community stood "on call" to render any assistance pos- 
 sible. 
 
 In the summer of 1894 Mrs. Capers realized the fulfillment 
 of her long cherished plan to have an Episcopal chapel erected 
 for the use of summer visitors. Bishop Horner's consent 
 being secured, and a neighbor giving the lot. Bishop Capers 
 devoted a summer to building the little chapel. The expense 
 of the enterprise was borne in a large measure by the Capers 
 family. When the little church was complete, it was named 
 by Mrs. Capers "Faith Chapel." Until the last illness of 
 the bishop services were regularly conducted in this mountain- 
 girt temple of prayer and praise. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS i8i 
 
 The vacation seasons at "Camp Cottage" went merrily by. 
 For many years Mrs. Capers' health was greatly improved by 
 this change of climate. Bishop Capers' interest in the moun- 
 tain home grew with -the passing years. The rude cottage 
 originally on the place was torn down and a more commodious 
 one built on the summit of the hill. Here gigantic boulders 
 and forest trees gave a unique picturesqueness to the new 
 location. 
 
 "Camp Cottage" now commanded an inspiring view 
 of range after range of near and distant mountains, with their 
 intervening valleys lying in the shades of purple mist. The 
 lawn, the winding driveway from gate to residence, spring 
 house, outbuildings, and even the additions to the house itself, 
 were all the work of Bishop Capers' faithful and industrious 
 hands. 
 
 We recall a thrilling incident in connection with this "Camp 
 Cottage" life in which Mr. Capers and one of his sons almost 
 lost their lives. While living in Greenville he and William 
 were bringing a load of provisions from Greenville to the 
 Cottage. It was a rainy season. The roads were heavy and 
 streams swollen. After a laborious day, night overtook them 
 at the foot of the mountains, with yet eight miles of steady 
 ascent. The rain came down in torrents and the mountain 
 streams were booming. William suggested to his father that 
 they tether the horses and camp out for the night, sleeping in 
 the covered wagon. But declaring he would greet his "bride" 
 and family that night, Mr. Capers insisted on going ahead, 
 William rode forward on horseback and carried the lantern; 
 by its light Mr. Capers drove the wagon. Slowly and labori- 
 ously the old horse tugged his load up the slippery mountain 
 road. 
 
 By midnight they had reached the last stream they would 
 have to ford. It was near the top of the mountain, and the 
 direction of the ford was diagonal, up stream. It looked dan- 
 gerous and William demurred, thinking not of his own, but 
 of his father's safety. But "the General's" blood was up. He 
 
i82 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 had turned knight-errant, and vowed he would see his "lady" 
 before morning. He directed his son to ride the horse through 
 the stream and try the current. William dashed in with fine 
 spirit and the horse floundered through and returned by the 
 same course. Then leading on horseback, with lantern in 
 hand, William rode in again, and Mr. Capers drove the wagon 
 in after him. "Old Charlie," the horse, went through all 
 right, until they struck midstream and he attempted to pull 
 against the current. Striking the wagon with full force, the 
 flood pushed it back, and the horse was swept off his feet. A 
 cataract was not more than a hundred steps below the ford, 
 and though "Charlie" had struggled to his feet, and Mr. 
 Capers was out in the water endeavoring to cut the harness 
 loose from the horse, they were being borne steadily down 
 stream. Fortunately an intervening tree stopped the progress 
 of the wagon. But the current was now so swift that Mr. 
 Capers could not keep his feet without holding to the wagon. 
 A log, washed from a sawmill above, struck him with tre- 
 mendous force, and he was only saved from drowning by 
 clinging to the side of the wagon. The log pushing against 
 his shoulders held him fast, and it was only a matter of time 
 when, becoming exhausted, he would have to release his hold 
 and be swept down stream. 
 
 William had led "Charlie" out and, returning on his horse, 
 saw his father in this perilous situation. He dashed to his 
 rescue and, standing on the wagon, now held firmly against 
 the trees, he succeeded in so manipulating the log as to make 
 the current float it around the rear of the wagon, when, v/ith 
 his assistance, his father regained his footing in the bed of 
 the stream and scrambled over the wheel into the wagon 
 body. 
 
 The thumping of the log against his neck and shoulders 
 bruised him badly, but they managed to gain the shore, and 
 mounting their horses, they galloped away, two miles and a 
 half to Cedar Mountain. This terrible experience, instead of 
 exhausting Mr. Capers, seemed to exhilarate him, and we re- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 183 
 
 call how gayly he galloped into the yard, and made known 
 his presence. William was terribly exhausted, and very pale. 
 Coming into the house he was given immediate attention, and 
 "rubbed down" under the direction of his father, who gave 
 as a reason for his apparently not feeling any bad effects 
 from the ordeal through which he had passed, that "old sol- 
 diers are used to roughing it; we got tough in the war." 
 
 In 1886 the Rev. Mr. Capers was elected bishop of the 
 diocese of Easton, Md. In its effort to select a suitable man 
 to succeed the lamented Bishop Lay in this important field, 
 the Diocesan Convention adopted a rather novel plan of "dis- 
 covering" a bishop. The convention instructed the delegates 
 to the General Convention, to be convened in Chicago the fol- 
 lowing October, to use their best endeavor to agree, if pos- 
 sible, upon one of the clergy delegates to the convention to 
 fill the episcopate of Easton. Their decision was given unani- 
 mously in favor of Mr. Capers, who was in due time elected 
 to Easton. From the numerous letters he received, urging his 
 acceptance, the choice of the Chicago delegation seems to have 
 met with universal approval throughout the diocese. 
 
 In writing to J. L. Adkins, president of the Easton National 
 Bank, and also treasurer of the diocese. Rev. Dr. Barber, 
 president of the Standing Committee, says: 
 
 "I reached home on Saturday morning, quite tired out with 
 my journey. For once I could not take much interest in the 
 proceedings of the General Convention. Of the several simi- 
 lar gatherings in which I have participated, this one has been 
 the least satisfactory and attractive, but if Mr. Capers replies 
 favorably I shall look back with delight and thankfulness. I 
 had several conversations with this presbyter after you left, 
 and he won my very heart. Oh, that the Divine Spirit may 
 dispose him to come to us. He would just suit our diocese, 
 and everybody would be content." 
 
 Mr. Adkins, urging the call upon Mr. Capers, inclosed the 
 Barber letter. The following letter from the historian, Dr. 
 Stearns, is of interest, as is the memorandum Bishop Capers 
 
i84 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 made on the letter, giving his opinion of the Doctor's book, 
 "The Faith of Our Forefathers." 
 
 Easton, Maryland, 
 
 Oct. 28, 1886. 
 Rev. and Dear Brother: 
 
 Some two weeks ago I wrote to one of our deputation in the 
 General Convention, expressing the hope that the deputation 
 would be able, while in Chicago, to agree upon someone for 
 bishop of this diocese, and adding that I believed that anyone 
 on whom they should unanimously agree would be unani- 
 mously elected by our convention. I have since learned that 
 their unanimous choice has fallen upon you, and that they are 
 enthusiastic in their preference of you over any and all others. 
 I need not add that I am in hearty accord with them, and I 
 earnestly hope that nothing may stand in the way of your 
 acceptance. I know the people of this Eastern Shore thor- 
 oughly, and can assure you of a hearty welcome, and that 
 you will feel yourself at home among them from the outset. 
 
 Faithfully yours in Christ, 
 
 (Signed) E. I. Stearns. 
 
 "Dr. Stearns is an old man,* retired from work and devoted 
 to writing. He is author of several books, notably a reply 
 to Archbishop Gibbons' "Faith of Our Fathers." The arch- 
 bishop's book is a very able and very plausible presentation of 
 the tenets of the Roman Church in popular form. Stearns' 
 book, "Faith of Our Forefathers," is, to my mind, a conclu- 
 sive reply far better than Bishop Hopkins' reply to Arch- 
 bishop Hughes' "End of Controversy." Bishop Hopkins' 
 book is "The End of Controversy Controverted." Dr. Stearns 
 is said to have the most valuable collection of ancient books 
 in any private American library. He is a gentle, humble, old 
 man, and is a very earnest Christian." 
 
 *This is Dr. Capers' comment. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 185 
 
 Dr. Capers' letter declining the Episcopate of the Diocese 
 of Easton. 
 
 Rectory, Christ Church, 
 
 Greenville, S. C, Nov. 8, 1886. 
 
 To THE Rev. Theo. P. Barber, D. D,. Rev. Francis W. 
 HiLLiARD, Rev. Enoch K. Miller, Rev. Algeman 
 Batte, and Messrs. J. L. Adkins, M. D., G. R. Golds- 
 BORo, W. S. Walker, and R. C. Mackall, M. D., 
 Deputies. 
 
 Dear Brethren: In compliance with our understanding I 
 have given the subject of my election to the episcopate of 
 Easton a most earnest consideration, with a sincere desire, if 
 I know my own heart, to do my duty alike to my family and to 
 the Church. 
 
 I cannot, my dear brethren, see it to be my duty to accept the 
 nomination of your convention. 
 
 I have a large family. Three of my sons and a daughter 
 are prosecuting their education here. Two of my sons are at 
 college in Furman University, located in this city, and the 
 third will enter the freshman class next year. To have my 
 sons prosecute their collegiate studies while residing at home 
 is an advantage to them and a great pecuniary consideration 
 to me. 
 
 This, with a sacred duty I owe to a widowed sister and 
 her blind child, who are partially dependent upon me for sup- 
 port, constrain me to feel confirmed in my original conviction 
 that I could not assume the obligations of the episcopate of 
 Easton. 
 
 The kind, generous, and trustful spirit you have manifested 
 towards me, my dear brethren, draws my heart to you, and 
 makes me feel deeply your disappointment. I deplore your 
 discouragements and pray God to give you a better man for 
 the work of His Church and your diocese. 
 
i86 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 I have pondered your call and considered it long and anx- 
 iously, and with a just sense, I trust, of the high duty I de- 
 cline. I feel clear in my mind and heart that a higher duty 
 to my family fuiist detennine my course. 
 
 Cherishing the brotherly friendship I have formed for you, 
 and humbled before God and His Church by the honor you 
 have done me, I beg you to be assured of my gratitude and 
 my love. 
 
 With sincerest brotherly love, I remain, dear brethren, 
 
 Yours most truly, 
 
 (Signed) Ellison Capers. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 RECTOR OF TRINITY CHURCH, COLUMBIA, S. C. 
 
 In September, 1887, Mr. Capers was called to Trinity Church, 
 Columbia, S. C. This historic old church is perhaps the most 
 influential parish in the diocese. Situated in one of the most 
 attractive residential parts of the city, it faces the massive capi- 
 tol. with its extensive and beautiful grounds. Within a block 
 is the University of the State, and not far distant are colleges 
 for young women. Trinity is associated with many of South 
 Carolina's most distinguished families. Governors, senators, 
 college presidents and professors, soldiers and statesmen of 
 renown, have worshiped at this ancient shrine. The ashes of 
 the Capers, of the Hamptons, the Prestons, Mannings, Rich- 
 ardsons, and those of the poet Timrod all mingle in her sacred 
 soil. Columbia, as the capital of the State, is the Mecca of 
 South Carolina's leading men, and has from the early history 
 of the State been renowned for the intellectual attainment and 
 social prominence of its citizens. The pulpit of Trinity gives 
 its rector the opportunity of preaching to legislators, Supreme 
 Court judges, college faculties and students. It is, from every 
 point of view, a most attractive field of work and service. 
 But that which most influenced Mr, Capers to accept the call 
 was the educational advantages the university offered his sons. 
 To educate his children was an ambition with him, for the 
 realization of which he stood ever ready to sacrifice himself. 
 
 Dr. Capers began his ministry at Trinity, Sunday, December 
 19, and the following press notice indicates the favorable 
 impression made upon his parishioners : 
 
 "The seating capacity of Trinity Church was taxed yester- 
 day morning by the immense crowd of persons who went to 
 
 187 
 
i88 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 hear the opening sermon of the Rev. EUison Capers, the newly- 
 elected pastor, and to welcome him by their presence. The 
 sermon, a most appropriate one, was delivered with much 
 feeling, and produced a great impression upon the congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 "The text was taken from Romans 14, verses 30 and 32: 
 T beseech you, brethren, for our Tord Jesus Christ's sake, 
 and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with 
 me in your prayers to God for me, that I may come unto you 
 with joy, by the will of God, and may be with you refreshed.' 
 
 "These words suggested the thoughts which filled the mind 
 of the minister who has given us an endeared past and as- 
 sumed the untried responsibilities of a new pastoral charge. 
 
 "No man was justified in leaving a work endeared by a 
 thousand hallowed associations except as he could realize that 
 he was doing God's will. Next the joyful service of Christ 
 in the pastoral relation was presented, the preacher dwelling 
 earnestly upon the comfort and peace of doing the will of 
 God joyfully. This joy was the result not only of a sense 
 of doing one's duty, but the joy come to the minister of Christ 
 who could say with the Apostle : T am sure that when I come 
 unto you I shall come in the fulness of the blessing ot the 
 Gospel of Christ.' The refreshment which a true ministry in 
 Christ brought to pastor and people and the oneness of the 
 relation between them, as they mutually worked together for 
 the edifying of the Body of Christ, were presented. 
 
 "In this connection Mr. Capers deprecated anything that 
 raised a barrier between pastor and people. He alluded par- 
 ticularly to the separation in thought which sometimes made 
 the Gospel appear to disadvantage by reason of the rationalism 
 of our age, styling itself falsely a philosophy of truth. He 
 concluded his discourse in these words : 'But I will not dwell 
 longer upon so ungrateful a theme as that which draws your 
 attention to the things which so often separate us in thought 
 and feeling from our hearers. I am reminded that I am 
 to-day beginning my ministry among a people who for more 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 189 
 
 than half a century were accustomed to give their honored 
 pastor a loving confidence, and who have been taught of him 
 to know their God to be unto them wisdom, righteousness, 
 sanctification. I would remind you, dear brethren, of his 
 example of devotion to Christ and His truth, and I would 
 claim your love and sympathy by all the lessons of his long 
 and faithful ministry, reminding you that I preach unto you 
 no other Gospel than that which he ever declared. Recalling 
 the unselfish zeal and devotion of your last rector, I would 
 ask that you strive together with me in your prayers, to God 
 for me. that I, too, might have a measure of his untiring 
 activity and do my work among you as unselfishly as he did. 
 And so, brethren, of Trinity, may I carry on the work of 
 Christ among you, that when our work is done an entrance 
 may be ministered unto us into the everlasting kingdom of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, that together with you I may rejoice 
 in the great day of our Lord.' " 
 
 During the first years of his ministry in Columbia, the Rev. 
 Mr. Capers received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divin- 
 ity, and in 1893, the same degree from the University of the 
 South, at Sewanee. 
 
 In the spring of 1888 Bishop Wilmer, of the diocese of 
 Alabama, made known his desire that the Council which 
 was to convene the following May, elect a bishop-coadjutor. 
 Though the Rev. Dr. Capers had been officially connected 
 with the diocese of Alabama for just a year, he had many 
 friends, and a large acquaintance throughout the State, espe- 
 cially among the Confederate soldiers. Bishop Wilmer was 
 devoted to him, while Trinity's rector entertained a great 
 admiration and warm personal affection for the distinguished 
 prelate. Under these circumstances. Bishop Wilmer's request 
 for a coadjutor immediately brought Dr. Capers' name promi- 
 nently before the Church in that diocese. 
 
 A prominent churchman of Birmingham, Ala., was very 
 much interested in Dr. Capers' election, and on March 26 
 wrote to secure some favorable expression from him in refer- 
 
I90 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 ence to his probable nomination. Dr. Capers sought to dis- 
 courage any action in his behalf, but his friend's enthusiasm 
 admitted of no discouragement in the matter. He wrote re- 
 peatedly and gave the names of clergy and laity who had 
 assured him of their preference for his candidate, they being a 
 sufficient number to insure his election. 
 
 Finally Dr. Capers wrote : "I am compelled to discourage in 
 every honorable way my nomination, and if my friends persist 
 against my will to bring my name before the May convention 
 the result will be to my mortification and their own." 
 
 About this time the Rev. R. W. Barnwell, afterward bishop 
 of the diocese of Alabama wrote : 
 
 Rectory of St. Paui/.s Church, 
 
 Selma, Ala., April 25, 1888. 
 The Rev. Ellison Capers, 
 
 Dear Mr. Capers: You have doubtless received so many 
 letters from Alabama lately that I need hardly say what the 
 subject of this one is. As the rector of your old parish in 
 Alabama, it has been agreed among your friends in the diocese 
 that we should have the honor of nominating you for the 
 office of assistant bishop. I do not know what would probably 
 be your decision should your nomination result in an election, 
 nor do I imagine that you know; for one does not feel one's 
 self in a position to consider so grave a question until it is 
 presented outright. I write this letter, then, not for the pur- 
 pose of getting your views on the subject, but merely to assure 
 you that in nominating you I will do so with all my heart 
 as with all my mind. 
 
 From all I can hear from both clergy and laity, I believe 
 that you will be elected on the first ballot. It would do your 
 heart good could you see the enthusiasm of the Selma delega- 
 tion. For myself I know of no man — saving Bishop Wilmer. 
 and that because I have tried him, — I would rather work 
 under than you, Mr. Capers. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 191 
 
 Dr. Capers replies: 
 
 Trinity Rectory, 
 
 Columbia, S. C, 
 The Rev. R. W. Barnwell, May 21, 1888. 
 
 Rector, St. Paul's, Selma, Ala. 
 
 My Dear Brother: Your very kind letter was duly received. 
 The nature of its contents was such that I hesitated, at the 
 time, to send you the answer which my conscience dictated, 
 and I beg you, my dear brother, to excuse my hesitation and 
 accept my warmest thanks for the brotherly expressions of 
 your most kind letter. 
 
 After much consideration, and with every feeling of respect 
 and gratitude toward my dear brethren in Alabama, I am 
 constrained, from considerations which seem to me compel- 
 ling, to request most earnestly that my name should not be 
 brought before the convention for the office of assistant bishop. 
 I most solemnly decline to give my consent to it. 
 
 I have most carefully considered the matter, and my first 
 indisposition to consent to my nomination, expressed to my 
 friend Captain Joe Johnston weeks ago, has grown into a con- 
 viction of duty, and I beg my friends to respect it. If you 
 persist in your purpose the responsibility is wholly yours, and 
 I cannot feel myself lx)und by the result. 
 
 With all my heart I pray God to overrule your deliberations, 
 for the best interest of the diocese and the comfort of your 
 dear old Bishop. With every sentiment of respect and broth- 
 erly love, I am, my dear brother. 
 
 Most truly yours, 
 
 Ellison Capers. 
 
 Through five years of devoted work Rev. Dr. Capers con- 
 tinued the beloved rector of Trinity. More than twenty years 
 having elapsed since the close of the War, the South had suffi- 
 ciently recovered to begin the building and unveiling of monu- 
 ments to the memory of those heroes who had given their lives 
 
192 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 for the Cause that was lost. Dr. Capers' war record ; his de- 
 voted interest in every worthy effort to do homage to and per- 
 petuate the memory of the Confederate soldier; his knowledge 
 of the great battles and leaders of the Confederacy, as well as 
 his oratorical powers, all combined to bring him into constant 
 demand as orator upon such occasions. He was a patriot and 
 took a lively interest in everything that exalted and perpetuated 
 the history of his country. He was on the executive com- 
 mittee of the King's Mountain Centennial, and the same year, 
 1880, he was grand chaplain at the laying of the corner-stone 
 of the Cowpens Monument. He was also on the executive com- 
 mittee of the first South Carolina "States Survivors' Associa- 
 tion," and about the time of his removal to Columbia he was 
 Chaplain-General of the Confederate Veterans Association. He 
 delivered the oration at the unveiling of the Confederate monu- 
 ments at Greenville, 1890, Georgetown, 1891, Marion, 1892, 
 Chickamauga, 1901 ; the mural tablet in St. Michael's Church, 
 1 90 1. When the State Association unveiled the beautiful 
 monument in its capital, to the Carolina soldiers, General Wade 
 Hampton was the orator, and Bishop Capers offered the 
 prayer. 
 
 While Dr. Capers was rector of Trinity Church, General 
 Joseph E. Johnston died. General Capers had served under 
 him in the war, and had the greatest admiration for him as 
 soldier and man. He regarded Joseph E. Johnston next to 
 Lee as the greatest general produced by the Civil War. In 
 preparing and presenting resolutions passed upon the death 
 of General Johnston, General Capers paid his army com- 
 mander this tribute of admiration and affection. 
 
 He said: 'T shared in the general feeling of reverence 
 for General Johnston, and to that is added in my case a 
 feeling of close personal affection. It is a source of pride 
 that the Southern soldier loved his generals, and I can say 
 truthfully that every soldier who followed Johnston loved 
 him devotedly, and I do not believe that the whole world 
 could show any such record of unbounded enthusiasm and 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 193 
 
 unbounded confidence as that shown by the soldiers of John- 
 ston's army in that memorable Dalton campaign. That army 
 was retiring every week, but in retiring felt that their com- 
 mander was doing that which was best, and was merely retir- 
 ing to choose a better fighting position." 
 
 Bishop Capers was fond of relating this anecdote, to illus- 
 trate General Lee's opinion of General Johnston. It was, 
 said he, the custom with President Davis to have his cabinet 
 dine with him once a week. On such an occasion in 1864 
 Sidney Lee, a brother of General Lee, was a guest. Dur- 
 ing the progress of the dinner Mr. Lee related an experience 
 he had once when a boy, duck hunting. He and a friend were 
 floating down the river in quest of their game, and time and 
 time again they sighted the ducks at a distance. The friend 
 would, with great pains and effort, row cautiously toward them, 
 and then aim and "sight" and paddle a little nearer, and then 
 change his course and attempt to move upon the ducks from 
 another direction. Upon each such occasion the ducks were 
 flushed and never a shot was fired. Finally losing patience, 
 
 Mr. Lee remonstrated and asked why in the he didn't 
 
 shoot. The reply was, "Well. I won't shoot until I get the 
 ducks just where I want them." Lie said that that hunting 
 often reminded him of General Joseph E. Johnston's campaign, 
 and then continued his strictures on the General. General Lee 
 was manifestly annoyed and irritated that his brother should 
 indulge in these serious reflections upon General Johnston, and 
 when he excused himself, in order to have an interview with 
 the President, he said in a most impressive manner: "Gentle- 
 men, if Joseph E. Johnston is not a general, the Confederacy 
 has none." 
 
 Dr. Capers was deeply interested in the movement toward 
 marking the graves of South Carolina's soldiers. He there- 
 fore readily responded to the appeal made to him, by inter- 
 ested friends in Franklin, to have the State Legislature appro- 
 priate an amount of money sulhcient to have markers put at 
 the heads of the soldiers' graves. In 1892 at the meeting of 
 
194 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the Legislature he made known his request, and the appropria- 
 tion was promptly voted. The receipt of the amount for- 
 warded by Dr. Capers was acknowledged in the subjoined 
 letter : 
 
 Franklin, Tenn., 
 
 March 8, 1892. 
 Rev. Ellison Capers_, D. D. : 
 
 My Dear Sir: Your letter and check for one hundred and 
 twenty-five dollars, payable to my order, has been received, 
 and cashed by the National Bank of Franklin, subject to the 
 order of cemetery committee of John L. McEwen Bivouac. 
 The committee read your letter, and the joint resolutions of 
 the Legislature of your State, as to how the money should be 
 expended. Captain T. F. Perkins, who was a very gallant 
 soldier, and a member of the cemetery committee, has prom- 
 ised me that he will see that the South Carolina dead shall 
 have such headstones as the Legislature directs. Allow me, 
 in behalf of the Bivouac, to return to you their sincere thanks 
 for the successful effort you made to secure the money. Your 
 State is the only one so far which has responded to our appeal. 
 I felt, when I addressed you in behalf of South Carolina, that 
 the amount would be forthcoming, for her people have always 
 proved themselves as generous in peace as they were gallant 
 in war. With great esteem, 
 
 I remain, yours truly, 
 
 (Signed) B. F. Roberts. 
 
CHAPTER XVni 
 
 BISHOP ELLISON CAPERS 
 
 At the one hundred and third council of the diocese, convened 
 in St. PhiHp's Church, Charleston, May lo, 1893, Ellison 
 Capers was elected Assistant Bishop of South Carolina. On 
 the first ballot he received a majority of the clerical, and an 
 overwhelming majority of the lay vote, and on motion the 
 election was made unanimous. 
 
 The Chair appointed the Rev. Dr. Porter, the Rev. Dr. 
 Johnston, and Mr. W. H. Parker a committee to wait upon 
 Dr. Capers and receive his answer. 
 
 The committee conducted Dr. Capers to the church, where 
 he was most affectionately received by Dr. Pinckney and pre- 
 sented to the convention to make his answer to the call made 
 upon him. 
 
 Dr. Capers spoke with much feeling, assuring his brethren 
 that, if he believed that the future of the diocese depended 
 solely upon the energies or the abilities of its bishop, he could 
 not presume to respond affirmatively to the call of the conven- 
 tion, but when he reflected that the promise of God was with 
 His Church, that His spirit and His grace gave strength to 
 the heart and will of His people, and that the Divine Master 
 was with us to be our guide and our life, — and when he con- 
 sidered the spirit in which the convention met the resolution 
 offered by Dr. Wilson, — he could not find it in his heart to 
 shrink from the work or the responsibilities to which he had 
 just been called. He assured the clergy and the laity of his 
 confidence and love, and asked them one and all to give him 
 their support and love in return, assuring his brethren that if 
 
 195 
 
196 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the Church approved their action, and in due time he was 
 consecrated Assistant Bishop of this beloved diocese, he would 
 give it his whole heart, his most earnest labors, and would 
 confidently look for the blessing of God upon His church. 
 
 The press of the State voiced the sentiment of the people 
 generally, in approving the choice of the diocesan convention, 
 in the following editorials : 
 
 The election of the Rev. Ellison Capers, D. D., as Assistant 
 Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church for the diocese 
 of South Carolina was a voluntary expression of the love and 
 confidence of his clerical and lay brethren, a beautiful tribute 
 to a beautiful character. Dr. Capers does not, to the general 
 public in this State, represent any special Church or denomi- 
 nation. He represents religion of a high, broad, manly kind — 
 high enough to look above and beyond denominational lines, 
 broad enough to include in its love and reverence all honest 
 servants of God and good men, manly enough to say and 
 maintain its principles anywhere and everywhere. All the 
 people of South Carolina claim a share in the light of his 
 career as a soldier, priest, and citizen ; and the fact that he 
 was selected above all others and without hesitation as the 
 recipient of the highest honor his Church could bestow, will 
 cause general and very sincere gratification in every part of 
 the State and among all classes. 
 
 Here, in Greenville, the news of the action of the convention 
 was received with special pleasure. Dr. Capers served here 
 as rector of Christ's Church for many years. The members of 
 his own congregation were bound to him by all the many 
 tender ties which develop between pastor and people, and 
 Greenville had always felt proud of having him as a citizen. 
 
 Over his promotion, therefore, Greenville rejoices unani- 
 mously and heartily. 
 
 In behalf of the people of the State generally and those 
 of Greenville especially, we warmly congratulate Dr. Capers 
 on a high honor worthily won, and the Church on having 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 197 
 
 chosen an able, pure, and strong man, a gallant and big-hearted 
 gentleman, a bishop whose tender love and care and powerful 
 influence will be felt for good in every corner of the diocese. — 
 Greenville Daily Nezvs. 
 
 "Bishop Capers." This will sound familiar to the older 
 South Carolinians, albeit that the title and name do not belong 
 to the same religious communion that was once honored in 
 this way. This time the honorary title of bishop is to be con- 
 ferred by Episcopalians upon a worthy son of the illustrious 
 man who gave such luster to the name of Methodism in a 
 former generation, and in the homes of all the people, with- 
 out reference to the lines of demarkation between the sects, 
 there will arise a warm approval of the distinction awarded to 
 Ellison Capers, the gallant ex-soldier and genial, loving Chris- 
 tian who has devoted friends in every section of the State.— 
 Greenville Mountaineer (Baptist). 
 
 Bishop Capers is perhaps the most widely known and the 
 most universally beloved man in South Carolina. We do not 
 mean to say that his being bishop over the Episcopal Church 
 in South Carolina makes him thus, although as high and 
 broad a Christian as Bishop Capers is more than apt to be 
 generally appreciated and honored. It is the Bishop's noble 
 record in the Confederate War, joined to his almost perfect 
 personal character, that causes him to be thus known and be- 
 loved on all sides. When the Bishop comes here, or goes 
 there, it is not Episcopal or Methodist, or Baptist or Presby- 
 terian, but it is "Bishop Capers is here," or "General Capers is 
 here," or "Brave old Ellison Capers is here." And everybody 
 wants to see him and hear hini and shake his hand — old people 
 because they know and love him, and young people because 
 they honor and love the traditions ; because they would greet 
 a hero of fateful history. The good bishop, with his heaiJ 
 and mind as strong as his heart is tender and true, was with 
 his flocks of Trenton and Edgefield on Sunday last. Large 
 
198 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 crowds heard him in the forenoon and afternoon, and in the 
 evening, at the earnest request of President Bailey, he "made 
 a Httle talk," as he expressed it, to the 120 boarding pupils 
 of the South Carolina Co-Educational Institute in their chapel. 
 But it was in reality a large talk, and a high and broad one, 
 and delighted the young people to whom it was so lovingly 
 addressed. Bishop Capers, however, does more than delight 
 people. He helps them, strengthens them, comforts them. 
 Would that we might see and hear him oftener in Edgefield. — 
 Edgefield Chromcle. 
 
 There are no good people in South Carolina, whatever their 
 denominational predilections, who will not rejoice at the action 
 of the Diocesan Convention yesterday in electing the Rev. 
 Ellison Capers Assistant Bishop of the diocese. He is in every 
 way worthy of the high distinction conferred upon him, and 
 will bring to the discharge of the duties of his holy office the 
 zeal of thorough consecration and the experience of a most 
 successful ministry. 
 
 As his biographer, Colonel J. P. Thomas, says in the excel- 
 lent sketch of his life published in the history of the South 
 Carolina Military Academy, and reproduced in the News and 
 Courier to-day, "His mind is strong enough, his soul is sweet 
 enough, and his shoulders broad enough for heavy churchly 
 burdens." 
 
 The Church is fortunate in its choice; the State will be 
 benefited by the election of such a man, so earnest in his piety, 
 so broad in his philanthropy, so patriotic in his purposes, so 
 gentle and tender and true in all his life and character. His 
 election will tend, as we believe and hope, to the restoration 
 of good-fellowship throughout the diocese, and the true mis- 
 sionary spirit which filled his soul will lead to the development 
 of a larger Christian life and greater Christian activity in all 
 the parishes over which he will exercise pastoral control. — The 
 News and Courier. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 199 
 
 PRESENTATION OF THE EPISCOPAL RING 
 
 Shortly after the election of the Rev. Ellison Capers to be 
 Bishop Coadjutor of South Carolina the vestry of St. Paul's, 
 Selma, Ala., decided to present him with an episcopal ring 
 on behalf of the congregation of which he was at one time the 
 honored and beloved rector. 
 
 The ring is of massive gold set with an oriental amethyst, 
 oval shaped. On the stone is the seal of South Carolina, a 
 palmetto tree. Under the palmetto is a radiated cross, with 
 the Latin motto. "Faith, Love, Hope," on a scroll. Under- 
 neath all are the Bishop's initials, "E. C." On the shank of 
 the ring on one side is a cross and a crown; on the other is 
 Christ's monogram. 
 
 The following is the correspondence relating to the presen- 
 tation and acceptance of the ring:* 
 
 The Rt. Rev. Ellison Capers, D. D., 
 
 Assistant Bishop of South Carolina: 
 Rt. Rev. and Dear Sir: The undersigned, who were ap- 
 pointed to provide the episcopal ring presented to you by the 
 vestry of St. Paul's on behalf of the congregation, take 
 pleasure in presenting the same to you. We trust that the 
 design and mottoes will be approved by you. We deemed 
 it not inappropriate to emblazon the shield with the palmetto, 
 the historic tree associated with your State, and with your own 
 distinguished services in her defense. We present this ring 
 as a token of the love and esteem in which you are held by 
 your former parishioners, and trust it will always remind you 
 of their devotion and friendship. 
 
 N. H. R. Dawson, 
 Wm. Berg, 
 Geo. a. Wilkins, 
 Committee of St. Paul's Vestry, Selma, Ala. 
 
 *The episcopal robes were presented by the ladies of Trinity Church. 
 
2O0 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 BISHOP capers' acknowledgment 
 
 Columbia, S. C, Oct. 20, 1893. 
 Col. N. H. R. Dawson, Wm. Berg, and Geo. A. Wilkins, 
 Com. Vestry St. Paul's, Sclina, Ala.: 
 
 My Dear Brethren: I am duly in receipt of your letter of 
 the I2th inst., and of the episcopal ring presented by you in 
 the name of the congregation at Selma. to which, in God's 
 good providence. I had the honor to minister in the name of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. The first use of the ring shall fix 
 my seal to the "Letter of Orders" of my brother, the Rt. Rev. 
 the Assistant Bishop of North Carolina, at his recent conse- 
 cration. 
 
 Hereafter, my dear brethren, whenever it becomes my duty 
 to attest my official signature by affixing my seal, I have 
 before me the sign of the covenant of your "love and esteem," 
 as well as the emblem of the office you have honored by your 
 consideration. 
 
 May the emblem of the palmetto rising from the cross be to 
 me, and to my flock, a sure token that the people of our State 
 shall be a Christian people, and that Christ and His Church 
 shall give to the State its highest and noblest distinction. 
 
 With a heart full of gratitude to my brethren of St. Paul's. 
 Selma. and praying upon you all the richest gifts of grace 
 and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ, I am, with a brother's 
 love, Faithfully yours, 
 
 Ellison Capers, 
 Assistant Bishop of S. C. 
 
 THE consecration OF ASSISTANT BISHOP CAPERS* 
 
 "Yesterday was. perhaps, the most memorable day in eccle- 
 siastical circles that ever dawned in South Carolina. Certainly 
 never before in the history of the State has been witnessed a 
 
 ^Columbia State, July 31, 1893. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 201 
 
 ceremony of the nature of that by which Dr. Ellison Capers, 
 of Columbia, was raised to the high and honored office of 
 bishop in the Episcopal Church for the diocese of South Caro- 
 lina. It was the most notable event and one that those who 
 witnessed it will never forget. 
 
 "That beloved and gallant soldier of his country and Christ, 
 having already risen to the highest position a noble soldier 
 could rise in the service of man, yesterday had conferred upon 
 him the highest honors that a man can attain upon earth in 
 the service of the Lord. Surely those honors have been well 
 deserved, and they could not have been conferred upon a 
 nobler or more lovable man than Ellison Capers. That he is 
 considered such a man by all his fellows of all denominations, 
 callings, and colors was amply attested by the congregation 
 of people of every class that filled all available space in old 
 Trinity yesterday morning, and sat through the several hours 
 of service without the slightest indication of impatience. In 
 that vast audience there were people from every quarter of 
 the State — attorneys who had deserted their offices ; business 
 men who had cast aside their business for the time; artisans 
 who were losing a day's work. There were Methodists, there 
 were Lutherans, there were Baptists, there were Presby- 
 terians, there were Catholics and Israelites present. There 
 was also a good sprinkling of colored people. 
 
 "The exercises were scheduled to begin at 1 1 .-30 o'clock, but 
 fully an hour before that time there was scarcely a vacant seat 
 left in the buildmg. And these people, the services once begun, 
 did not move from their places till everything was over^ 
 very nearly three o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 "The exercises were at once the most impressive and inter- 
 esting that many in the vast congregation had ever witnessed. 
 It was peculiarly impressive — the scene when the many clergy, 
 in their episcopal vestments, moved about within the chancel. 
 It was much more impressive when the bishop-elect, in reply- 
 ing to the presiding bishop's examination questions, did so in 
 a faltering voice. 
 
202 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 "The exercises, from beginning to end, were the most inter- 
 esting ever witnessed in Trinity. In addition to the mag- 
 nificent consecration sermon,*— pronounced by many learned 
 men to be the finest doctrinal exposition they had ever heard, — 
 and the beautiful consecration service proper, the music was 
 superb. The orchestral instruments, the deep-toned organ, 
 and the voices of the choral singers all blended most har- 
 moniously." 
 
 *Preached by Bishop Jackson of Alabama. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 LABORS OF THE EPISCOPATE 
 
 The mere record of appointments and official acts in a Bishop's 
 journal cannot possibly give an adequate appreciation of the 
 arduous duties, the tremendous responsibility, and the personal 
 sacrifice devolving upon him; neither does it furnish a true 
 conception of the brighter and more cheerful aspect of his 
 work. But the statement of our Lord: "He that is greatest 
 among you, let him be as the younger ; and he that is chief, as 
 he that doth serve," is as true to-day as when he endeavored 
 to impress it upon his disciples. Measured by this standard, 
 many of our bishops are splendidly proving themselves "great." 
 An anecdote comes to our mind which illustrates the spirit in 
 which Bishop Capers fulfilled his engagements, as well as his 
 restiveness under attempted restraint from the discharge of 
 his duty. 
 
 It was a very rainy summer and Bishop Capers, with 
 several of the members of his family, was enjoying the holi- 
 days at their little mountain home, "Camp Cottage." He had 
 an appointment at Saluda. N. C, some thirty miles distant. 
 The rains had descended steadily during the better part of 
 two weeks, and the swollen mountain streams had become 
 rushing torrents. The flooded condition of the country sug- 
 gested the impracticability of Bishop Capers attempting to 
 keep his appointment. At first he received such suggestions 
 with a pleasant smile, and replied : "Oh, we will find a way 
 to make the trip." The importunity of his family increased 
 with the swelling waters. When no conveyance could be 
 found in which to "make the trip," we thought we had him 
 
 203 
 
204 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 "trapped." However, Saturday morning his valises were 
 packed and he was ready to start. An ominous cloud was on 
 his brow and the glint of command shone in his eye. Control- 
 ling his evident irritation, he said resolutely: "We won't argue 
 any more about the advisability of this trip. Son," — to one 
 of the boys — "drive me as far as we can go in the buggy; 
 I'll get across the stream, and then if I cannot hire a con- 
 veyance, I'll walk." The sequel to the story is that, with valise 
 in one hand and umbrella in the other, Bishop Capers walked 
 for more than twenty miles. A few miles out from Saluda 
 he sought the railroad, and after a desperate experience in 
 the mud and slush of a railroad cut, made worse by anxiety 
 about probable trains, he reached his destination about dark, 
 to the great surprise of the Rev. Mr. McCullough and his good 
 family, with whom he was to stay. Then came the humorous 
 side. Without a dry thread on, covered with mud, and with 
 no suit, the Bishop had to go to bed until his clothes could 
 dry. As he was completely exhausted, the bed was most 
 grateful for an hour or so. However, the clothes dried slowly, 
 and unaccustomed to retiring so early, the Bishop proposed to 
 get up. But whose clothes would he wear? Mr. McCullough 
 was a small man, and his son Charlie was very tall and very 
 thin. They managed to dress him after a fashion, and the 
 remainder of the evening w^as spent in pleasant conversation. 
 The next day it had cleared, so the Bishop kept his appoint- 
 ment and confirmed a class. 
 
 In relating this experience, that which seemed uppermost 
 in his mind was the affection and cordiality of his reception 
 by the McCulloughs. "Next morning my shoes were brought 
 to me beautifully polished, and my suit cleaned and pressed. 
 Upon inquiry I found that Charlie had fixed my shoes for me, 
 and those lovely girls had actually cleaned and pressed my 
 clothes. I felt greatly honored and also humbled." 
 
 The meeting of the General Conventions of the Church fur- 
 nished the Bishops occasions for social intercourse and fellow- 
 ship, as well as opportunities for work. During the General 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 205 
 
 Convention which met in San Francisco in 1901, Bishop 
 Capers was a guest of Bishop Potter, who had accepted the 
 kind invitation of Hon. Charles Crocker of that city, to use 
 his house for the entertainment of his friends. Bishop Potter, 
 Mr. J. P. Morgan, and other churchmen often entertained 
 their guests thus during the three weeks of the General Con- 
 vention. 
 
 This was a delightful experience for Bishop Capers, and 
 he enjoyed Bishop Potter's household of guests and bountiful 
 hospitality, and it afforded him the opportunity of forming 
 many valued friendships. 
 
 Bishop Potter's daughter, Mrs. Dandridge, was hostess for 
 her father upon this occasion. During the following spring Mrs. 
 Dandridge was in Columbia, S. C, and called to tender her 
 respects to Bishop Capers, whom she found absent. She then 
 took occasion to pay the following tribute to him. Addressing 
 herself to those present, and referring to the house-party in 
 San Francisco, she said: "Bishop Capers was most delight- 
 ful ; he is a glorious man ! Everybody fell in love with him. 
 Why, even my father, who is so accustomed to being the lion 
 of the occasion, just had to take a back seat, for he said he 
 soon saw the only thing to do was to join in the lionizing of 
 Bishop Capers. He made the life and fun for the house, and 
 yet you could confide all your troubles to him, and tell him 
 every secret, and all the while there was a beautiful dignity 
 that was most attractive." 
 
 In relation to the Bishop's social engagements during the 
 meeting of this General Convention (1901), we subjoin this 
 letter to his son : 
 
 1 1 50 California St., 
 
 Saturday A. M., 
 Oct. 12, 1901. 
 My Dear Son : 
 
 Your letter was on my desk when I went to my seat in the 
 House of Bishops yesterday. I am writing now in my chamber 
 before I go down, for I have so little time after we begin 
 
2o6 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 work. What with committees between sessions, and incessant 
 social demands, I am on the move all the time. 
 
 Well, Frank, Frisco is the most interesting of all our great 
 cities I have yet seen, and the climate is just delightful. Yes- 
 terday, for the first time, I felt it warm, and the sea breeze 
 did not come and go at its usual hour, but this morning feels 
 like "Camp Cottage" weather in October. I never felt better 
 and all my friends are saying how well I look. 
 
 Last night (8 p. m. to past midnight) I went to the most 
 unique dinner I ever attended. It was given by our 
 host in honor of Mr. Morgan. Think of a table over one 
 hundred feet long and eighteen feet wide! Of course there 
 have been tables seating hundreds, and maybe one fourth of 
 a mile (all put together) long; indeed, I have often sat down 
 to a dining, on marked occasions, when there were more guests ; 
 but I have never sat down with seventy-five distinguished 
 men at one table, over one hundred feet long and 
 eighteen feet wide ! The decorations, with flowers, fruits, 
 vines, and greens, were simply beyond my power of descrip- 
 tion. Hung up in the grand reception room, where we were 
 received, was the diagram, elegantly mounted, which I give 
 you on a separate page. Of course, writing to you, I must 
 write about myself only because I know you and Em (and I 
 write for you only) will appreciate so much egotism. Mr. 
 Crocker, who is about the late Mr. Wm. Beattie's size, and 
 reminds me of him, read his speech easily and pleasantly, 
 and presided with ease. The speakers were called in the fol- 
 lowing order: Mr. Morgan (very brief two-minute speech) 
 in response to Mr. Crocker; Bishop Potter; then the President 
 of the University of California; Bishop Dudley; followed by 
 the President of Stanford; Mr. Stetson, of New York (Mor- 
 gan's lawyer and bright as a new dollar, and lovely in face and 
 spirit) ; General Barnes, a great lawyer here; Mr. Scott, the 
 builder of the Charleston and Oregon; myself, and last, the 
 Bishop of Massachusetts. 
 
 Old Scott made just such a speech as you would expect 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 207 
 
 from a strong, practical, large-minded shipbuilder, with 
 touches of real wit. Stetson was fine. Potter, — who felt 
 that he was out of place there, but only went to please Mr. 
 Crocker, — did not come up to his standard. General Barnes, 
 a great-looking man, with a head like Webster, spoke — to my 
 mind — with great eloquence and with exquisite taste and dig- 
 nity. Dudley— the President of our House of Bishops and a 
 king at a banquet ! — was too much reconstructed, said he was 
 on the wrong side (jokingly, but apologetically). He disap- 
 pointed me. The Stanford University president was natural, 
 simple, witty, and first-rate, and said California was scenery, 
 climate, and hospitality. The University of California president 
 was scholarly, stiff, classic, and very proper, but said some fine 
 things. Lawrence (Massachusetts) was graceful and very en- 
 joyable, but a little two nervous. As for myself, I spoke off- 
 hand, as I felt, and rapped Dudley for saying he was on the 
 wrong side, greatly to the pleasure of the great company of 
 high men, for they gave such applause as I have never had in 
 public before, except at the late Chickamauga monument un- 
 veiling. I said somewhat like this : 
 
 "My honored brother and friend, the Bishop of Kentucky, 
 says, gentlemen, he was on the wrong side! Why" — affecting 
 some bewilderment — ^"how was this, Dudley? We were on 
 the same side. [Applause.] And, gentlemen," said I, "how 
 I do wish you could all know and feel how truly, how de- 
 voutly, how self-sacrificingly we believed in South Carolina 
 we were on the right side. But how, then, came we Confed- 
 erates to come, as my honored brother of Kentucky and I have 
 come, to be now on the 'wrong side'? The genial President 
 of Stanford has told us how science, energy, and work have 
 turned the world wrong side out; and 'reversed things' and 
 'moved things' and 'changed things' until we have a 'new 
 world' and 'new thought' and a 'new life'; and all, he said, by 
 patient, continuous energy and work and pluck and persever- 
 ance ! Precisely so, gentlemen. That is the way you brought 
 Dudley and me over to the 'wrong side.' " I wish you could 
 
2o8 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 have seen and heard what followed. It seems too egotistical 
 to write it, but it was some little time before I could go on, 
 and then I said : "But, gentlemen, honor bright now ! Didn't 
 you all have a mighty close call?" "Yes! Yes!" they said, 
 and repeated their applause. Then I went on to acknowledge 
 the hospitality, to compare myself to Innocence abroad, to 
 compliment the ladies of San Francisco, — who, by the by, are 
 fine, — and to pay an honest tribute to Mr. Morgan's unosten- 
 tatious generosity, and his simple and noble character, as well 
 as his wonderful ability. 
 
 Riding home with Bishop Potter he said : "Capers, old fel- 
 low, your speech was charming. It was just like you, my boy, 
 and, better than all, it will do good." Those were his very 
 words. He has a way of calling his friends "my boy," and 
 "dear boy," and with him it is a term of affection. 
 
 Now, my dear Frank, did you ever expect your father to 
 devote so much space to writing about himself? 
 
 Your devoted, 
 
 Father. 
 
 "The Bishop of South Carolina, after a happy speech, con- 
 cluded with this bit of sentiment, which won him hearty ap- 
 plause :* 
 
 "I want to assure you, gentlemen of California, that there 
 is in South Carolina a very sincere and a very growing senti- 
 ment of love and reverence and respect for this great country 
 of ours. It is my duty to say that I believe that the late 
 President of the United States, honored be his memory, as 
 glorious as was his character, has done more for the people 
 of the South, more for my dear people in helping us to a 
 sincere, self-respecting, conscientious respect for the Stars 
 and Stripes and the Government that overcame us, the Gov- 
 ernment that persuaded us as he would have it, persuaded us 
 by an affectionate assimilation in arms to be one — and I assure 
 you gentlemen that there is in South Carolina to-day as faith- 
 
 *The Exaiiii)icr, San Francisco. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 209 
 
 ful and as sincere and as loyal a purpose and determination 
 to be true to this country as there was some years ago as 
 faithful and loyal a determination to be faithful to the South- 
 ern Confederacy." 
 
 In the last decade of the nineteenth century the crime of 
 homicide had grown so prevalent throughout South Carolina 
 that Bishop Capers sought to arouse and influence public 
 opinion by presenting the principles of Christian morality. His 
 Order to the Church (December i, 1897) was addressed: 
 
 To the Clergy of the Protestant ChurcJi in the Diocese of 
 South Carolina, and all other ministers of the gospel 
 throughout the State: 
 The sign of murder is upon us. Homicides are of fre- 
 quent distressing occurrence, and in our judgment the public 
 conscience needs to be instructed and the public mind aroused 
 to a sense of the danger which threatens the character of 
 our people. They need to be instructed upon the sacred- 
 ness of human life as a gift of Almighty God, whose pre- 
 rogative it is to take what He alone can give. Without 
 warrant from Him no man may lawfully take his brother's 
 life. The soldier on the battle-field, the officer of law in dis- 
 charge of his prescribed duties, the citizen in defense of his 
 own life, may take life without incurring the guilt of murder, 
 for they act by warrant of delegated authority of "rulers" 
 who are "God's ministers," and "bear the sword" by Divine 
 authority to "punish evildoers"; but such murders as have of 
 late outraged the law of God, and degraded the sacredness 
 of life and dishonored the courage and character of our people, 
 can lay no claim whatsoever to the sanction of Divine au- 
 thority. We feel, beloved, that public sentiment needs to be 
 aroused to a higher and nobler estimate of human life. We 
 call upon our clergy to rebuke the murderer, and to proclaim 
 the law of Almighty God, given to consecrate and bless the 
 
2IO THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 life of every man made in His image, upheld by His provi- 
 dence, and redeemed by the precious blood of His own Son, 
 our Saviour, Jesus Christ. I therefore appoint Sunday, the 
 19th of December, the fourth Sunday in Advent, on which 
 day I call upon the clergy of the diocese to preach against the 
 crime of murder, now so prevalent in our State, and I most 
 respectfully invite our brethren, the ministers of Christ of all 
 denominations, to unite with us on that day in upholding the 
 majesty of God's law, the sacredness of human life, and the 
 honor of our beloved State. 
 
 Faithfully, 
 
 Ellison Capers, 
 
 Bishop of Diocese of S. Carolina. 
 
 The New York Journal, commenting on this order, says: 
 
 " 'The sign of murder is upon us.' In this tersely put 
 epigram the Right Rev. Ellison Capers, Bishop of the Epis- 
 copal Church for the diocese of South Carolina, calls attention 
 to the lamentable prevalence of the germ of homicide in the 
 minds of the people of that State, and in pursuance of instruc- 
 tion from the Diocesan Council, has fixed a day upon which 
 all the clergy of the Episcopal Church within the boundaries 
 of South Carolina are to plead with their congregations to 
 banish murder from their hearts. 
 
 'The day selected is December 19, which is, in the calendar 
 of the Church, the fourth Sunday in Advent. . . . 
 
 "The message of Bishop Capers is an unusual and striking 
 document, one wath few precedents, if any, in the history of 
 the Protestant Church. It is provoked by a remarkable con- 
 dition of affairs in this hot-blooded Southern State, and is 
 promulgated by one of the most interesting figures in the 
 American pulpit." 
 
 Bishop Capers entered into the work of his episcopate with 
 unabated zeal and devotion. The closing years of "that noble 
 gentleman and devoted servant of God and his Church, the 
 Rt. Rev. W. B. W. Howe," marked a stormy period of dis- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 211 
 
 sent and strife in the Church in South CaroHna. Seven 
 churches had withdrawn from official affiliation with the 
 diocese. Negro representation in the Diocesan Convention 
 was the bone of contention. The rector of one of the most 
 prominent and influential churches in the city of Charleston 
 was preaching that the negro had no soul, and published a 
 book to sustain his theory. In 1893 Bishop Howe was a con- 
 firmed invalid. He turned the active management of all the 
 affairs of his diocese over to his coadjutor. Bishop Capers 
 began his official career with a loyal band of brethren of both 
 orders, and finding their unity in him, it was but a short time 
 until the bolting parishes came back and the diocese was once 
 more imited. This was not accomplished by making clergy- 
 men and laymen to feel that they must surrender their opinions. 
 But with tact and patience, courageous adherence to principle, 
 by precept and example, their bishop led them to place duty 
 to the Church above pride of opinion and loyalty to Christ 
 before gratification of personal ambition. Through the judi- 
 cious and self-sacrificing discharge of his office he touched 
 the chord that vibrates in the hearts of men. and with noble 
 spirit the whole diocese responded to his leadership. 
 
 He gave himself unsparingly to the work of the Church 
 within his diocese and he accepted but few invitations which 
 took him from the diocese and official duties in South Carolina. 
 
 An interesting exception was to accept the invitation to de- 
 liver the annual "Flower Sermon" in St. Louis, Mo. The direc- 
 tors of the beautiful "Shaw Memorial Gardens" provided for an 
 annual sermon to be preached in that city in memory of Henry 
 Shaw, the benefactor. Bishop Capers was one of the preachers. 
 Another notable exception was when in May. 1898. during 
 Bishop Potter's absence at the Lambeth Conference, London, 
 England, Bishop Capers presided over the diocese of New 
 York. During the brief period he exercised the episcopal 
 office in this great diocese he confirmed five hundred persons. 
 He tells us that he derived great inspiration not only from 
 the courteous and brotherly reception by the New York 
 
212 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 clergy, as well as the overflowing congregations which greeted 
 him at every service, but more especially from his administra- 
 tions to the sick and needy in the great hospitals and asylums 
 he visited. In his official journal we get little touches here 
 and there which reveal the heart and mind of the good Bishop 
 in the exercise of his office in New York. 
 
 May 27 — Ascension Day. In the afternoon visited St. 
 Luke's Hospital. In the chapel I confirmed twenty-five per- 
 sons, and made an address. Eight of the class were nurses 
 and seventeen patients of this great institution. After service 
 confirmed five patients in the separate wards. One of these 
 was a young man waiting on my visitation to be confimied 
 before he submitted to a dangerous operation; and another 
 was a sweet-faced girl who was anxious to renew her bap- 
 tismal vows before she laid down her burden of pain and sick- 
 ness forever. When I had confirmed her, I shall never forget 
 her far-away look of peace, as she took my hand and, turning 
 her brown eyes upward, she said, with an effort: "Thank 
 you, Bishop ; I am so thankful that I am in the communion of 
 the Church. I am so thankful." 
 
 June 2 — Attended the Commencement exercises of the Gen- 
 eral Theological Seminary, and at the request of the dean 
 made the address to the graduates. 
 
 June 7 — Received a communication from the Standing Com- 
 mittee of the diocese of New York requesting me to prepare 
 and authorize a special Collect for use in the diocese on the 
 20th of June, being the day appointed by the Church of Eng- 
 land to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the good 
 reign of Victoria. 
 
 June II — 8 P. M. Evening prayer and address, this being 
 the fifth address to-day. 
 
 June 13 — Trinity Sunday. The ordinations were held in 
 St. Chrysostom's Church, the rector. Dr. Sill, and his staff of 
 clergy, Archdeacon Tiffany, Chaplain Baldwin and the pro- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 213 
 
 fessors of the General Seminary being present and taking part 
 in the impressive services. 
 
 I preached the sermon and celebrated the holy communion. 
 
 Eight men were ordained deacons and four priests. 
 
 At 4 p. M. in the chapel of the Good Shepherd, Blackwell's 
 Island, I confirmed thirty-five persons and preached. In the 
 wards of the hospitals I confirmed nine others who were unable 
 to go to church. All the confirmed were inmates of the great 
 asylum for the poor and the sick on the Island, to whom the 
 Church is administering the consolations of the gospel, the 
 rector, Rev. Mr. Prophett, being the zealous and devoted pas- 
 tor. It is a glorious work of mercy, worthy of the interest 
 shown in it by the presence of the city officials and men and 
 women of the Church who have it under their fostering 
 charge. After the long service at St. Chrysostom's, and the 
 hurried trip to the Island, I was refreshed and inspired by the 
 work before me, and rejoiced to welcome the weary and 
 heavy-laden to the rest which only their Lord can give them. 
 "It was good to be there." At 8 p. m. in Christ Church, Rye, 
 the rector, Dr. Kirby said evening prayer. I confirmed four- 
 teen persons and addressed them, and Mr. Baldwin preached. 
 We got back to New York at midnight. With this day's 
 labor I completed the work I undertook for the Bishop of New 
 York. To the Rev. Mr. Baldwin, the efficient chaplain of 
 the Bishop of New York, I am indebted for many courtesies, 
 and to the clergy for their cordial and brotherly consideration. 
 
 The following telegram from the New York World indi- 
 cates Bishop Capers' national reputation : 
 
 New York, N. Y., Feby. 11, 1897. 
 Bishop Capers, 
 
 Columbia, S. C. 
 The World asks you as one of the leaders of American 
 thought to lend the influence of your views and name through 
 its columns to insure the ratification of the peace treaty. Only 
 
214 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 through the expressions of citizens of eminence can the senti- 
 ment of the country be brought to bear on the Senate. 
 
 An expression from you by wire will help. 
 
 Answer is prepaid. "The World." 
 
 Episcopal Residence. 
 
 Columbia, S. C, Feby. 12, '97. 
 To THE "World," 
 
 New York. 
 The arbitration treaty as negotiated is a triumph of wisdom 
 and an honor to our country. Failure to ratify it will be, in 
 my judgment, a misfortune alike to both England and 
 America. 
 
 Such a treaty between the greatest of Christian nations 
 must be an example of power and influence in promoting hon- 
 orable peace without resort to the calamities of war. God 
 speed the treaty. Ellison Capers. 
 
 We here introduce a characteristically magnanimous letter: 
 
 Bishop's House. 
 
 Columbia, S. C, May i, 1897. 
 Mrs. L. E. Norris, Secy., etc., 
 
 Aiken, S. C. 
 
 My Dear Mrs. N orris — I have had the honor to receive your 
 very kind letter, communicating the most complimentary action 
 of the Daughters of the Confederacy, recently organized in 
 Aiken, by which you have asked that my name be given to your 
 Chapter. I deeply appreciate the very great honor you confer 
 upon me by taking such action, and I beg with all my heart 
 to express my sincerest acknowledgments to the ladies of the 
 chapter. 
 
 But may I ask your indulgence while I submit most respect- 
 fully that, as my name has been given to the chapter of the 
 Daughters formed at Florence, would it be just to other Con- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 215 
 
 federate soldiers, whose names are more worthy of honor 
 than mine, that I should have two chapters in the State named 
 for me? I am sure you will not think me unmindful of the 
 honor conferred upon me by your chapter if I most respect- 
 fully suggest that you give the name of one of our dead heroes 
 to your chapter, and may I suggest the name of my gallant 
 brother-in-law, Col. Francis Gendron Palmer, of the Hol- 
 combe Legion, who fell mortally wounded at the Second Battle 
 of ]\Ianassas while leading his regiment in a charge against the 
 enemies' guns. Col. Palmer was a noble man and a gallant 
 soldier, and distinguished himself on our coast and in Vir- 
 ginia. He was the great grandnephew of Gen. Francis Marion 
 and the brother of your own Mrs. Legare. I take the liberty, 
 in case you would prefer to name your chapter for one of our 
 dead generals, to suggest the names of Gen. Staterights Gist 
 and Gen. Clement H. Stevens. Gen. Gist was killed at 
 Franklin, Tennessee, leading his brigade in that memorable 
 battle, and Gen. Stevens was mortally wounded on the 20th 
 of July, 1864, in front of his brigade in Gen. Hood's First 
 Battle at Atlanta. 
 
 I feel sure that you will not think me inappreciative of the 
 honor you have done me, and will understand that I only 
 want to co-operate with you in doing justice to the names of 
 our gallant soldiers. 
 
 With every sentiment of loving respect, I am. 
 
 Most faithfully yours, 
 
 E. Capers. 
 
 A virtue which characterized Bishop Capers and endeared 
 him to his co-laborers, whether they served with him in a 
 subordinate capacity or otherwise, was the genuine pleasure 
 he derived from their success and the personal pride he took 
 in their accomplishments or achievements. Bishops Gailor 
 and Sessums were both consecrated to the episcopate when 
 unusually young for such an honor and dignity. We recall 
 very distinctly Bishop Capers' pride in the brilliant attainments 
 
2i6 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 of these two young bishops. When the General Convention 
 met in Washington, D. C, 1896, Bishop and Mrs. Capers 
 attended the convention on their "bridal trip," after having 
 been married for forty years. The Hon. John G. Capers w^as 
 living in Washington at the time, and W. B. Capers was at 
 the Virginia Seminary, within a few miles of the city. Other 
 members of the family made it convenient to be in Washington 
 at that time. There was a family reunion. During the meet- 
 ing of the convention bishops filled the different pulpits in the 
 city and adjacent communities. Upon the occasion to which 
 we refer, Bishop Capers was to preach in one of the Wash- 
 ington churches, and Bishop Gailor was to fill the pulpit of 
 St. Andrew's Church. Bishop Capers sent the entire family 
 around to hear the Bishop of Tennessee, and took as much 
 pride in hearing of his "masterly sermon" as if he had been 
 a son or brother. 
 
 The tenth anniversary to conmiemorate the bishopric of the 
 soldier-priest, Ellison Capers, was celebrated at old Trinity 
 with a solemnity and beauty of service aptly appropriate and 
 profoundly impressive. It is doubtful if any ceremonial of a 
 similar character ever held in this State was more thoroughly 
 imbued with the spirit of love and affection for the object 
 of its purpose. 
 
 The Rev. Cantey Johnson read the morning prayers, the 
 Rev. John Kershaw, of old St. Michael's, Charleston, preached 
 the sermon, and the Rev. Messrs. Churchill Satterlee, Johnson, 
 Witsell. Sams, and Gordon assisted the Bishop in the office 
 of the holy communion. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Kershaw had been assigned the difficult task 
 of preaching the sermon, or perhaps it could more properly be 
 termed an address. His earnest words were listened to with 
 the greatest interest by the congregation. His introductory 
 remarks follow : 
 
 "Lying on the fragrant grass at Aiken, in the fall of the 
 year 1892, communing together in lazy after-dinner fashion, 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 217 
 
 were two presbyters of this diocese, called there by a meeting 
 of the convocation of which they were both members. Pres- 
 ently one of them said to the other, calling him by name : 'Do 
 you know you are going to be the next bishop of this diocese?' 
 The reply was: 'What makes you think so?' His friend 
 answered: 'Well, I believe the majority of the clergy want 
 you, and I am sure the laity will be for you by an overwhelm- 
 ing majority.' Starting to a sitting position, the other man 
 said: 'If I thought that, it would scare me half to death'; 
 not parsable, perhaps, but expressive. The friend imperturb- 
 ably commented : 'Well, it is going to be so, and you had 
 better begin to accustom yourself to the idea in advance of its 
 realization.' The next May the friend's prediction was ful- 
 filled in every particular, and his advice must have been taken, 
 because our present diocesan has managed to survive the shock 
 of election to his high office for ten years, thus affording us 
 the opportunity to unite in signalizing the event. 
 
 "The stormy episcopate of that noble gentleman and devoted 
 servant of God and His Church, the Rt. Rev. W. B. W. Howe, 
 was drawing to its close at the time the two friends were thus 
 conversing, and Bishop Howe had expressed his intention of 
 asking for an assistant to be given to him, thus preparing the 
 mind of the diocese in a measure for, and placing before it the 
 duty of, making choice of a frt person to serve in that most 
 exalted of sacred offices known to this Church. It was a time 
 of deep anxiety to us, because the echoes of the protracted 
 struggle through which the diocese had passed still lingered 
 and its wounds had hardly healed. It was felt that it would 
 not do to run the risk of choosing for our bishop one who 
 might rekindle the fires of strife by reviving the question so 
 recently adjusted, chiefly through the mediatorial efforts of 
 our present bishop, an adjustment which had resulted in re- 
 storing fraternal relation in some degree, so rendering it pos- 
 sible for all to confer together first, and then to agree upon a 
 basis of settlement, finally accepted by the diocese in conven- 
 tion assembled. The blessing of the peacemaker descended 
 
2i8 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 thus upon him who, as no other man in the diocese, combined 
 in himself those quahties ilkistrated by his actions in that 
 critical time, those dispositions that were intuitively recognized 
 as most important at that turning-point in our history. 
 
 "After the communion service had been concluded, the Rev. 
 W. B. Gordon stepped forward and, beckoning to the Bishop, 
 smilingly asked him to come forth. The Bishop stood at 
 attention, when Mr. Gordon paid him the highest possible 
 eulogy, and presented to him 'the handsomest robes that could 
 be purchased in New York for love or money' and a magnifi- 
 cent loving cup. The sum of $310 was dropped in the loving 
 cup, the gift of the clergy for good measure. 
 
 "The speaker briefly reviewed the Bishop's splendid work 
 for the Church throughout, and 'told him frankly to his face 
 just what the clergy and the laity of the Episcopal Church 
 thought of him, which is perhaps more than they ever thought 
 of any other churchman in the State.' 
 
 "The faces of the clergymen ranged about the Rev. Mr. 
 Gordon showed very plainly how thoroughly they voiced the 
 sentiments that he so gracefully uttered. Bishop-elect Bratton 
 of Mississippi, formerly of this State, followed in a graceful 
 encomium, and presented a handsome private communion set 
 for the use of the sick and other purposes, the gift of the 
 children of the Sundav school. 
 
 "The object of all these attentions was plainly affected when 
 the Bishop started out to reply. He said that it was one of the 
 most sacred moments of his life, and that he felt deeply the 
 honor that was being paid him. Then in the graceful fashion of 
 which he is the past master, the Bishop proceeded to pay the 
 clergy and laity of the Episcopal Church of South Carolina 
 almost as high an honor as they had paid him. He could never 
 have succeeded as he had had it not been for their loyalty 
 and faithfulness to the cause and their support of the bishop 
 of the diocese. What the Rev. Mr. Kershaw had said in the 
 convention was entirely true, and when he was elected he 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 219 
 
 recalled the fact that after the vote had been taken first it 
 was made con amore. In his heart of hearts the speaker said 
 that he had doubted his ability to fulfill the duties of his office 
 adequately, but the loving support of the ministers of the 
 State, as well as the laity, had dispelled the doubts of ten 
 years. 
 
 "The Bishop then recalled a luncheon of some ten or eleven 
 bishops that he had attended. At these luncheons it was cus- 
 tomary for the bishops to discuss the differences that some- 
 times arise with their ministers and the vestries. The Bishop 
 said that he recalled listening to the stories that they nearly 
 all had to tell. Finally when they had finished someone turned 
 and asked him to tell his. But South Carolina could tell none — 
 the Bishop explained that when the bishops were together in 
 that manner every bishop was called by the name of his State. 
 Some astonishment was expressed when the Bishop informed 
 his brethren that he had absolutely no experience to tell of 
 this description. Continuing, he explained what a source of 
 the greatest gratification this had been to him. There had 
 never been a time when the Bishop could not agree with his 
 flock. He said that without this co-operation and sympathy 
 of both the clergy and laity he did not believe that this occa- 
 sion could have been celebrated. He did not owe it to himself, 
 but to the clergy and the laity standing by him on every 
 occasion, as a gallant soldier follows his leader, that he had 
 been successful. 
 
 "There had been no recalcitrant spirit. Only last night there 
 had been a meeting, and seven thousand dollars had been 
 appropriated for the diocesan missions. Yet the wealthy State 
 of New York subscribed only twenty-five thousand dollars for 
 that purpose, and he referred to a letter he had from New 
 York asking for the methods that were employed, so that New 
 York might profit by the experience by which South Carolina 
 has been able to accomplish so much. The Bishop told of 
 efforts to raise a petty seven hundred dollars for the salary 
 
220 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 of a noble fellow, but only six hundred dollars of this 
 amount could be raised, and he expressed his confidence that 
 he would do his work just as if he had the other pittance. 
 
 "The Bishop concluded with an eloquent peroration for 
 God's blessing on the flock, and the great body of visiting 
 clergymen marched out of the church to 'J^i"'-^salem the 
 Golden,' and a few minutes afterward the entire company at- 
 tended the luncheon which had been arranged by the ladies 
 of the parish. Several speeches were made at this luncheon, 
 among which were some very interesting ones which lack of 
 space prevents publishing."* 
 
 Of the last five years of Bishop Capers' episcopate four 
 were years into which he crowded a great amount of work and 
 during which he maintained that standard of industry and 
 devotion which characterized his administration. This work 
 he accomplished under ever increasing difficulties. His health 
 began to break under the strain of the incessant labors, expo- 
 sure, and fatigue incident to a bishop's life. And then Mrs. 
 Capers' ill-health also placed a great tax upon his moral and 
 physical nature. His constant anxiety and tender sympathy, 
 added to the great exertion of hard trips made to administer 
 to her comfort while fulfilling his official appointments, told 
 upon him in every way, except in his unerring devotion to his 
 official duties. For her convenience, as well as to relieve his 
 own anxiety, he had an additional telephone so placed that she 
 could talk to him from her bed, and he arranged that only the 
 residence telephone could be rung. In this way, when he 
 called up from various parts of the diocese, if Mrs. Capers 
 was sleeping or not able to talk, his inquiry would not wake or 
 disturb her. 
 
 With the tenth anniversary of his episcopate the beloved 
 Bishop stood at the zenith of his powers. During the four 
 years succeeding, while there was no perceptible change in his 
 physical vigor or in the strong and loving administration of 
 his office, yet, having reached the zenith, the decline was inevi- 
 table, and looking back upon those years, we can now realize 
 
 *Tl!e State, Columbia, S. C. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 221 
 
 that nature repeatedly gave warning that the machinery of 
 mind and body was being driven at too high a tension and 
 taxed beyond its strength. 
 
 During this last period of active work, in his preaching he 
 maintained his usual level of vigorous thought. In fact, 
 the biographer of his father could not have written more 
 truly of him : "Even the commonplaces of the pulpit delivered 
 in his eloquent voice charmed the popular ear. Sometimes he 
 rose above that level, and then the intellectualist was struck 
 with the freshness and affluence of his ideas, with the force 
 which vitalized his conceptions. In his ordinary preaching a 
 flash of unexpected light would frequently be thrown upon 
 some important point in the discussion : the latent power or 
 beauty of a word would be brought out." Thus he was elo- 
 quent, direct, didactic, or persuasive in making his appeal to 
 the heart and consciences of men and inspiring them to 
 "think on these things" that they might receive the Word of 
 Life. 
 
 In March, 1896, while visiting the church at St. James, 
 Santee, Bishop Capers contracted a severe cold, which set- 
 tled on his lungs. Moving about so constantly ( from appoint- 
 ment to appointment), he could not take proper care of him- 
 self, and though he finally overcame the cold and threw it off 
 altogether, this seemed to be the beginning of a recurrence of 
 similar colds during the severe winter months. The following 
 January, 1897, he had another such attack. In writing to 
 one of his children from his bed of illness he says : 
 
 "I am, in my opinion, very near having pneumonia, if indeed 
 I haven't it now. Dr. DuBose is attending me. He says I 
 will escape pneumonia, but my lungs seem to me this morning 
 very much affected. I hope not." 
 
 The exposure and labors incident to the work of a bishop, 
 and incessant demands upon his voice, tended to increase this 
 tendency to bronchial attacks, until as they grew more and 
 more severe he was afflicted upon more than one occasion 
 with bronchial pneumonia. Naturally strong and vigorous, 
 
222 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 he would baffle the disease and recuperate with remark- 
 able rapidity, apparently none the worse because of the ill- 
 ness. 
 
 The General Convention which met in Boston. 1904, was 
 the last upon which he was in attendance. There he was the 
 guest of Bishop and Mrs. Potter. During his visit he cele- 
 brated his sixty-seventh birthday. In some way this fact was 
 discovered by his genial host and hostess, and communicated to 
 the other house-guests. It was agreed that they would give 
 him a surprise and commemorate the occasion by presenting 
 the Bishop of South Carolina with a token of their esteem 
 and admiration and their appreciation of his contribution to 
 the pleasure of the house-party. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Grosvenor and Bishop Hare were appointed 
 to make the selection, and they decided upon a beautiful sil- 
 ver service. This was presented from Bishop and Mrs. Potter 
 and their guests, and is now prized by his family as a lovely 
 souvenir of his last attendance upon a General Convention of 
 the Church. 
 
 In 1905 a number of the clergy of his diocese began to agi- 
 tate the question of giving him an assistant. This the Bishop 
 discouraged, upon the general proposition that he could do 
 the work and that the diocese was not prepared to support two 
 bishops, and he therefore did not think it right to put this 
 additional tax upon it. However, his health failing, the next 
 year he issued to the clergy and people the following pastoral : 
 
 pastoral from the bishop 
 
 Bishop's House, 
 Columbia. S. C, Dec. 20, 1906. 
 
 To THE Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of South 
 
 Carolina. 
 
 Dear Brethren: You will recall that in my annual address 
 
 to the council at Camden in May. 1905, I referred to the 
 
 subject of the election of a bishop coadjutor for the diocese. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 223 
 
 This reference was made only because it had been suggested 
 to me by several of my brethren, lay and clerical, and not 
 from a desire on my part to propose such an election. On 
 the contrary, I gave you at the time my reasons for declining 
 my consent to the proposal, I did not feel then that I was 
 in any way disqualified for the full discharge of my episcopal 
 duties, "by reason of age or other permanent cause of infirm- 
 ity," and I could not conscientiously ask you to give me a 
 coadjutor. 
 
 I cannot say this now, dear brethren. My health has 
 seriously suffered in the past year, and has become so uncer- 
 tain as to interfere materially with my visitations. 
 
 Though I do not distrust the good Providence that has pre- 
 served me in the past, I have reason to believe that my health 
 will be very uncertain in the future, if it does not become per- 
 manently so. Under these conditions the interests of the dio- 
 cese must suffer. In this judgment I am supported by the 
 opinion and advice of my physician, whose certificate I will 
 submit to council at the proper time as part of the record of 
 my request. 
 
 For this reason, and with the best interests of the diocese 
 in my mind and heart, I hereby give notice to the churches 
 that, Providence permitting, at the approaching council, to be 
 held in Trinity Church, Columbia, in May, 1907, I will read 
 my canonical consent to the election of a bishop coadjutor, 
 and will expect his election by that council. 
 
 I have not taken this step without the most serious reflec- 
 tion, and not until I had sought the judgment and counsel of 
 the Standing Committee. It is a matter of thankful satisfac- 
 tion to me that I have the sympathy and approval of the com- 
 mittee in addressing this letter to you, and that, as far as I 
 know and believe, it will meet the approval of my people. 
 
 Suffer me a few words of loving counsel before I conclude. 
 
 It has been characteristic of the diocese of South Carolina 
 that our episcopal elections have been conducted without the 
 excitement of nominating addresses and in humble reliance 
 
224 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 upon the guidance of God the Holy Ghost, who gives us a 
 right judgment in all things. Let us abide faithfully by this 
 rule. While we use our best judgment in considering the 
 qualifications of such presbyters as may commend themselves 
 to us as suited to fill the oftice of bishop in the Church of 
 God, let us determine upon nothing and decide upon no man 
 without faithful prayer to God for His Divine direction. I 
 have sincere confidence in your wisdom and discretion, and 
 feel assured that you will elect to be your coadjutor a pres- 
 byter of the Church who will be worthy of the confidence and 
 love of the diocese. As far as my humble prayers may aid 
 you, they will be given you, dear brethren, night and day. To 
 this extent, and to this extent only, will I participate in the 
 choice of my successor — commending you to God and the 
 word of His grace, especially as He has revealed to His 
 Church through the First Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy the 
 qualifications of a bishop. 
 I am, dear brethren. 
 
 Faithfully your Bishop, 
 
 Ellison Capers. 
 
 In his fourteenth annual address to his Diocesan Council, 
 he thus refers to the impending election of a bishop-coadjutor : 
 
 "In response to what I felt to be the general wish of my 
 brethren, and because of the uncertain condition of my 
 health, and after consulting the judgment of the Standing 
 Committee, I have formally asked for the election of a 
 bishop coadjutor by this council. In compliance with the canon 
 law I hereby give my consent to such election. It is made 
 my duty by the canon to state the duties which I propose to 
 assign to the bishop coadjutor when he shall have been duly 
 ordained and consecrated. Accordingly, I herewith state to the 
 council that I will assign a definite portion of the diocese to 
 the coadjutor for his special supervision and care, committing 
 to him, with my co-operation and advice, all episcopal duties 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 225 
 
 therein, reserving to myself the direction and care of the mis- 
 sions and schools among colored people, the reception of pos- 
 tulants and candidates for holy orders, and the privilege of 
 exchanging visitations with the coadjutor whenever it is 
 mutually agreeable. 
 
 "I shall gladly do all in my power to further the episcopal 
 work and intiuence of my coadjutor, and I feel sure he will 
 have the loving and loyal support of the whole diocese. To 
 promote his acquaintance with all sections of the diocese, 1 
 shall so arrange his visitations as to give him the opportunity 
 to know our people and to identify his episcopate with all 
 parts of South Carolina. 
 
 "You may well know, my dear brethren, with what anxiety 
 I await this election. It means very much to me, but far 
 more to you. It has been, and is, a source of great comfort 
 to me to trust this whole matter to your judginent. I have 
 not sought to influence the vote of one man, clergyman or 
 layman, as to any one of my presbyters, save as I have prayed 
 that God would give you a sound judgment. This much I 
 would say, dear brethren, and beg to impress the thought upon 
 your mind: In electing your coadjutor you are electing the 
 future bishop of South Carolina. The coadjutor succeeds 
 the bishop by the right of law. The coadjutor is not the tem- 
 porary assistant of the bishop, but his brother bishop and his 
 lawful successor. I lovingly bid you keep this in mind, and I 
 believe, and am assured, that God the Holy Ghost will guide 
 you to a wise choice. 
 
 "With this assurance, dear brethren, I submit my four- 
 teenth annual address for your consideration, and invite you 
 to the duties and responsibilities that are now before us." 
 
 It was about this time that a very characteristic incident 
 occurred, which we relate here to show the broad human sym- 
 pathy of the Bishop. 
 
 He was among the passengers on a train that ran over and 
 badly mangled the body of a negro man. It was a bitter cold 
 
226 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 night. The train was stopped, of course, and the suffering 
 negro placed in the baggage car. With other passengers the 
 Bishop came forward to find out what was the trouble. See- 
 ing the poor man weltering in his blood and shivering with 
 cold, Bishop Capers instantly took off his overcoat and spread 
 it over the injured man, and then further interested himself 
 to alleviate his sufferings. That impulsive act was character- 
 istic, but not near so much so as the Bishop's unconsciousness 
 that he had done an humble creature a great kindness, and 
 that of all the crowd that looked upon the negro he was the 
 only one who thought of offering his coat and soothing his 
 pain by depriving himself. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH 
 
 "Behind every great movement and behind every great 
 event stand great men or some great personality." The mod- 
 ern missions movement suggests Gary and Mills. The Refor- 
 mation brings to mind Bishops Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley 
 as well as Martin Luther. When we pass from the sphere of 
 religious reformations to that of education, the greatest of 
 England's universities suggests the scholar king, Henry I, 
 as its founder; William of Wykcham as its greatest teacher; 
 William Durham the founder of scholarships and John de 
 Baliol as the originator of its system of "colleges." In the 
 American Church Columbia College at once suggests Bishop 
 Hobart, and in like manner Trinity College, Bishop Brownell. 
 
 The University of the South brings to the mind its great 
 founders. Bishops Polk and Otey, and the long succession of 
 devoted bishops, clergy, and laymen who have at great sacri- 
 fice developed and maintained it. 
 
 On the roll of its fathers and fosterers are to be found as 
 many remarkable men and great personalities as were ever 
 identified with the establishment and perpetuation of any simi- 
 lar institution. Bishops Polk, Otey, Elliott, Cobbs, Greene, 
 Atkinson, Davis, Lay, and Rutledge were among its organ- 
 izers. In the second generation of bishops, among those who 
 after the War came to the rescue of Sewanee, were Bishop 
 Ouintard, who revived it ; and Bishops Howe, Lyman, Weed, 
 Beckwith, Wilmer, and Gallaher, who brought to the univer- 
 sity a rich endowment of scholarship as well as churchly and 
 patriotic devotion. 
 
 227 
 
228 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 "A thought once awakened does not again slumber, but 
 unfolds itself into a system of thought, grows in man after 
 man, generation after generation, until its full stature is 
 reached." Bishop Otey's was the thought; Bishop Polk's 
 the system, while through Bishop Ouintard, his co-laborers, 
 and successors, Sewanee's Alumni and self-sacrificing faculty, 
 her present heroic stature has been reached. 
 
 The thought of Bishop Otey crystallized in the mind of 
 Bishop Polk, who in 1857 outlined and perfected the organi- 
 zation. The plan was to locate a university as central and 
 convenient as possible to the affiliating dioceses of North 
 Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Elorida, Alabama. Missis- 
 sippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee. The uni- 
 versity was to be under the sole and perpetual direction of 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church represented through a board 
 of trustees. This board was to be composed of the bishops of 
 the affiliating dioceses, and one clergyman and two laymen 
 from each such diocese. The university was not to begin 
 operation until the sum of five hundred thousand dollars was 
 actually secured. 
 
 "Ecclesia et patria," if not the official motto of the univer- 
 sity of the South, has been the spirit that inspired and char- 
 acterized her from her inception to the present time. The 
 purpose for which Sewanee was established was "for the cul- 
 tivation of true religion, learning, and virtue, that thereby God 
 may be glorified and the happiness of man may be advanced." 
 The university is a declaration of the Church's effort to dis- 
 charge her responsibility in uniting the intellectual and spirit- 
 ual natures of man, by inculcating in him the wisdom of 
 God and the power of God. 
 
 The corner-stone of the University of the South was laid at 
 Sewanee. Tenn., October 10. i860. The patriotic purpose and 
 the noble plan for which it was to stand was declared by 
 Bishop Elliott, when depositing the memorials in the corner- 
 stone. Depositing the Bible, he said : "This sacred volume, being 
 the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 229 
 
 deposited before and above all memorials in this corner-stone 
 to testify to the present generation, and to all future genera- 
 tions, that the University of the South recognizes the Word 
 of God as the fountain of all learning and as the only source of 
 that knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation." Depositing 
 the Prayer Book he said: "This copy of the Book of Com- 
 mon Prayer is deposited in this corner-stone next after the 
 Word of God, to testify that the University of the South 
 believes it to be in perfect harmony with that Word, and to 
 exhibit in its ministry, doctrine, and sacraments the Church of 
 God as that Church was founded by Christ and His Apostles." 
 On depositing the Constitution of the United States he said : 
 "I next deposit in this corner-stone the Constitution of the 
 United States, the time-honored bond which binds together 
 the States of that confederacy to testify that the University 
 of the South, while it holds itself superior to the State in all 
 strictly spiritual matters, acknowledges itself subordinate 
 to it in all matters of government and law. Esto perpetua." 
 
 Sewanee has been heroically loyal to the sentiment herein 
 expressed. 
 
 More than four hundred and fifty thousand dollars had been 
 raised, the promoters of the university had received every 
 assurance of a splendid success, w^hen war blasted her hopes 
 and destroyed her immediate future. 
 
 On Thursday, the 22nd of March, 1866, the plateau of 
 Sewanee presented a markedly different scene from that of 
 October 10, i860, when the first corner-stone of the university 
 was laid in the presence of a vast concourse of people, prelates, 
 orators, and statesmen. On this 22d of March the Rt. Rev. 
 Charles T. Quintard, Bishop of Tennessee, accompanied by 
 but two clergy and a member of the board of trustees, selected 
 a site and placed a rude cross where the new university was to 
 be built. The workmen gathered about; the Apostle Creed 
 was said, the "Gloria in Excelsis" sung, and Sewanee had 
 made her second start in life. From thenceforward the history 
 of Sewanee has been one of personal sacrifice. 
 
230 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 It would be an inspiring volume which contained the 
 biographies of the great and good men whose devotion made 
 Sewanee possible and whose unselfish labors, patriotic spirit — 
 the "Sewanee spirit" — have given her a place and an influence 
 beyond and out of proportion to her material success and the 
 amount of this world's goods bestowed upon her. 
 
 In addition to the bishops heretofore mentioned, Sewanee 
 brings to mind the brilliant Bishop Dudley, the apostolic 
 Tuttle, the chivalrous and devoted Capers, the soldierly Kirby 
 Smith ; Shoup, and Gorgas ; and her historian, the devoted 
 and able Fairbanks. 
 
 Any sketch of the University of the South would be incom- 
 plete without a becoming reference to the Rev. Dr. Telfair 
 Hodgson, soldier and priest, teacher and philanthropist. Dr. 
 Hodgson was a loyal and generous friend to the university. 
 He gave liberally to it of his means; was the first dean of its 
 theological department, and afterwards was vice-chancellor. 
 
 The school of the prophets at Sewanee, its theological 
 department, bears the impress of the gentle and loving spirit 
 and scholarly attainment of the Rev. Wm. P. DuBose, who 
 as a theologian has given to the seminary an international 
 reputation. 
 
 The "Sewanee spirit" is the logical development of self- 
 forgetfulness and self-sacrifice. From his first connection 
 with the university, as its chaplain, the Rev. Thomas F. Gailor 
 exhibited this spirit in a marked degree. He possessed pulpit 
 ability of the highest order, and a most engaging person- 
 ality. 
 
 He had been chaplain but a few years when he attracted 
 the favorable attention of the Church throughout the country. 
 He was repeatedly called to the great centers of population and 
 business, and princely salaries were ofifered him to become rector 
 of wealthy and influential parishes. In 1892 he was elected 
 Bishop of Georgia, but he resolutely declined to leave his 
 post, hard work and meager salary, because it carried with it 
 great opportunities for service among the students and also 
 
ELLISOiN CAPERS 231 
 
 afforded occasion to promote the interest of the institution. 
 In 1893 the Rev. Dr. Gailor became Bishop of Tennessee, and 
 within recent years was elected chancellor of the University 
 of the South. Through his entire ministry and episcopate he 
 has given Sewanee his enthusiastic support and bestowed upon 
 her his rare gifts of heart and mind. 
 
 Rev. William A. Guerry, who succeeded Bishop Gailor as 
 chaplain of Sewanee. and is now Bishop of South Carolina, 
 exhibited a similar devotion through the years of his chap- 
 laincy. 
 
 It is of interest to note that in the year 1893 Sewanee seemed 
 in danger of being South Carolinaized — to coin a temi — by 
 the number of South Carolinians officially connected with her. 
 In that year Dr. Ellison Capers was elected Assistant Bishop 
 of South Carolina, and became an ex-officio member of the 
 board of trustees. Rev. W. A. Guerry was elected chaplain ; 
 B. L. Wiggins, vice chancellor; Dr. W. P. DuBose was dean 
 of the theological department, and Professor Hennaman dean 
 of the academic department, all of them South Carolinians. 
 
 As vice chancellor Dr. Wiggins soon demonstrated his 
 executive ability, diplomacy, and statesmanship. He won the 
 love and confidence of the board of trustees, as well as the 
 student body. He too demonstrated the "Sewanee spirit" of 
 self-sacrifice, and was loyal to the best interest of the institu- 
 tion. Dr. Wiggins declined many offers to become the head 
 of larger and more prosperous institutions, and in some 
 instances with salaries double his own. 
 
 In TQ05 the philanthropy of Mr. Andrew Carnegie unwittingly 
 dealt Sewanee a severe blow, which a less heroic and loyal 
 institution could not have survived. He created an endow 
 ment fund of ten million dollars, the interest of which was to 
 pension teachers who had served in colleges and universities 
 for a stipulated length of time and had met certain require- 
 ments. This endowment carried the provision that teachers in 
 "denominational institutions" were not eligible to its benefits. 
 This clearly put such colleges at a great disadvantage, and the 
 
232 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 dampening effect of the benefaction was felt in all such insti- 
 tutions. It is natural for men to look to the care and comfort 
 of their old age, and they would therefore prefer employment 
 where they were assured of their support after having given 
 the best years of their life to the cause of education. This 
 pension system gave the non-denominational colleges a great 
 advantage, practically attaching a life endowment to their 
 professorships. The result was inevitable. "Denominational 
 colleges" all over the country surrendered their charters and 
 were rechartered under the terms of the endowment. They 
 then prepared to draft the ablest teachers in the land. While 
 the bait was enticing, it was also an effort on the part of the 
 benefactor to "secularize education" by "freezing out" those 
 institutions that stood for Christian education. Sewanee had 
 reached a crisis, but no one of its faculty deserted its flag. 
 And yet there was a movement on foot to have the university 
 rechartered, that she too might secure the benefits of this great 
 endowment, and so attract the ablest and most accomplished 
 instructors. 
 
 The advocates to "recharter" quietly but adroitly endeav- 
 ored to influence those in authority, with the following repre- 
 sentations : The theological department would remain under 
 the control of the Episcopal Church. Under the new charter 
 the election of the board of trustees would be taken out of 
 the diocesan councils, and the board made a self -perpetuating 
 body. Thus standing on the same plane with other universities 
 and colleges, it would enjoy the benefit not only of the Car- 
 negie Endowment, but of the General Educational Board and 
 such private philanthropy as is opposed to church schools. 
 
 In June, 1909, Sewanee was confronted by a grave financial 
 crisis. In the midst of the Commencement exercises that year 
 the beloved and devoted vice chancellor. Dr. Lawson B. 
 Wiggins, died suddenly. A deep gloom settled over the 
 university. 
 
 The Alumni Association met, and during the meeting a 
 resolution was offered requesting the board of trustees to con- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 233 
 
 sider the matter of changing the charter. This was the first 
 open move to unchurch the university. The arguments put 
 forward to support the resolution were that the present 
 number of trustees, being over seventy, was too large and 
 unvv^ieldy a body. It was further urged that if Sewanee was 
 not a church school it would receive liberal financial support as 
 above suggested. These resolutions were warmly opposed, 
 and finally amended so as to leave the existing government of 
 Sewanee in statu quo. 
 
 This "entering wedge" in the effort to change the charter 
 of the university was productive of great good, in that it 
 aroused the Church people throughout the South to a sense of 
 their responsibility for the existence of Sewanee, and also 
 inspired the trustees to renew and redouble their efforts in her 
 behalf. They selected a board of regents, in whose hands 
 rest the affairs of the university. This solved the problem of 
 the unwieldiness of the board of trustees. Thenceforward 
 the "Sewanee spirit" began again to demonstrate its power 
 and prove itself in practical ways. An endowment commission 
 was created, and through it an endowment of five hundred 
 thousand dollars is being raised. In the meantime Bishop 
 Gailor had been elected chancellor of the university. With 
 characteristic enthusiasm for the best interest of Sewanee, 
 he entered heartily into the plan for endowment. Visiting the 
 East, he interested and organized alumni and friends, and 
 later, accepting the appointment to visit the large cities 
 throughout the affiliating dioceses in the South, he gave him- 
 self unsparingly to the work, and met with great and well- 
 deserved success. 
 
 The alumni have organized all over the country, with the 
 twofold purpose of raising an endowment and sending students 
 to their alma mater. The effect of all this has been electrical, 
 and Sewanee is destined to become not only a great Church 
 university, but in all respects one of the greatest educational 
 institutions in the land, influencing the life and molding the 
 thought of the nation. She has vindicated herself in main- 
 
234 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 taining the principles and purposes for which she was founded. 
 The University of the South has demonstrated to the world 
 the essential principle of Christianity, that the more our ideals 
 run counter to self-interest and self-indulgence the more 
 powerfully they appeal to men; while commercialized ideals 
 are doomed to ultimate failure. 
 

 BISHOP CAPERS 
 As Chancellor of the University of the South (1904-1908) 
 
 Opl'osite page 235. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 BISHOP CAPERS BECOMES CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF THE SOUTH 
 
 Bishop Capers' interest in Sewanee was contemporary with 
 the re-establishment of the college. In his private journal 
 under date of January, 1872, we find this record: "Christ 
 Church Rectory — Rev. Dr. DuBose visited the parish in the 
 interest of the University of the South, addressing the con- 
 gregation at the morning service, taking up a collection of 
 $76.05." 
 
 Again on December 29, 1872 : "Bishop Quintard and Gen- 
 ' ' ershaw spoke to-day in the church in the interest of the 
 rsity of the South at Sewanee. I individually obtained 
 i to the amount of $950.00." 
 
 . rom this time on his interest in Sewanee continued, and 
 in June, 1904, he was elected chancellor of the University of 
 the South. The office of chancellor is a position of educational 
 and ecclesiastical distinction, and while honorary, yet carries 
 with it the opportunity for great influence in directing its 
 affairs in the broader and more churchly purposes of the 
 institution. While Bishop Capers was chancellor, the question 
 of a recharter was first agitated. In his quiet and tactful way 
 he discouraged it, by refusing to take the proposition seriously, 
 and in this way at least postponed action. When the move 
 was finally made, its promoters found the university's present 
 chancellor the ardent and uncompromising champion of Chris- 
 tian education and a devoted adherent to the original principles 
 and purposes for which Sewanee was founded. 
 
 The day before Bishop Capers' election as chancellor, the 
 
 235 
 
236 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 writer talked to his father over the long-distance telephone, 
 and in the course of the conversation asked v^hom they were 
 going to elect chancellor. His reply was : 'T do not know, but 
 it should be by all means either Gailor or Sessums. Either 
 would be an ornament to the office, while Gailor's long asso- 
 ciation with the university makes him, to my mind, pre- 
 eminently fitted to be our chancellor." If there was one man 
 at Sewanee who did not expect to be elected to that office, 
 that man was the Bishop of South Carolina. 
 
 In his tribute to Mrs. Capers, Bishop Guerry relates this 
 characteristic anecdote of Bishop Capers : "Whenever any 
 new honor or promotion came to him, he never tired of saying 
 he owed it all to his devoted wife. This was so characteristic 
 of him that I hope I may be pardoned here for recalling a 
 beautiful tribute he paid Mrs. Capers when he was elected 
 chancellor of the University of the South. 'Gentlemen of the 
 Board of Trustees,' he said, in accepting his election, 'this is 
 the greatest honor that has come to me save one,' and while 
 we all wondered what that greatest honor could be, he added : 
 'And that was the day my wife agreed to accept me as her 
 husband.' This graceful and gallant speech was far from 
 being merely a well turned compliment— it expressed the 
 unique and exalted place his wife always filled in his heart and 
 in his life." 
 
 In writing of the election of Bishop Capers as chancellor of 
 the University of the South, the Bishop of Mississippi, the 
 Rt. Rev. Theodore Bratton, D. D., who nominated him, said: 
 
 "I do not claim any credit as a moving spirit in Bishop 
 Capers' election as chancellor of the University of the South, 
 for the sentiment of the board of trustees was too nearly unan- 
 imous to leave room for any serious advocacy of him for the 
 honorable post. I seem, however, to have first instinctively 
 turned to him as the fit successor of Bishop Dudley. 
 
 "Bishop Dudley was by nature, training, and instinct a 
 splendid leader. A gentleman of the old South who, with 
 Bishop Capers and others of like commanding character. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 211 
 
 was yet a maker of the new South. A churchman true and 
 tried and great, whose influence was always powerful, and 
 whose leadership was always unifying, a scholar whose appre- 
 ciation of sound learning was always coupled with the spirit of 
 progressiveness. Bishop Dudley was an ideal head of our Chris- 
 tian university. And Bishop Capers is the fittest successor 
 of his slightly older friend that could be found in the whole 
 of America. He too is a gentleman of the Old South, a 
 soldier of stainless record, a bishop of saintly character and 
 wisdom, a leader of pre-eminent ability in Church and state, 
 in Avar and peace ; a cultured gentleman, schooled in the 
 academy of the soldier and educated in the great university 
 of humanity which he loves with all the depth of a great 
 and big heart and mind. Surely there is no one else, in all 
 the land, so well equipped as he to illustrate all that is best 
 in the culture of the past, or to develop in the present and for 
 the future the highest and truest standard of Christian and 
 civil manhood. 
 
 "The only resistance to his speedy and practically unanimous 
 election came from himself. After Bishop Weed and I had 
 presented his name. Bishop Capers, who was in the 
 chair, having been temporarily elected to that honor, arose 
 and vigorously protested against the election of one who had 
 been educated in a military academy and who, though not 
 unacquainted with the classics, had yet never regarded himself 
 as a scholar, and whose years of life had been filled with the 
 practical duties of an exacting calling. Thus the debate was 
 unexpectedly turned against the nominee, who persistently 
 declined to be elected until a practically unanimous election 
 overv^^helmed him into an unwilling but grateful assent. 
 
 "The wonderful university of human experience during the 
 period of controversy and debate and war in which the Bishop's 
 youth was lived, provided a liberal education for every man 
 of culture and student tastes. I will not institute comparisons 
 of such an experience with the curricula of university life, but 
 I do insist upon the inestimable value and great educative 
 
238 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 power of such an era as that which developed Bishop Capers' 
 young manhood. Nor is comparison needful or appropriate, 
 for while the Citadel Academy was not a university, it was 
 in the old days as much a college as a military training school, 
 and the young student had therefore more than usual advan- 
 tages for broad culture in the school of his youth. 
 
 "But certain it is, that the university of human experience, 
 as I have called it, was especially congenial to the Bishop's 
 nature, so singularly and intelligently responsive to the activ- 
 ities of the master minds who guided the destinies of our 
 people. 
 
 'Tt was not unnatural or surprising that as the great con- 
 flict proceeded he took his rightful place in the ranks of the 
 conspicuous leaders in the days of struggle and the hours of 
 distressful danger And after the conflict his place had already 
 been made among the great personalities who stood as bul- 
 warks against adversity, as beacons to guide the bewildered, as 
 strong conservers of that self-control and self-respect which 
 defeat only purifies and refines in the truly great, and which 
 are so essential to best and highest usefulness to mankind. 
 
 "With such combined excellencies and endowments, it was 
 natural that the trustees of the University of the South 
 should turn to Bishop Capers as their rightful leader and the 
 university's chancellor. The Bishop is in the best sense singu- 
 larly youthful. Indeed, the highest and purest wisdom is 
 always so. And no chancellor could be more heartily in sym- 
 pathy than he with every phase of university life, or more 
 thoroughly in accord with the varied avenues of university 
 activity, or more strongly entrenched in the heart of university 
 citizens. 
 
 "There is yet another side of life at the University of the 
 South which constituted quite as powerful a reason for the 
 Bishop's call to its head. Sewanee is not merely the seat of a 
 great university, it is the mecca of an ecclesiastical sentiment 
 and conviction and activity which is hallowed by a com- 
 munion of sainted dead and living, sanctified by sacrifice alto- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 239 
 
 gether unique, and consecrated afresh by devotion imperish- 
 able. In very truth Sewanee is a province of the Church free 
 from provinciaHsm in its common and unhallowed sense. As 
 such the Church in the Southland has looked to her annual 
 gathering of bishops for light and guidance as these, from 
 time to time, have been sorely needed amid the perplexing 
 problems with which she has had to deal. Segregated as the 
 Church leaders and Church folk are in this vast, scarce half- 
 occupied field, the opportunity for conference was, until re- 
 cently, confined to this one annual gathering in the university 
 city of Church in the South. How vastly important it is, 
 therefore, to select as the head of our province-life one whose 
 depth and breadth and height of soul and mind, whose noble 
 humility of character, whose endowment of sympathy and 
 courtesy, would crown the head with a scepter which his 
 fellows would place with loving and grateful recognition of 
 its worthiness. And right w^orthily will Bishop Capers wear 
 it with royal humility and humble pride — the humility which 
 pays tribute to the cause for which it stands, the pride which 
 is joy in its service." 
 
 An amusing anecdote is related in connection with this occa- 
 sion. The German ambassador Baron Speck Von Sternsburg 
 was to receive a degree from the university. He and other 
 dignitaries had arrived from Washington. Bishop Capers had 
 an appointment to marry his son, who was at the time rector 
 of St. Peter's Church, Columbia, Tenn. Unexpectedly to 
 himself, elected chancellor of the university, it was impera- 
 tive that he should be present on the 30th inst. to confer the 
 degrees. The marriage was appointed for the night of the 
 29th. The regular railroad connections made it impossible for 
 Bishop Capers to perform the marriage and return to Sewanee 
 in time to preside as chancellor. Dr. Wiggins, being rather 
 adroit in the management of all affairs, began to maneuver 
 to have some one of the Nashville clergy go to Columbia and 
 perform the marriage ceremony. He made his proposition 
 over the phone. To this the prospective groom strenuously 
 
240 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 objected, and requested a telephone interview with his father. 
 Through various maneuvers and by proposing plans to substi- 
 tute the bishop, the vice chancellor managed to keep father 
 and son separated for the better part of the day. Finally the 
 crisis was reached, and a long telegram was sent to Bishop 
 Capers, setting forth the dilemma in which his new dignity and 
 imperative duties at Sewanee was about to place the wedding 
 party. He answered immediately that he knew nothing of 
 plans to prevent his fulfilling his engagement on the night of 
 the 29th, and that if he could not find a way to perform the 
 marriage and confer the degree upon the German ambassador, 
 someone else would have to perform the latter office. He could 
 be relied upon to be "on hand" for the wedding. Shortly 
 thereafter the vice chancellor wired he had arranged for an 
 automobile to be sent out from Nashville to take the bishop 
 back to that point after the ceremony, and in time for him to 
 catch the midnight train for Sewanee. 
 
 Rejecting upon this incident, we find an interesting illus- 
 tration of the wonderful development of the automobile indus- 
 try within the past eight years. In 1904 there was but one 
 automobile in Columbia; there are to-day more than a hun- 
 dred, many of them of the finest make. This trip was made 
 in two hours and a half. Within the last few months the 
 schedule from Columbia to Nashville by motor car has been 
 brought down to one hour and fifteen minutes. The drive 
 between these two cities is now most usual and of daily 
 occurrence. The following quoted from an interesting letter 
 graphically describes the novelty of the enterprise at that 
 time. Writing to his mother of the wedding, Hon. John G. 
 Capers says : 
 
 "Father and I did not get any of the wedding supper, as he 
 had to leave at half past ten o'clock for Nashville, forty-five 
 miles distant, by automobile, so that father could return to 
 Sewanee in time to confer a degree upon the German ambas- 
 sador. ... I had not intended to go until next day, but 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 241 
 
 of course I had no idea of letting father take that long and 
 unusual ride by himself except of course for the faithful little 
 fellow who sat in front and managed the wheel that carried us 
 safely over the pike, but who could have, by the slightest mis- 
 directed twist, sent us into eternity. For the first ten miles 
 father took great pleasure in borrowing that expressive expres- 
 sion of yours, 'Oh, good lawdy !' and we were both glad indeed 
 that you were not there, but that you could be with us on 
 that particular ride by proxy. Up that pike road we sped, 
 frequently at a rate of twenty-five miles an hour. Fortunately 
 the night was clear, the moon beautiful, and after we had 
 become accustomed to the peculiar gait of our steed we lit our 
 cigars and adjusted ourselves to conditions more comfortable. 
 The pike road runs right through the field of the battle of 
 Franklin, and it was a great joy and privilege to me to have 
 father recite how I now was actually with him on the very 
 road he had marched up forty years before. He showed me 
 the house into which he was taken when wounded, and within 
 fifty feet of where he fell when he was shot at Franklin. It 
 was of course a strenuous ride, but one of intense interest, and 
 certainly surpassed anything that either father or I had ever 
 experienced. 
 
 "We reached Nashville shortly after one o'clock, having 
 made the trip in about two hours and a half." 
 
 Thus the Rt. Rev. Chancellor reached the University in 
 time for the commencement exercises on Thursday, and con- 
 ferred the honorary degree of D. C. L. upon the German 
 ambassador, in recognition of which the Emperor of Germany 
 sent a long and cordial cable message to the authorities of the 
 university, which was duly deposited in the archives. 
 
 These annual visits of Bishop Capers to Sewanee, through 
 the fifteen years of his service as bishop and chancellor, were 
 among the happiest experiences of his life. He always spoke 
 of them with enthusiasm, and not even in his own beloved 
 South Carolina did he receive more hearty and spontaneous 
 
242 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 tributes of affection and honor than those that were lavished 
 upon him by the students and people of Sewanee. 
 
 Bishop Capers,* of South Carolina, has been unanimously 
 elected chancellor of the University of the South. The action 
 was foreshadowed by his choice as temporary chairman of 
 the board of trustees, when it assembled for its annual ses- 
 sion at Sewanee. To all who know the Bishop of South 
 Carolina the choice will seem a natural and an admirable one. 
 No one represents better than he the traditions and amenities 
 of academic culture. To no one could the oversight of that 
 institution, in which the heart of the Church in the South 
 is so bound up, alike through its hopes and its sacrifices, be 
 committed with greater confidence. But gratitude for the 
 services of the late Bishop Dudley was not forgotten in re- 
 joicing over the auspicious choice of his successor. At a 
 special memorial service on June 25 in St. Augustine's Chapel, 
 three notable addresses were made in commemoration of his 
 fruitful labors. Bishop Tuttle spoke in behalf of the board 
 of trustees, Bishop Peterkin for the whole American Church, 
 Dr. DuBose, dean of the theological school, for the faculty 
 of the university. The impression produced was deep and 
 promises to be lasting. 
 
 *The CJiurchman, July 2, 1904. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 BISHOP capers' churchmanship 
 
 Some years ago an enterprising newspaper correspondent in- 
 terviewed several of the bishops of the Episcopal Church 
 whose families had been previously identified with other 
 churches, and put this question to them : "What influenced 
 you to become an Episcopalian?" One of the most eminent 
 of our bishops replied : "Because my father's farm was five 
 miles nearer the Episcopal church than it was to the Methodist, 
 to which our family belonged." 
 
 With Ellison Capers, the son of a Methodist bishop, there 
 were at work stronger and deeper influences than the conveni- 
 ence of places of worship to make him a Churchman. His 
 father died when he was but eighteen years of age, and in 
 his death a commanding influence was withdrawn. That the 
 son would have leaned to the ministry of his father's Church 
 is a logical presumption. But reaching manhood, he was 
 free to weigh without prejudice or influence the claims of 
 the Church. The Church of England, the Episcopal Church 
 of the young American republic, was Ellison Capers' ancestral 
 church. This in itself attracted him to her; while he tells 
 us, "In the Book of Common Prayer I found my ideal of 
 worship." Its deeply spiritual and reverent service appealed 
 to him and supplied the demands of his religious nature. He 
 was a great admirer of the English as a nation, and had an 
 adequate appreciation of what the Church of England had 
 contributed toward the promotion of Christian civilization, 
 conspicuously in establishing Christianity in America. 
 
 As we have seen elsewhere in this volume, Bishop Caper.s 
 
 m 
 
244 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 believed his ancestors to have been English, and so this Church 
 made a strong appeal to his patriotism as well as to his spiritual 
 nature, and inspired him to investigate her claims. 
 
 After his graduation from the Citadel, Mr. Capers married 
 Miss Charlotte Palmer, who was a devoted member of the 
 Episcopal Church, and whose ancestors, like his own, had 
 belonged to the Episcopal Church of Colonial days. His 
 marriage undoubtedly tended to quicken his interest in the 
 Church and strengthen his desire to enter her fold. 
 
 While a professor at the Citadel, Lieutenant Capers' in- 
 clination was for the study of law, and he began reading in 
 the office of Hayne & Miles. But his studies v/ere interrupted 
 by the War. During the War the question of entering the 
 ministry constantly occupied his thoughts. He himself re- 
 ferred to this period as "years of feeling, impulse, and resolu- 
 tion, which left their indelible mark and influence in direct- 
 ing heart and brain. . . . To these im.pressions I owe the 
 final convictions and resolutions which ultimately brought 
 me into the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church." 
 
 The first indication we have of a developing system of 
 doctrine and practice in the work of his ministry is given 
 in the following memorandum made in the spring of 1866: 
 
 "The thing most essential to a minister's usefulness is a 
 thorough and adequate acquaintance with the Scriptures, not 
 in isolated pages, but as a connected whole, embodying the 
 plan of salvation ; the sublime and harmonious scheme of 
 redemption through Christ. 'Systematic divinity' must build 
 itself upon and grow out of the careful and prayerful study 
 of God's Word. The only reliable and efficient teacher is 
 the Holy Ghost. 
 
 "Without the enlightening grace of the Holy Spirit, sought 
 in humble persevering prayer, we shall search the Scriptures to 
 little account. It is He who is promised, to 'take of the things of 
 Christ and show them unto us,' and to 'guide us into all truth.' 
 We should realize deeply our ignorance and blindness, and 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 245 
 
 the great danger of being led into error. Let Christ be the 
 center of our system. Where His person is clearly recognized, 
 and His glory is poured around, we cannot be long in the 
 dark. Remember that the work of the Gospel ministry is to 
 testify of Christ. Nothing is of real concern to a minister 
 or of true value in his teaching and preaching which has 
 not direct relations to the atonement and death of the sinner's 
 substitute. All preaching of anything save 'Jesus Christ 
 and Him crucified' is solemn tritling. And what insight into 
 God's word is needed to enable us to receive for our own 
 souls, and to set forth for the souls of others, the gospel of 
 free grace. Have a clear view of the scope and general ob- 
 ject of each book of the Bible, weigh its line of argument, 
 and take in a conception of the whole, before you descend 
 to minute criticism. Do not follow human commentations 
 blindly; with all their learning and excellence they are all 
 weak and fallible creatures. Lean only upon the Lord and 
 seek his wisdom. . , . 
 
 "it is a great advantage that our Church possesses in the 
 harmonious condensation of Scripture truth in the Prayer 
 Book; the confession of the Reformation repeating in solemn 
 tones the utterances of the first ages of faith. The great 
 spiritual truth of the Gospel embodied here in acts of de- 
 votion fix themselves in the believer's heart, and there the 
 arrangement of the Christian year, bringing up in successive 
 review the facts of Christ's life, gives us the grasp of a 
 historic religion." 
 
 In the matter of defining one's churchmanship the point 
 of view from which the churchman is regarded has to be 
 taken into account. According to an eminent authority, "a 
 churchman is a member of a national Church, or one claim- 
 ing exceptional dignity and authority." Under this defini- 
 tion one might be a loyal churchman and yet place the emphasis 
 of teaching and preaching upon some special phase of Church 
 life and doctrine. 
 
246 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 The growth and development of the Church and the chang- 
 ing conditions under which she has had to work have given 
 occasion for the development of partisan spirit, which 
 crystallized into definite schools of thought within the Church. 
 
 American churchmanship cannot be contemplated without 
 reference to the spiritual and intellectual awakening through- 
 out England during the latter part of the eighteenth and the 
 early part of the nineteenth centuries. 
 
 Eighteenth century Deism left "a mechanical universe and 
 an absentee God." Spiritual deadness followed. The Church 
 of England was called out of its religious torpor by the Metho- 
 dist socie'ties of Wesley and Whitefield. In that these leaders 
 stressed "the witness of the inner life" as the essential element 
 in religious experience, their teaching was subjective. Having 
 no bearing on the objective element in religion and without 
 regard to the institutional character of the Church and the 
 corporate nature of Christianity, Methodism was necessarily 
 incomplete. 
 
 "Those of the clergy and laity in the Church of England 
 who did not follow the Wesleys out of the Church into the 
 new organization, but shared the general spiritual views of 
 the Methodist, called themselves Evangelicals. By their teach- 
 ing and work they gave a warmer tone to the life of the 
 Church, and infused a more personal element into the re- 
 ligious experience of its members. To a limited extent they 
 co-operated with the denominational churches in Bible, tract, 
 and temperance societies." In this way they "lengthened the 
 cords" of the Church, if they did not "strengthen her stakes." 
 
 The Oxford Movement also quickened the spiritual life 
 of the Church. But its efforts were directed through dif- 
 ferent channels. In 1833 Keble, Newman, and others sought 
 to infuse new life into the Church and arouse its members 
 to a sense of their privileges and opportunities. Their appeal 
 was directed primarily to the intellect and the will. Their 
 declaration was that there was an institution "more permanent 
 and more positive than the conflicting sects and denomina- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 247 
 
 tions. An institution of apostolic lineage, which had in the 
 past fostered and ruled the religious life of men, and should 
 continue to exercise its prerogative." They therefore appealed 
 to the authority of the historic Catholic Church. They em- 
 phasized the corporate, rather than the individual life of 
 Christianity. The Church and her sacraments. . . . The 
 sacraments as "the extension of the incarnation." The 
 legitimacy of orders and the valid administration of the 
 sacraments were exalted as of primary importance. 
 
 The teaching of the Evangelical as well as that of the 
 Oxford Movement found a ready and sympathetic response 
 in the Episcopal Church in America. 
 
 Adherents of the Oxford Movement were High Churchmen. 
 The Evangelicals kept the parent name. An extreme party 
 within the school of Evangelicals were Low Churchmen. 
 
 An eminent authority has thus summarized the distinctions 
 between the two: "The High Churchman maintained there 
 is a corporate as well as an individual Christian life; a 
 union with the body of Christ as well as with Christ the 
 head ; that relation to the Church is a duty as well as a choice ; 
 the Church is a divine revelation and a positive institution : 
 her orders alone are legitimate and her sacraments 'duly and 
 rightly' administered." 
 
 "The Evangelical entered a protest against formal worship, 
 endeavored to spiritualize it. and originated and advocated 
 the 'volunteer principle' of service which to-day manifests 
 itself in every part of the Church's work. The Evangelical 
 laid great stress upon the individual reception of grace; the 
 High Churchman on the institutional demonstration of grace. 
 The watchword of the one was experience ; that of the other, 
 authority. The Evangelical none the less believed in the 
 principle of the episcopacy. He regarded the sacrament as 
 a means of grace therein offered and conveyed, but he em- 
 phasized the element of faith in the recipient as an essential 
 condition of benefit to the same. The High Churchman's at- 
 titude tended to ecclesiastical isolation; he was in the com- 
 
24.8 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 miinity, but not of it. The Evangelical preferred the word 
 presbyter to priest, and declared that that was the Prayer 
 Book use of it, as it was not applied in the Scriptures as a 
 Christian ministry. The High Churchman believed in baptis- 
 mal regeneration. The Evangelical attempted to harmonize the 
 declarations of the sacrament as set forth in the Prayer Book 
 with a number of theories. Finally both High Churchmen and 
 Evangelicals accepted the declaration which the House of 
 Bishops made in 1871, wherein it was set forth, 'The act does 
 not involve a moral change as a witness of God's gift, but not 
 to the active reception of it by the baptized.' Thenceforth 
 regeneration became identified with divine endowment, and 
 not necessarily an appropriation of it. Baptism was made 
 witness to an objective fact and not a subjective experi- 
 ence." 
 
 Up to this point there was little in the conduct of the 
 services to denote to which school of thought the officiating 
 minister belonged, and up to this point an Evangelical High 
 Churchman was possible. 
 
 With the advance and development — within the Church — 
 of the doctrine of the "eucharistic sacrifice" a ritual was 
 logically evolved by which to observe the "sacrifice." Here 
 the Ritualists appear as a party in the Church. While in 
 the popular mind the Ritualist is regarded as a High Church- 
 man, it by no means follows that the High Churchman is a 
 Ritualist. 
 
 Accepting the foregoing definitions of Church parties. Bishop 
 Capers may be regarded as an Evangelical High Church- 
 man. He claimed for the Church "exceptional dignity and 
 authority." He believed in the apostolic origin of the epis- 
 copacy. He preached the historic continuity of the Church's 
 ministry back to the apostles. He accepted the declaration of 
 the House of Bishops in 1871, and identified regeneration 
 with divine endowment. To a certain extent he fraternized 
 and co-operated with the work of other Churches and regarded 
 their ministry with great respect and admiration. He held 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 249 
 
 their orders to be valid, but irregular. He opposed the "open 
 pulpit," but welcomed the latitude given under Canon 19. 
 During his episcopate three of his convention addresses were 
 devoted to impressing upon his clergy the necessity of con- 
 ducting their services in accordance with the rubrics and 
 directions of the Prayer Book without presuming to add 
 thereto or take therefrom. 
 
 He himself was at all times in the exercise of his ministry 
 and episcopate a consistent "Prayer Book Churchman." The 
 following from the Bishop's council address of 1901 indicates 
 his reverent and loyal championship of the rubrical directions 
 of the Prayer Book: 
 
 "I wish now, dear brethern, to call attention to a subject 
 upon which I have been consulted by several of the clergy 
 during the past year, and upon which I wish to deliver this 
 my unqualified judgement: 
 
 "I have been several times asked if it was rubrical to omit 
 Morning Prayer on Sunday when the Holy Communion was 
 to be administered. 
 
 "Again : If it is rubrical to omit Morning Prayer on Ash 
 Wednesday, and substitute the Litany and the Penitential 
 Office. 
 
 "And again : If it is admissible to omit the Collect, Epistle, 
 and Gospel for the day (on Sunday when they have been said 
 at an early Communion). 
 
 "My answer, dear brethren, is that none of these practices 
 is admissible under our rubrical law. The mind of the Church 
 respecting the service on Sunday is expressed in the rubric, 
 which provides for a shortened form of Morning Prayer 
 when the Communion is immediately to follow. It is un- 
 rubrical, in my j udgement, to omit Morning Prayer on Sunday 
 at the usual hour for Divine service when the Communion 
 is to follow. The form of shortened prayer provided for by 
 the rubric is the authorized service of the Church, and to 
 omit Morning Prayer at such a time, and to have only the 
 
250 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Communion office and the sermons, is to deprive the congre- 
 gation of the full service of edification and w^orship which 
 the Church has provided. 
 
 "To substitute the Litany and the Penitential Office for 
 the Ash Wednesday service is equally inadmissible, and does 
 not express the worship and mind of the Church as set forth 
 in the regular Ash Wednesday service. So, too, it is my 
 judgment, that the omission of the Collect, Epistle, and 
 Gospel for the day, even though they have been previously 
 said at an early Communion, is equally inadmissible. 
 
 "I have been told that in one case the Ten Commandments 
 are rarely heard on a Sunday morning, as they are invariably 
 read at the early Communion, when there are only a few 
 persons present. 
 
 "By such a practice as this the great body of the congrega- 
 tion does not hear from the sanctuary the ordained law of 
 God proclaimed as it should be. As you know, the rubric 
 provides that the Commandments must be said once on a 
 Sunday, and my judgment is that they ought not to be 
 said more than once a month at an early Communion; and 
 when so said, I think it would be proper on that Sunday, if 
 it is deemed advisable, to omit them at the morning hour and 
 to say instead thereof the Summary of the Law. 
 
 "I feel assured, dear brethren, that these remarks from 
 your Bishop will be duly considered by his brethren of the 
 clergy." 
 
 The following excerpt from a council address will demon- 
 strate the loyalty of Bishop Capers to the traditions of the 
 Church and his views in reference to the change of the name 
 of the Church: 
 
 I now come to what I deem the most important, and the 
 most serious, matter which claims the attention of our Council, 
 and is just now claiming the consideration of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church in the United States. I refer to the proposi- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 251 
 
 tion which one of our sister dioceses has formally submitted 
 to the General Convention, to change the name of the Church 
 from her time-honored, historic title, "The Protestant Episco- 
 pal Church in the United States of America," to "The Ameri- 
 can Catholic Church in the United States." 
 
 The proposition was submitted in the House of Bishops 
 on the second day of the session of the General Convention 
 of 1901, in the form of a memorial from the Council of 
 Milwaukee, praying for relief from the name of the Church, 
 and citing sundry and numerous reasons for its prayer. The 
 memorial was referred to the Committee on Memorials and 
 Petitions, and that committee, through its chairman, the 
 Bishop of Pittsburgh, reported on the seventh day the fol- 
 lowing resolutions, to wit : that the memorial from the 
 diocese of Milwaukee be printed in the Journal of this ses- 
 sion of this House. That a joint committee be appointed, 
 consisting of five bishops, five presbyters, and five laymen, to 
 take the whole subject of a change of name of this Church 
 into consideration, to ascertain, as far as possible, the mind 
 of Church people concerning it, and to make a report at 
 the next General Convention, with such suggestions as may 
 commend themselves to their judgment. 
 
 These resolutions were concurred in by the House of 
 Deputies and the joint committee duly appointed. 
 
 This joint committee has sent me the following resolu- 
 tions : 
 
 "Resolved, That the Secretary be directed to communicate 
 to the secretary of each diocese and missionary district a 
 copy of the resolution under which this committee is acting, 
 coupled with the statement that in pursuance of the direction 
 contained in said resolution, to endeavor to ascertain, as 
 far as possible, the mind of Church people in general con- 
 cerning the subject of a proposed change of name — this com- 
 mittee, before making any recommendation to the General 
 Convention, asks that, at the next meeting of the conven- 
 tion or convocation of each diocese or missionary district, 
 
252 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 said convention or convocation be requested to inform this 
 committee whether it does or does not desire that the name 
 of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States 
 of America shall be changed at this time, and if it does so 
 desire, what name it wishes substituted therefor. 
 
 ''Resolved, That each diocese or convocation secretary be 
 requested to communicate to the secretary of this committee, 
 prior to October i, 1903, any action of his convention or con- 
 vocation upon the subject; together with the statement of 
 the clerical and lay vote, separately, upon any definite resolu- 
 tion that may have come before said convention or convoca- 
 tion, 
 
 "Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent by 
 the secretary of this committee to every bishop of this 
 Church." 
 
 This is the present status of this matter, so far as we are 
 concerned. 
 
 Here is a deliberate proposition to change the constitution 
 of the Church, and to alter the Prayer Book; and, in my 
 judgment, to afl'ect this change and alteration in an uncon- 
 stitutional way. 
 
 Articles X and XI of the Constitution provide the steps 
 to be taken when the Prayer Book is to be altered or the 
 Constitution changed. By an organic law, as set out in these 
 articles, the dioceses do not pass upon such alterations and 
 changes until they have been first enacted by the General 
 Convention, and afterward sent down, by its authority, to 
 the dioceses for their ratification or disapproval. 
 
 In the grave and serious case before us, we have a com- 
 mittee of the General Convention raised to investigate a 
 proposition for a change in the ofiicial title of the Church, 
 and to report to a subsequent convention, sending down to 
 us the serious change proposed in the Constitution and in 
 the Prayer Book, and calling upon us to vote upon the change 
 proposed, as if the committee were acting for the secretary 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 253 
 
 ot the General Convention, and sending us the action of that 
 body for our final consideration. 
 
 To vote on this proposition, upon the request of this com- 
 mittee, would be, in my judgment, clearly to violate both 
 the spirit and the letter of our organic law, which defines 
 the mode of changing the Constitution and altering the Prayer 
 Book. 
 
 But the proposition to change our name in an unconstitu- 
 tional way is, to my mind, the least serious of the grave 
 objections I hold in the premises. Why are we asked to 
 change our name? If the Church was Protestant in 1785, 
 when its official title was adopted, has it ceased to be a Pro- 
 testant Church in 1903? If it stood for Catholic truth and 
 Apostolic order when Scotland (1784) and England (1787) 
 gave the episcopate to the Church, does it stand less for Catho- 
 lic truth to-day? 
 
 So far as I have been able to learn from my research, 
 I can find but one voice lifted in Convention in '85, or sub- 
 sequently, against the adoption of the title Protestant Epis- 
 copal, and that voice was from a layman from Connecticut. 
 But, so far from being an effectual voice, it has left no sign, 
 in the record, of the slightest impression made. Connecticut, 
 in her convention of 17QO, confirmed the "doings" of its 
 deputies on the final action of the General Convention of 
 1789; and while Bishop Seabury through his influence had 
 affected some m.odification in the Constitution of 1785, there 
 is not a trace of his attempting to expunge from the Constitu- 
 tion of 1789, or from the Prayer Book, the word "Pro- 
 testant." Seabury was a Protestant Churchman, as were all 
 the fathers of the Church who framed our Constitution and 
 set forth the Prayer Book. 
 
 There is not a man of us who has not solemnly engaged be- 
 fore his ordination, "To conform to the doctrine, discipline, and 
 worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
 States of America," and this formulary was composed, in the 
 Vlllth Article of the Constitution, by the fathers of the 
 
254 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Church in the United States because they understood that their 
 inheritance from Protestant England was an inheritance of 
 truth — CathoHc truth and ApostoHc order — to declare which, 
 and to defend which, has made their fathers Protestants and 
 martyrs. 
 
 This proposition to change the name of the Church is a 
 proposition to haul down the Protestant flag and to run up 
 a new standard- — a new flag, the precise character of which 
 I really do not understand, and cannot attempt to describe. 
 Of one thing I feel profoundly convinced — if the new flag 
 does not represent a Protestant Church, it will not represent 
 the Church of the English martyrs, the Church of England 
 from the Reformation to our day, the Church of Seabury and 
 White, of Hobart and Whittingham, of Williams of Connecti- 
 cut and DeHon and Gadsden, and Davis and Howe of South 
 Carolina, it can never become the Church of the American 
 people. 
 
 And this I believe to be the profound conviction of our 
 Church in the United States, and of our Mother Church, 
 the Church of England. There is another consideration which, 
 while it may be a matter of indifference to some, is a matter 
 of grave apprehension to my mind, and of the highest con- 
 sideration to us in South Carolina. I refer to the inevitable 
 widening of the gap and the loosening of the bond between 
 ourselves and our brethren in Christ who hold with us belief 
 in the Catholic Creed and the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 If we are to present to our fellow-Christians a constant 
 mvitation to organic unity, and if our Chicago-Lambeth 
 Quadrilateral is to have the slightest consideration from 
 them, does any man really think that by repudiating our Protes- 
 tant name we will all the more effectually inspire their confi- 
 dence : 
 
 It is a principle I hold very sacred, involved in the duty 
 I owe to our Lord, never to speak indifferently or unworthily 
 of any of my fellow-Christians who by baptism have put 
 
 on Je3U3 Christ, and especially of our Roman CathoHc 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 255 
 
 brethren. What I say, therefore, of our differences with 
 the Holy Roman Church is said in its historical and doctrinal 
 character, and with no purpose of disrespect toward that 
 branch of the Church of Christ. 
 
 Our Protestant name and character w^e derive from the 
 protest which the English reformers made for the truths 
 revealed in Holy Scriptures, and against the practices and 
 some of the principles taught by Rome at the Reformation 
 period. Since that period (as is known to all Christendom) 
 Rome had added to her Creed certain erroneous articles, and 
 the ground of our protest, as the historical branch of the 
 Holy Catholic Church, is as strong to-day as in the sixteenth 
 century. The ground of our protest against the divisions 
 of the Church of Christ, and the reasons for organic unity, 
 are as strong, and even stronger, to-day than ever. 
 
 Are we, therefore, no longer Protestants? To repudiate 
 our name, it seems to me, is to serve notice upon all Christen- 
 dom that we have no further witness to bear against the 
 divisions of the Christian Church on the one hand or the 
 supreme authority of the Bishop of Rome on the other, 
 and that we are Protestant no lons^er. 
 
 However dissatisfied with the historic title of the Church 
 our brethren of IMilwaukee may be, and however disposed 
 the General Convention to give their memorial the fullest and 
 freest consideration, the grave fact remains that the change 
 proposed in the name of the Protestant Episcopal Church is a 
 deliberate, carefully planned proposition to pronounce upon the 
 Protestant doctrine and worship of the Church by expunging 
 from her constitution and Prayer Book the title by which 
 she has been known from the first, — the title under which 
 she has grown to greatness and power, — under w^hich her 
 Lord has sent her the Comforter, and poured out His blessing 
 upon her, and under which her children have confided in 
 her devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to the primitive 
 order of His Church. I shall embody these sentiments in 
 my official response to the communication sent me by the 
 
256 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Committee, and I now lay them before the Council for your 
 thoughtful and prayerful consideration. 
 
 Bishop Capers' attitude toward the question of "Missionary 
 Jurisdictions" for the colored people is stated in the following 
 from his council address, 1907 : 
 
 "At the request of a committee from the General Board 
 of Missions, I have just prepared a full report upon the 
 missions and schools among colored people in our diocese. 
 These are mainly supported by the General Board, and it has 
 a right to this report. 
 
 "We have 22 missions and 18 schools, and much valuable 
 Church property, maintained the past year at a total cost of 
 $9,429.86; of this sum $3,350 went to the clergy, $4,085 to 
 teachers, and $1,994.80 to current expenses. The greater 
 part of this amount, — practically all of it, — comes from the 
 General Board of Missions and from friends at the North. 
 The missions themselves have given $1,691.69 to their sup- 
 port, and next to nothing has been given by the diocese. 
 
 "My report shows a small increase in the number of 
 families, communicants, day- and Sunday-school pupils, and 
 the amounts contributed by the missions and schools. But 
 when you consider the amounts of money expended by the 
 Church, and the labors of the clergy, directed so efficiently 
 for so many years by Archdeacon Joyner, it is surprising 
 that we have reported to-day only 275 families and 726 com- 
 municants. Of the 1408 children who attend our schools, the 
 parents of most of them are Aiethodist or Baptists, and seem- 
 ingly have no idea of becoming Churchmen. These facts are 
 impressing the minds of friends in the North, whose con- 
 tributions have fallen ott of late, and they have given me 
 much concern. 
 
 "It was to consider this whole subject that the Southern 
 bishops recently met in conference at Washington and I 
 regret that I could not be present. With many of my Episco- 
 pal brethren I have come to think that if our churches and 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 257 
 
 missions among the negroes in the South were organized 
 into 'missionary jurisdictions,' under a bishop or bishops of 
 their own race, that more efiticient work could be done with 
 them and for them. Such an organization would secure them 
 representation in our General Convention, and would give 
 them a voice in the Church of which they are members. This 
 fact alone would justify the trial of missionary jurisdictions; 
 for the denial of representation in our Church councils is, 
 in my judgment, a practical bar to Church progress among 
 negroes. I can see no better way to remove this bar than 
 to give them a separate missionary organization, under leaders 
 of their own, who would be to them what our missionary 
 bishops are to their jurisdictions. Moreover, I have come to 
 believe that such an organization of Church work among 
 negroes is needed to stimulate a spirit and mind of self-help 
 and self-respect. Such an organization would be called upon 
 more largely to support itself; and its appeal for help, I be- 
 lieve, would be enforced by more earnestness of Church life 
 and Church work. No people, in Church or State, will ever 
 make progress who are not self-helpful and self-respectful. 
 A people w^ho are forever crutched and nursed, and who are 
 never thrown upon the resources of their own wills and 
 energies, cannot be self -respectful, and in the nature of things 
 will never become self-helpful. I feel a deep interest in the 
 moral, material, and spiritual welfare of our colored brethren, 
 and I feel sure that their progress as Churchmen will not be 
 furthered under our present system. For this reason I have 
 come to agree with many of my episcopal brethren who, like 
 myself, are most deeply interested in the progress of our negro 
 missions, that the request for a separate missionary organiza- 
 tion should have the careful consideration of our next General 
 Convention." 
 
 The following letter gives Bishop Capers' views on "Bap- 
 tismal Regeneration" : 
 
258 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Union, S. C, Dec. 16, 1899. 
 My Dear Son : 
 
 Your letter met me here. I am writing in Ginguard's study, 
 which is neat and comfortable, but you could put it in one 
 corner of your neater and more comfortable room. 
 
 I hope you spoke to Bishop Randolph on the subject which 
 most interested me in your letter — the subject of the new 
 life in Christ as related to the sacrament of Holy Baptism. 
 Your reference is particularly to the Prayer Book language 
 in the office for adult baptism. Did you not mean infant 
 baptism? I have never known, I think, exception taken to 
 the former, while a long controversy has been waged about 
 the latter. It was the word regenerate, in the office for infant 
 baptism, that made the Cheney Schism, and used to be the 
 bane of Low Churchmen fifty years ago. But let us look 
 at the language of adult baptism. It is language applied 
 to one who comes to Holy Baptism in repentance and faith. 
 Repentance, whereby we forsake sin, and faith, whereby we 
 steadfastly believe the promises of God are the notes — the 
 gospel notes of the regenerate life. No one can lawfully 
 be baptized who does not come in penitence and faith, how- 
 ever imperfect the penitence, or weak the faith. The sacra- 
 ment is the outward sign of the grace given, whereby the 
 person has come to repent and turn to God; and it (the 
 sacrament) is, moreover, ordained by Christ to be this out- 
 ward, visible sign, and a means of grace given — a divinely 
 appointed pledge to us of grace given. What, then, can 
 be the objection to saying, after naming a newborn soul 
 into Christ's Kingdom, and giving him or her the sign of 
 his or her new birth, and the pledge that this person is new- 
 born — "Let us give thanks," &c. ? 
 
 The Catechism distinctly guards against making the error 
 of placing the spiritual renewal of the soul in the water 
 applied, or in the words used. These are essentials of the 
 outward, the visible, only. The spiritual, the inward gift, is 
 distinctly declared to be a dying unto sin, and a new birth 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 259 
 
 unto righteousness. We are made, says the Church {vide the 
 Catechism), children of grace, regenerate, by (not water 
 and words, but) this death unto sin and this new birth 
 unto righteousness ; and these come to us by the grace of 
 God. 
 
 You must study your Prayer Book, my dear Walt, in its 
 whole teaching, and let the whole teaching represent the doc- 
 trine, not a part of it. Now, I could not, and would not, 
 use the language of adult baptism for an adult who came 
 to me and asked for the sacrament professing and showing 
 no repentance and no faith. That would be to use the office 
 as if a careless sinner, unrepentant and unbelieving, could 
 be and would be renewed and regenerated by it. But when 
 a man or woman comes, forsaking sin and believing in God's 
 love and grace, I rejoice to give such an one the pledge, 
 the sign, the blessed declaration of the reality of it all — the 
 ordained means of this greatest of moral and spiritual assur- 
 ances, given to mortal man on this earth. 
 
 I write hurriedly, as I have a few moments to myself, but 
 I want to follow up the subject with you. Tell me how this 
 impresses you. I like your abstract on Confirmation." 
 
 To his grandsons upon the occasion of their confirmation : 
 
 Columbia, S. C, Apl. 23, 1906. 
 To Masters Ellison Howe and William Theodotus 
 Capers : 
 My Dear Grandsons—Your letters to your grandmother 
 have given her, and given me, the sweetest happiness. She 
 cannot write, as she would like to do, and you must take this 
 letter as from her, as well as from me. We congratulate you, 
 dear boys, on your confirmation. It means so much to you, 
 and so much to those who love you most. It means that God 
 has blessed your purpose to live, day by day, as He wants us 
 all to live ; and He wants us to live just as you have promised 
 to live — a Christian life! swch a life i?? th? truest, and the hap- 
 
26o THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 piest life, and such a life only can glorify Him, and bring us 
 true peace and honor. 
 
 When you answered the bishop that you renewed for your- 
 selves your baptismal vows, you made those holy vows of 
 your baptism your own vows, and engaged to renounce what 
 is wrong — to believe the truth, and live by the law of God. 
 Every true boy, and every true man, is true only as he does 
 renounce what is wrong, honor what is true, and reverence and 
 keep God's law. 
 
 In your confirmation God gave you His Holy Spirit to help 
 you keep this promise, and to remind you, every day, of your 
 duty. So Vk^hen you feel like doing or saying something that 
 you know is wrong, God will help you to see and to feel that 
 it is wrong, and then your part will be to say — I can't do this, 
 or that; I can't indulge in this or that feeling, or temper, 
 because it is wrong; and I have promised God to renounce 
 what he makes me know and feel to be wrong. He has given 
 me His spirit of righteousness in my heart, to make me feel 
 and know the right from the wrong, and if I do, or say the 
 wrong, I am not true to my vow. You see, then, how God's 
 Holy Spirit will help you to do right. But suppose the day 
 comes when you fail! when you do the wrong! Well, confess 
 to God in sincere repentence, and try again, and God will help 
 you, every time you try. And so you can walk in the w^ays of 
 truth and right, all the days of your life. 
 
 I read of a great British general who was so sure of vic- 
 tory, that he undervalued his enemy's strength and went into 
 battle without counting the costs. Well, he was defeated, aiVd 
 his troops were routed, and he was mortally wounded trying 
 to rally them. When his friends came to him. as he lay on 
 the field, he exclaimed. "Who would have thought it!" Mean- 
 ing, who of us would have thought that I and my army could 
 have been so beaten. And seeing how disheartened and dis- 
 tressed his staff officers were, he said : "Never mind, gentle- 
 men, we will do better next time !" That was true repentance, 
 boys. "Never mind> we will do better next time," 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 261 
 
 I was in Charleston Sunday and confirmed a large class at 
 the Holy Communion, most all of them boys and young girls. 
 Though I was not sure, I thought maybe you boys were to 
 come that day to Confirmation, and when I said the beautiful 
 prayer after the Confirmation my mind reverted to Lexington, 
 to your dear father, and my dear grandsons, presented by him 
 for Confirmation ! 
 
 May God's fatherly hand, dear boys, ever be over you, and 
 His Holy Spirit ever be with you! 
 
 Your dear grandmother, in spite of constant pain and her 
 unrelieved weakness, holds her own, and while she is almost 
 helpless, she does not grow weaker. Give our devoted love to 
 father, mother, and little Sam, and believe me, dear boys, 
 Your affectionate grandfather, 
 
 Ellison Capers. 
 
 Commenting upon his wife's constant sufferings, he writes 
 to one of his children: 
 
 "Your dear mother is this moment asleep in the big chair in 
 my study, where she spends her days. It is too cold and windy 
 to give her a drive, so she is helped up every hour or so, takes 
 my arm, or May's or Rena's, and walks about those two rooms 
 for a little exercise, but only for a few moments. For some 
 reason she will not go into the hall or dining-room. I can't get 
 her to go to the table any more in her rolling chair, and I can't 
 understand why, especially as it would give us so much gratifi- 
 cation to see her there. Rena serves her meals here in my 
 study. Dear soul! she seems to have accepted her situation 
 as hopeless, and her attitude of mind is that of a submissive 
 prisoner, whose sentence is certain. Last night she had one of 
 her bad nights. 
 
 "Oh, how mysterious these sufferings ! They seem so un- 
 deserved, so cruel, and so needless. There never lived a more 
 loyal soul to her God and Saviour, and a heart and a mind 
 more true to duty. They cannot teach her submission or faith. 
 
262 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 for these she knows by heart, and prayer has been her daily 
 life for more than a half century. I, who know her heart, 
 know this, and so I am asking in my sleep and in my waking, 
 why this suffering and quivering of these dear hands and feet. 
 There is no moral reason for it all. I can only understand it 
 in its physical side — on the side that aches come from causes 
 in the blood, in the nerves, in the muscles; causes for which 
 the innocent are not responsible. 
 
 "All the good that comes to me from these hours, bitter 
 hours, — God only knows how bitter,- — is a cold and deeper 
 dread of sin and a more awful respect for law! If it were I 
 who was chained and crucified I could understand my own 
 deserts, but that the righteous soul of your dear mother — with 
 her life behind her — should be so vexed, except as the law 
 above referred to vexes and plagues us all, I cannot compre- 
 hend. 
 
 'T write all this, my dear son, with not one atom of feeling 
 against God, as if I was complaining of his dispensations. I 
 do not believe He would send one pain to the body of your dear 
 mother, but I know He would not exempt His guiltless Son 
 from law and its penalty, and do not blame Him for not 
 exempting me and mine. If Jesus had His Gethsemane, and 
 His Cavalry, I know we must have ours, and I understand 
 that; but there was no relentless, physical law for Him in 
 Gethsemane, and the soul of His sufferings was His suffering 
 soul, a suffering which glorifies and ennobles! While your 
 dear mother's sufferings seem only explicable to me on the 
 side of an inexorable law, they never come between me and 
 my Heavenly Father, or obscure my faith in His love and 
 His grace." 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 263 
 
 BISHOP CAPERS ADVISES HIS SONS AS TO THEIR '"CALLS" TO 
 
 NEW WORK 
 
 Camp Cottage, 
 Sept. 12/05. 
 My Dear Son: 
 
 Both your letters, with enclosures, came yesterday, and I 
 have given them earnest thought, and consideration. 
 
 I appreciate the attitude of your vestry, and the judgment 
 of your bishop — that with so earnest a call before you, offering 
 all that the interested parties represent, you must give it "care- 
 ful consideration" and "prayerful thought." 
 
 I suppose neither the vestry nor the bishop suggested that 
 careful consideration and prayerful thought were equally due 
 
 to your work, and its claims, in . But I feel bound to do 
 
 so. You will find drawbacks and difficulties, no matter where 
 you go, and I have no idea, my dear son, that your life and 
 
 work in will offer you greater facilities for doing your 
 
 Master's work than you now have. 
 
 You left a devoted flock in , from a sense of duty 
 
 to God and man to take up your ministry in , and now, 
 
 after a brief period, you propose to leave an equally devoted 
 
 people, and a great work, for a call to ! This disposition 
 
 to change you should carefully examine, it seems to me. There 
 may be reasons for it. You have not given them in either of 
 
 your letters. When you have been at for fifteen months, 
 
 and a call comes (as, no doubt, it will) to Louisville, or Rich- 
 mond, with great promises of "opportunity," and a still larger 
 salary, will you be equal to the sacrifice of remaining? I sug- 
 gest this for your consideration, for I know, my dear son, you 
 wish to act consistently with the high, true tone on which your 
 life and ministry have been set, and which have mainly at- 
 tracted the attention of the Church to it. 
 
 I have written without any knowledge of the reasons or 
 causes which induce you to think seriously of leaving your 
 present work and life in . Up to this hour, I have thought 
 
264 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 of you as happy in it. well provided for, and have been again 
 and again assured of the blessing of God upon your labors. 
 Why, then, should you give it up? In my judgment, upon the 
 answer to this question the high integrity of your decision 
 must depend ; for I put aside considerations of rank and place 
 and money, as these have never had place in your character 
 or ministry, and I dread their power as I see and feel their 
 force. 
 
 If you leave for this call, in my judgment your 
 
 justification must be in the soundness, the reasonableness, and 
 the urgency of your reasons for the change. My advice, then, 
 is, my dear son, consider first why you should resign your 
 parish before you consider the merits of your call, and in con- 
 sidering the latter I would not give undue weight to the 
 "opportunity" or the "salary." But, after all, the decision 
 must be yours, and as I have confidence in the sincerity of your 
 unworldliness, whatever your decision may be I will feel that 
 you have acted in the love and fear of God. and with the cour- 
 age of your conscience. 
 
 If you decide to accept this call, my prayer will be for 
 you, my dear son. that the strength and stability of your minis- 
 terial character may not suffer by the change. 
 
 Your devoted father, 
 
 Ellison Capers. 
 
 Columbia, S. C, Jany. 5. 
 My Dear Son : 
 
 Just a line to say we have your letter. Splendid pen picture 
 of John ! Fine tribute to Lilla. Have been busy all day fixing 
 up May's papers for John to settle her affairs with the Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 I hardly know, Walt, what to say about your call. 
 
 Mother is very decided; tell him, she says, to hold on where 
 he is at present — not to leave Virginia, yet. My judgment is, 
 that the months and years of study, reading, and writing, and 
 preparation which belong to the first years of a ministry are 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 265 
 
 never to be duplicated; never repeated, never regained, if lost. 
 You have them now. I would say, hold them fast until you 
 feel that the centrifugal power is a moral force so much greater 
 than the centripetal that you can hold on no longer — then obey 
 the law. and fly! May God guide you. my dear son, and give 
 you a right judgment. I hope to live to welcome you to South 
 Carolina. 
 
 Bishop's Residence, 
 
 CoLUMBiA_, April 22, 1898. 
 My Dear Son : 
 
 Your letter came to-night, and write briefly to say, that you 
 have expressed my feeling exactly — it is our duty as good 
 citizens to support the President and Congress in the war with 
 Spain. Duty and patriotism alike demand it, and I should be 
 ashamed of our State if I felt that this was not the sentiment 
 of her people. But duties, like our impulses and feelings, 
 often seem to conflict. When the conflict comes, the safe rule 
 is to follow the higher and holier duty. In your case, duty 
 has claimed you for the service of the Prince of Peace, and 
 unless our country was invaded and needed her sons on the 
 field, there is no obligation upon you to lay down your sacred 
 calling to take up arms. 
 
 Your devoted. 
 
 Father. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 LAST DAYS 
 
 During the year 1906 Mrs. Capers was not only a confirmed 
 invalid, but was also a constant sufferer. 
 
 This letter to his son, Dean Wm. T. Capers, marks the be- 
 ginning of the end for Bishop Capers : 
 
 Columbia^ S. C, May 29, 1907. 
 My Dear Odd : 
 
 It has been arranged for our removal to "Camp Cottage" 
 in the second week of June. May, the boys, Miss Sams, and 
 the cook will go up, via Hendersonville, on the loth and nth, 
 and the man servant and nurse will go to Greenville on the 
 nth. Mother will rest at Frank's a day or two, and we will 
 drive up to "Camp Cottage" by easy stages, Frank going along 
 with his horse and buggy to help us. 
 
 Mother prefers this to going to Brevard. She wants you 
 to arrange your visit as early in the summer as you can, and 
 says that I must tell you that the Lodge will be kept for you, 
 Rebe, and the boys. 
 
 I undertake this trip with much hesitation, and even fear. 
 But God has ordained things so differently from my expecta- 
 tions, that I leave the result in confidence to His overruling 
 Providence. Mother is full of it. And yet she is so helpless, 
 and so dependent upon her physical comfort and her special 
 food that I dread the risk we are taking. 
 
 I am so busy at my desk that I must ask you to send this 
 on to John for me. Mispah! 
 
 Your devoted father, 
 
 E. Capers. 
 266 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 267 
 
 At the time of this letter Bishop Capers was by no means 
 well. His wife's unceasing sufiferings, the confusion of a house 
 that had now for two years been practically a hospital, his 
 own failing health, and his eagerness to keep the work of his 
 diocese up to the high mark of proficiency he had set, all com- 
 bined to sap his strength and break down his constitution. 
 Mrs. Capers was perfectly helpless and had to be carried 
 everywhere she went. Naturally his solicitude for her com- 
 fort during the anticipated journey mentioned in the preceding 
 letter was very great, inasmuch as she had to be lifted in and 
 out of the carriage, in and out of the trains, and endure a long 
 drive of thirty-two miles by conveyance. This drive Mrs. 
 Capers enjoyed at first, but it proved, as the Bishop had 
 predicted, too much for her strength. Arriving at Cedar 
 Mountain, the Bishop set to work to get everything about place 
 and house straight and in "applie-pie order" before he left for 
 Sewanee, to be in attendance upon the meeting of the board of 
 trustees of the University of the South. By virtue of his office 
 as chancellor he presided over their meetings. His stay was 
 limited, and he pressed his work with great vigor. 
 
 Mrs. Capers and the members of the family present impor- 
 tuned him not to undertake the trip, as he was manifestly un- 
 well. But Bishop Capers felt it incumbent upon him to go ; he 
 held it his duty. A sense of duty always closed the argu- 
 ment for him. Upon the morning fixed for his departure he 
 rose early, shaved himself, and completed his preparations 
 for the journey. After breakfasting, he went upstairs to get 
 his valises. Mrs. Capers and their daughter, Mrs. Satterlee, 
 were in the sitting-room waiting to tell him good-bye. They 
 were suddenly alarmed by the sound of a heavy fall. Rush- 
 ing upstairs, Mrs. Satterlee found her father lying on the 
 floor, also was unconscious. A stroke of paralysis had sounded 
 the knell of his departing day. The gallant soldier had fallen 
 at his post. The man of God was stricken down in the dis- 
 charge of duty. 
 
 In time he regained consciousness. During the long sum- 
 
268 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 mer which ensued, though terribly afflicted and suffering con- 
 stantly, he gradually regained sufficient strength to be re- 
 moved to his home m Columbia. Here from his office he was 
 able to attend to some of the affairs of the diocese. In the 
 meantime the Council of May, 1907, had elected the Rev. 
 William A. Guerry, Chaplain of Sewanee, as bishop coadjutor. 
 Upon his consecration Bishop Capers turned over to him the 
 greater part of the burdens and responsibilities of the work. 
 
 Few sights were more pathetic, and no mystery more 
 inscrutable, than the suffering and perfect helplessness of 
 Bishop and Mrs Capers, who after forty years of devoted 
 service to God and His Church, were both now crucified in 
 the flesh. But with several nurses and the unceasing atten- 
 tions of devoted friends, they were made as comfortable as 
 human love and sympathy and medical skill could make them. 
 And like the martyrs of the early Church, they found peace 
 and strength in each cheering the other and giving some direc- 
 tion or making some request that would in no small way minis- 
 ter to the other's necessity. 
 
 The Christ-like spirit of the Bishop is revealed in this expres- 
 sion of thankfulness which he sent to his children. This he 
 painfully and laboriously wrote and rewrote, that each of his 
 seven children might have a copy, and know how their father 
 felt in the midst of his overwhelming afflictions. 
 
 Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1907. 
 
 I give especial thanks to-day for the following blessings of 
 the past year : 
 
 1. That my precious wife is not suffering as she was on last 
 Thanksgiving Day, and that her life and my own have been 
 spared to my family. 
 
 2. For the love and devotion of my family, and for the 
 kindness of my friends in their many attentions. 
 
 3. For the beautiful weather which has favored my drives 
 all through the fall months. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 269 
 
 4. That I am to eat dinner with my family to-day, for the 
 first time since the 14th of June last. 
 
 5. For the hope I have of my ultimate recovery, after my 
 illness and utter prostration of June 14th of the past summer. 
 
 6. For my faith in God and His over-ruling care and love. 
 
 Devotedly your father, Ellison Capers. 
 
 During the ensuing winter, through the kindness of the 
 Standing Committee of the diocese. Bishop Capers made a 
 visit to the eastern shore of Florida. He was accompanied 
 by his son. Dean William T. Capers, and his daughter, Mrs. 
 C. B. Satterlee. This trip greatly improved him, and he clung 
 with splendid courage to the hope of ultimate recovery. How- 
 ever, during the latter part of April he had an attack which 
 terminated in a pleural trouble. 
 
 On April 3, 1908, Bishop Capers issued his last order, 
 which follows : 
 
 Diocese of South Carolina 
 Bishop's House 
 
 Columbia, S. C, April 3, 1908. 
 
 Seeing that my brother bishops are appointing clerical and 
 lay delegates to represent their dioceses in the forthcoming 
 Pan-Anglican Congress, to assemble at Westminster in June 
 next, I hereby appoint the following to represent the Diocese 
 of South Carolina in said congress, to-wit : Rev. John Ker- 
 shaw, D. D., Rev. W. P. Witsell, D. D., Rev. James M. 
 Magruder, A. M., Rev. H. J. Mikell, B. D., Mr. Robt. W. 
 Shand, Trinity Church; Mr. Thos. W. Bacot, St. Phillip's 
 Church ; Dr. Wm. H. Johnson, Grace Church. 
 
 To represent the Woman's Auxiliary in South Carolina : 
 Mrs. A. R. Hayward, Miss Mary C Pinckney, Miss S. P. 
 Carroll. Faithfully your Bishop in Christ, 
 
 Ellison Capers, 
 Diocese of South Carolina. 
 
270 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the last letter the bishop ever wrote. 
 
 Rev. a. R. Mitchell: 
 
 My Dear Bro. : A thousand thanks for your letter with its 
 cheering and most comforting words. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 Ellison Capers. 
 
 The last two weeks of his life were passed in the greatest 
 agony. Passion Week was a reality with him. 
 
 Between his paroxysms of pain the suffering Bishop apolo- 
 gized to the nurses for the trouble he was giving them, and 
 frequently reproached himself for complaining, saying that 
 a brave soldier never complained of pain or hardship. On 
 Good Friday he was crucified in the flesh, and during an inter- 
 val when his sufferings were alleviated he reproached himself 
 for the manner in which he had borne them, and he said to 
 those gathered about his bed. that he ought to be ashamed 
 of himself for complaining so; that when his Divine Master 
 was crucified there was not one to minister to Him, only some- 
 one to offer Him in mockery a bitter draught, while with him 
 all that love and sympathy, skill and loyalty, could contrive 
 was being done. On April 22 his noble spirit returned to 
 God who gave it. 
 
 The death of Ellison Capers removed the last surviving 
 brigadier general in South Carolina. It is related by his com- 
 rades that the bishop was an intrepid soldier. His men always 
 loved him and were absolutely confident in his ability as a 
 commander. Time after time he was "published" in the gen- 
 eral orders for distinguished service. He was often told by 
 his friends that he exposed himself and ran risks. "Expose 
 myself!" he remarked on one occasion, "that's what an officer 
 is for. We have a cause worth fighting for. and we have to 
 fight to win." 
 
 Intrepid, whole-hearted, well-poised, he was strong in influ- 
 ence that had been nobly won by great labors ; "a doer of things 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 271 
 
 worthy to be written; inheriting a dignity unapproached by 
 him who has merely written things worthy to be read" ; having 
 appHed the activities of Hfe to the loftiest uses, Bishop Capers 
 passed into the City of God, where, in the domain of spirits 
 forever blessed and glorified, those activities will ever move on, 
 
 "While life, and thought and being last, 
 Or immortality endures." 
 
 We print the following from the Columbia State: 
 
 CAPERS SLEEPS IN SACRED SOIL 
 
 Body of the Beloved Prelate Interred Yesterday. 
 
 The South's Great Sorrow — The Reverend Head 
 
 OF the Diocese Mourned by Many of All 
 
 Creeds and Stations in Life. 
 
 Capers sleeps. A dual warfare o'er, the warrior is at rest. 
 The clay which holds the dust of the Hamptons, the Pres- 
 tons, and Mannings now holds that of that other great South 
 Carolinian, whose soul, in peace, as in war, was attuned to 
 the great diapason of love of country, love of fellow-man, and 
 love of God. In war he rode grandly at the head of his 
 troopers ; in restoration after peace he was given the oppor- 
 tunity for the highest civic honors; in the battle against sin 
 his warrior soul was triumphant, and, as the prelate of a 
 great Church, he was honored, believed in, and loved by a 
 people representing the highest citizenship of this country. 
 
 Under the shadows of Trinity he sleeps. His regal soul has 
 gone to the realms of truth and love eternal; his noble form 
 enriches the dust which holds the mortal part of many of 
 South Carolina's great men. The sorrow occasioned by his 
 passing was Statewide, no creed, no station, but was not rep- 
 resented in that exhibition of love and veneration which in 
 floral tributes most beautiful mark his resting place. 
 
:^7^ THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 There was no sadness upon his beautiful brow, no mark 
 of suffering as he lay there, gazed at lovingly by those whose 
 hearts he had ennobled by words of truth. The bier which 
 held this princely dead was surrounded by many sorrowed 
 hearts, and yet they but felt that he lives, that he has pain no 
 more, that he has gone Home. The royal purple of his couch 
 typifies the regal life he has led; for some it would have 
 been ostentatious, for Ellison Capers it was no compliment, 
 but rather a fulfillment. God seemed to smile upon the day 
 when the soul of this great prelate was relieved from pain, 
 when the Church glorified in his reincarnation. Ellison Capers 
 seems not to have died, but to have been translated. 
 
 At the head of his bier in the chancel of Trinity there was 
 the significant floral suggestion "The Gates Ajar." Upon 
 the purple bound casket there were tributes in flowers repre- 
 senting the school in which his mind was trained ; the glorious 
 army in which his courageous life was as a benison; the 
 State which he loved and served and which he would have 
 loved to have served continuously but for that higher call ; 
 and representing the Church which for a generation he served 
 in meekness, with love and with power. 
 
 The funeral of Ellison Capers marked the passing of a man 
 glorious in war, honored in statecraft, beloved by those who 
 lived a blameless life. 
 
 The ceremonies attending the placing of his body in the 
 grave were fitly representative of his life. There were present 
 the representatives of many peoples and many creeds, and of 
 the black men whom the beloved dead had tried to uplift. The 
 great organ seemed to sob when the tender verses of Scripture 
 were chanted, and the hearts of all men were full when they 
 reflected upon the benediction of this well-spent life. 
 
 The funeral services over the body of Ellison Capers were 
 held at Trinity Church yesterday at 12.30 o'clock in the pres- 
 ence of a large congregation, representing every creed and 
 every station. It was an outpouring of love for the man who 
 has stood so high in the South as a soldier, a citizen, and a 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 273 
 
 churchman, combining all these qualities and with each win- 
 ning honor and esteem. 
 
 The service was conducted with the beautiful, yet simple, 
 ritual of the Episcopal Church. Every denomination was 
 represented, every creed paid this the last tribute of respect 
 to the man who stood so high in the estimation of his fellow- 
 men. 
 
 As the beautiful day broke yesterday morning, holy com- 
 munion was held, being conducted by Bishop Guerry and Rev. 
 Walter B. and William T. Capers. Afterward the doors of 
 the church were open to those who wished to pay their last 
 tribute of love and respect. At noon the clergy and members 
 of the church committees assembled in Satterlee Hall to pre- 
 pare for the funeral. In the rear of the church the united 
 choirs of the churches of Trinity and Good Shepherd assem- 
 bled, and at 12.30 the funeral services began with the proces- 
 sion to the church. On both sides of the aisles were drawn up 
 the members of the Wade Hampton Chapter of the United 
 Confederate Veterans. Many of these men had followed the 
 command of the beloved churchman, had witnessed his gal- 
 lantry in other fields, and in their own way wished to pay 
 their last tribute of respect to the dead soldier. The active 
 pall-bearers were the five sons and Dr. Wm. H. Johnson, his 
 son-in-law, these coming before the procession of the clergy. 
 
 The chancel and church were made beautiful with floral 
 tributes. The body of the Bishop rested upon the chancel, the 
 casket being draped in purple, the color of the robes of his 
 ofiice, and in the rear the beautiful Easter lilies lent sig^nifi- 
 cance to the solemn services. After a h3nnn, the funeral 
 services were opened by Bishop Guerry, and verses were read 
 by Dr. W. B. Gordon, of Camden, and Rev. K. G. Finlay, 
 of Camden. The prayer was read by Bishop Strange, and the 
 gospel by Bishop Nelson, Georgia. 
 
 With the solemn funeral hymn the body was then borne 
 to the grave in the churchyard, where it was gently lowered 
 to its last resting place by the relatives of the Bishop. Here 
 
274 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the funeral hymn was recited by Rev. WilHam T. Capers, and 
 the last committal recited by Bishop Guerry, this closing the 
 service. 
 
 Reviewing the work of Ellison Caper's episcopate, we find 
 that the 50 clergymen canonically resident in the diocese had 
 increased to 60; the 4000 communicants had grown to 8000 
 and over; the 310 teachers and 2753 scholars in the Sunday 
 schools had increased to 532 teachers and 4000 Sunday school 
 pupils. The 85 active congregations to be found in the diocese 
 at his consecration had increased to 100. During the year 
 closing with the Convention that elected Dr. Capers there was 
 raised for all purposes by the diocese $64,228.59; during the 
 year closing in May, 1906, the Church in South Carolina 
 raised $104,218.78; for diocesan missions $3,323.78; 1906, 
 $6,205.40; for general missions in 1893, $2,204.00; in 1906, 
 $4,760.00. During the same length of time 19 new churches 
 and chapels were built, and 41 men ordained by Bishop Capers 
 to the ministry. These statistics reveal remarkable progress 
 along all lines of church activity. 
 
 BISHOP ELLISON CAPERS" MEMORIAL HALL 
 
 From the inception of Bishop Capers' episcopate he took 
 a most loyal and sympathetic interest in the Church Home 
 and Orphanage. In the course of the second address he de- 
 livered to the Council as Bishop, he makes this reference: 
 
 "The Church Home and Orphanage lies very near to my 
 heart. I feel as sure as I can feel about anything in the 
 future, that if this diocese will do its full duty to this charity, 
 God will pour out a blessing upon us. And I am most thank- 
 ful to say to you, that there is an increasing interest shown 
 by the diocese. The Thanksgiving Day offerings this pasi 
 year have been more general, and in the aggregate have been 
 larger. But why is it that our rectors and missionaries will not 
 organize in their parishes and mission branches of the Church 
 Orphanage Association? The parish at Union enjoys the dis- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 275 
 
 tinction of being the only parish outside of Charleston that 
 maintains a 'branch.' If you would cultivate the interests of 
 your people, organize them, and train them through such 
 organizations to be co-workers with Christ and His Church in 
 feeding and shepherding the lambs of the fold!" 
 
 As years advanced Bishop Capers' interest in the Orphanage 
 increased, and under his fostering care the institution strength- 
 ened. After his death the Church Home was moved from 
 Charleston. South Carolina, to Yorkville. South Carolina, and 
 the institution re-established along larger and more efficient 
 lines. Bishop Capers loved the Orphanage and the orphans. 
 It was fitting, therefore, that the diocese should erect to his 
 memory the Ellison Capers Memorial Hall as a part of that 
 institution and as the diocese's witness to his work for the 
 fatherless and aged. 
 
 The Capers Memorial Hall cost ten thousand dollars, which 
 amount was raised by public subscription. It has a capacity 
 for accommodating perhaps fifty orphan children. In his 
 address at the laying of the corner-stone of this memorial the 
 Rev. John Kershaw. D. D.. the orator of the occasion, said: 
 
 "Perhaps it would be true to say that this work appealed 
 more to his great and loving heart than any other institution 
 in the diocese. I feel sure that if he could be consulted he 
 would give to this undertaking his most cordial approval and 
 sanction. I feel also sure that if in his present resting-place 
 he is permitted to know w^hat is going forward here to-day, 
 he rejoices in this labor of love that testifies that he has not 
 been forgotten. When those who knew him in the flesh have 
 all followed him. this memorial will remain, a witness of his 
 people's love, a shelter for the fatherless, a home of peace, 
 wherein the love of God is shed abroad, a sanctuary redolent 
 with the sweet savor of prayer and praise. May it abide as a 
 visible token of our belief in the communion of saints, as a 
 constant reminder of one of those who have been the choice 
 vessels of God's grace and the lights of the world in their 
 several generations." 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 TRIBUTES FROM THE EPISCOPATE 
 
 The diocese of Missouri showed her profound respect 
 through the pen of Bishop D. S. Tuttle, the presiding Bishop 
 of the Church : 
 
 Sweet reasonableness is an engaging element in the make-up 
 of a man's character, and it is of itself a force of persuasive- 
 ness in his influence among his fellowmen. In Bishop Capers 
 it was conspicuous. The look of his eye was kindly. The 
 lighting of his handsome face was winning, the tone of his 
 voice was gentle. Not but that there was also strength and 
 resoluteness in his make-up to fit him to be the warrior that 
 he was upon the actual field of battle. But, whatever was 
 his iron hand of power to use, it was ever unclothed upon 
 by the soft velvet of thoughtful consideration. 
 
 Action with him was strong, because faith was strong and 
 devotion to duty was strong. The soldierly virtues shone 
 in him gloriously, but the gentleman held them in firm grasp 
 and ever used them to help and not to hurt. 
 
 His influence in the House of Bishops grew out of his 
 lovely and noble character; unstinted affection, unlimited 
 confidence, and unfailing loyalty of comradeship and attach- 
 ment were accorded him by all its members. I know that the 
 late Bishop of New York, Henry C. Potter, statesman that 
 he was, held him in high esteem and looked upon him as 
 one of the most valuable men in the House of Bishops in 
 his contributions to its wisdom of counsel and action. 
 
 I saw him last at Columbia, when confinement in the sick- 
 room prevented his longed for presence in the church at the 
 
 276 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 277 
 
 consecration of his coadjutor. His patience and Christian 
 submission and sweet cheer fuhiess seemed wonderful. 
 
 Recalhng the tower of strength that he had been for years 
 in the House of Bishops, and in his loved diocese of South 
 Carolina, which was to him as the apple of his eye, I could 
 not but thank God for his earthly life about which now the 
 evening shadows were falling, and thank God again that I 
 had known him and been helped by him, the brave soldier, 
 the courteous gentleman, the loved and trusted leader of the 
 hosts of Christ's Church Militant here on earth. 
 
 The diocese of New York spoke through Bishop Potter in 
 these words : 
 
 It casts a somber light upon the Church, not alone in South 
 Carolina but throughout the United States, to learn, as we 
 have done in New York of late, of the death of our dear 
 friend Bishop Capers. 
 
 He became endeared to some of us for the first time in 
 connection with the General Convention of 190T, which sat, 
 as will be remembered, in San Francisco, and the writer was 
 privileged then to enjoy his society as his guest in the house 
 which dear friends in San Francisco had placed at his disposal. 
 
 No one under that roof at that time will ever forget those 
 liappy days, nor the sweet and gracious influence of that rare 
 personality which was incarnated in the late Bishop of South 
 Carolina:. 
 
 It is not given to all men to be enriched by various contacts 
 and services. They select them with courage, and discharge 
 them with fidelity; but are often wont to be hardened by the 
 variety of responsibilties and of service which have come to 
 them. But in Bishop Capers' case it was impossible to be- 
 lieve that he had ever touched life at any point without draw- 
 ing from it something which made his own character, and in 
 the episcopate his high ministry, of greater beauty, dignity, 
 self-sacrifice, and gracious comprehension. 
 
278 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Those of us who are Northern men and women felt this 
 perhaps most keenly in connection with his relation to that 
 wider life which is the life of the republic as distinguished 
 from the life of the family, or the Church, or even the State. 
 Bishop Capers was a born statesman. He had a genius for 
 seeing the other side of things — the political problems, the 
 moral emergencies, and other ecclesiastical tasks than his 
 own; and in the House of Bishops illustrated a breadth of 
 vision, a fine serenity of temper, and a most gracious and win- 
 ning spirit which endeared him to all who knew him. 
 
 The writer of these lines cannot venture to trust himself 
 to speak of what Bishop Capers came to be to him in their 
 personal relations. But the beautiful quality in his speech, 
 in his every act, in relations with all sorts and conditions of 
 men, which made one sensible at once that he was truly human 
 in his sympathies and as divine in his standards, will always 
 live as a gracious and benignant inspiration. 
 
 The diocese of South Carolina must needs mourn, and 
 the whole Church mourns with it. 
 
 From Boston, Mass., came this tribute from Bishop Wil- 
 liam Lawrence : 
 
 Office of the Bishop, — Boston 
 
 Bishop Capers had a rather unique position in the esteem 
 of the bishops, certainly of many of them. We North- 
 ern bishops, at all events, and I assume also the Southern 
 bishops, looked upon him as a typical Southern gentleman 
 of the best sort. He had done excellent service in the War. 
 He had accepted defeat in fine spirit, and had thrown in his 
 interests loyally with the national Government. 
 
 He was a man of wide experience. He had a right, there- 
 fore, to assume a position and authority superior to most 
 men. On the contrary, he was one of the most modest, sensi- 
 tive, self-effacing men that I ever knew. He did not have 
 that form of self-effacement which enables you to forget 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 279 
 
 him or to count him for nothing. On the contrary, one al- 
 ways felt his presence and his force of character; and after 
 all the others had spoken, one turned to him with the convic- 
 tion that he had something to say, if he would only say it, 
 which would add wisdom to the discussion. 
 
 I had the great pleasure of sitting beside him during the 
 three weeks of one convention, I think it was in \A^ashington. 
 I said to him again and again, "Bishop, why don't you speak 
 up? You know more about the subject than some of those 
 who are talking." He either modestly deprecated my request, 
 or said, "AVait, and before they get through they will proba- 
 bly say everything that I would have said." When, however, 
 he did speak, and it was not frequently, all the bishops listened 
 intently, appreciating not only the beauty and dignity of his 
 character, but the worth of what he had to say. 
 
 It was always interesting to me to note how he would in 
 the presence of any company seem at first to be a bit 
 out of his element, or at all events in the background; but 
 after a while it was felt by all that he was there, and in 
 time, in a perfectly quiet and unassuming way, he would have 
 found his position in the center of a group who turned to 
 him with interest and affection, for there was a charm to his 
 talk and manner that won affection as well as confidence. 
 
 There was always about him, too, a play of quiet humor. I 
 remember one day when the nominations for missionary bishops 
 were in order and one bishop after another had recounted the 
 excellent qualities of the man whom he was nominating. Bishop 
 Capers turned to me and said, "Bishop, what becomes of all 
 these paragons that are always brought before us in nomina- 
 tion? Some of them must get into this House, but we are 
 rather a commonplace company. What becomes of the 
 paragons?" 
 
 He also had this grace. He was an Evangelical through 
 and through in his theology and temperament, but there was 
 no sharpness of theological line or party spirit in his make-up. 
 
 Bishop Potter of New York took great pleasure in his com- 
 
28o THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 pany and great satisfaction in having him move about the dio- 
 cese holding confirmations. As he said to me once himself, 
 "Capers is such a gentleman, a type of Southern chivalry, that 
 it does the New^ York people good to have him about." 
 
 From Albany, New York, came the tribute of Bishop Wil- 
 liam C. Doan, D. D., LL. D., D. C. L. : 
 
 Anything connected with Bishop Capers' memory is very 
 welcome and very attractive to me. 
 
 He was not much given to taking any part in the discussions 
 of the House, yet he had that infinite attractiveness which made 
 everyone feel that his presence there was in itself a benediction. 
 
 He and I were always in entire accord, and I had a very real 
 love for him. Certainly his influence was "a harmonizing in- 
 fluence." My association with him is one of the dearest and 
 most delightful recollections of my long presence in the House 
 of Bishops. 
 
 TRIBUTE FROM BISHOP GUERRY OF SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 Walking recently through St. Michael's churchyard, 
 Charleston, with a very dear friend, we came to a monument 
 which was a broken column with a wreath attached. My 
 companion asked me what was the significance of the broken 
 column, to which I replied that it meant that the career of 
 the man whom it commemorated had been cut short. 
 
 No such monument would be fitting if erected over the 
 grave of Bishop Capers. His life was complete — the most 
 complete, the most useful in the broadest and highest sense, 
 that I have ever known. It is difficult to conceive how his 
 field of service could have been enlarged or what higher 
 honors his Church and his grateful countrymen could have 
 bestowed upon him. 
 
 An assistant professor in the South Carolina Military 
 Academy, a brigadier general in the Confederate army, for 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 281 
 
 a short time Secretary of State, afterward priest and bishop 
 in the Church of God, and for the last five years of his Hfe 
 Chancellor of the University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn., 
 it has been given to few men to have touched so many sides 
 of a people's life and to possess the qualities of mind and 
 heart which made him eminently successful in them all. 
 
 It is this fullness of life, this all-roundness of character, 
 this many-sidedness of service, that impresses one most when 
 viewing the life and career of Bishop Capers. 
 
 His life was complete so far as this world could make it 
 so. Our Father has added to its richness and its joy by call- 
 ing His servant to still higher forms of service and blessed- 
 ness in the Paradise of God. 
 
 Phillips Brooks once said that he believed that after death 
 he would continue to preach the glorious gospel of Jesus 
 Christ to those who in this life had had small opportunity of 
 hearing it. 
 
 And it may be said that our great-hearted bishop is still 
 exercising that ministry of love and reconciliation which was 
 his joy and happiness here. 
 
 There is one other characteristic of the Bishop's life of 
 which I desire to make special mention, and that is his power 
 of growth and development. It so frequently happens that 
 when a man has passed the prime of life he shows a strange 
 inability to take on new ideas or to adapt himself to new 
 conditions. He becomes unprogressive and stereotyped. But 
 such was not the case with Bishop Capers. He was a grow- 
 ing man, spiritually and intellectually, in each new field of 
 service to which, in the providence of God, he was called. 
 
 As rector of Trinity Church, Columbia, and afterward as 
 bishop of the diocese, he was distinctly a stronger and abler 
 man than when he was a parish priest in Greenville, S. C. 
 His powers of mind and heart increased with his years and 
 with his responsibilities. The Master made him a larger 
 man and then gave him that larger truth of which his enlarged 
 faith had made him capable. 
 
282 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Others have said that his greatest work as bishop was to 
 have reunited a divided diocese and to have restored peace 
 and harmony to the family of God. But his great work 
 of love and reconciliation did not end with this, of his own 
 Church. We venture to think that South Carolina has never 
 had a bishop who has done more to break down prejudice 
 against the Episcopal Church and to commend it to the fav- 
 orable consideration of all men than Bishop Capers. He con- 
 ceived of his ministry as including all men — white and black, 
 rich and poor, dissenter and Churchman — in the one Body 
 of Christ. More people in South Carolina could say of him 
 when they met him, "This is my bishop," than of any other 
 bishop that South Carolina has ever produced. He was not 
 the bishop of a few Episcopalians, but of the Catholic Church, 
 which includes among its members all who have been baptized 
 with water in the name of the Trinity. To me the greatest 
 legacy he has left the Church in South Carolina in his catholic- 
 minded spirit, his freedom from narrowness, and his large- 
 hearted charity. And yet Bishop Capers was far from being 
 what men call a "Low Churchman." He was a loyal son 
 of the Church. He believed in her divine mission and au- 
 thority. He was tolerant not from lack of conviction, but 
 because he was sure of his own position and of the truth of 
 the Church's claims. He believed that the Episcopal Church 
 had a great mission to fulfill to all people of every class and 
 race and station. He has outlined a policy and an attitude 
 toward our separated brethren which we would do well to 
 follow. He has laid foundations upon which we who come 
 after can safely build. 
 
 "May light perpetual shine upon him." May the peace 
 of God be his, and may we with him and all others who have 
 departed this life in the faith of Christ have our perfect 
 consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in God's 
 eternal and everlasting Kingdom. 
 
 The diocese of Tennessee voiced her sentiments through this 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 283 
 
 expression of Bishop Gailor, who succeeded Bishop Capers as 
 chancellor of the University of the South : 
 
 I first met Bishop Capers at the General Convention in Bal- 
 timore in 1892. He was then rector of Trinity Church, 
 Columbia, and in the full vigor of his splendid manhood. I 
 was impressed immediately by his commanding presence, his 
 dignified but most gracious courtesy, and, above all, by the 
 simple directness of his Christian character. 
 
 We were consecrated bishops-coadjutor the same year, 
 1893, and together we were introduced to the House of 
 Bishops at the General Convention in Minneapolis, 1895. For 
 twelve years thereafter it was my privilege to know him inti- 
 mately and to be blessed with his unreserved confidence and 
 affection. I write about him now out of a full heart, for 
 we took sweet counsel together and walked in the house of 
 God as friends. 
 
 I have never seen, and never expect to see, a truer Chris- 
 tian or a finer gentleman than Bishop Ellison Capers. 
 
 With all his playful fancy, joyous and compelling humor, 
 he never forgot — he never let anyone forget — whose servant 
 he was and whose grace it was that made him stand. 
 
 It was his living, quickening faith that endowed him with 
 the charm and buoyancy of perpetual youth. It was the 
 divine love that filled his heart and expressed itself in un- 
 studied courtesy and exquisite refinement of thought and teel- 
 ing, so that his "strength was gentle and his gentleness was 
 strong." 
 
 Too often perhaps he depreciated his own powers in a 
 spirit of humility most wonderful in one who had been per- 
 mitted to win such high honor as a soldier on many bloody 
 fields and afterward in the councils of the Church. But those 
 who knew him revered his judgment and admired the clear- 
 ness of his intellectual vision and the force and beauty of 
 his eloquence, while they delighted in his conversation and 
 rejoiced in his love. 
 
284 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 For he was a great soul, a noble apostle, a servant of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Bishop Edwin G. Weed, bishop of the diocese of Florida, 
 paid the following affectionate and beautiful tribute to the 
 memory of Bishop Capers : 
 
 In the passing of Bishop Capers from a life on this earth 
 to a life closer to the Master, the Church has lost one of 
 her wisest and most honored leaders. Accustomed to com- 
 mand almost from his youth, we might have expected Bishop 
 Capers to display more of the military disposition in his 
 leadership, but the teaching of the Master took deep root in 
 his soul. He seemed ever to have in mind those memorable 
 words, "Whosoever of you will be chiefest shall be servant 
 of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered 
 unto, but to minister and give his life a ransom for many." 
 
 He did not give startling commands; rather he found a 
 way which his followers could easily take. Possessing a rare 
 perception of the capacities of men, he never attempted im- 
 possibilities, but developed the latent strength and powers of 
 those around him and made the best use of individuals. 
 
 Like the Master, he possessed a strange attractive power. 
 Wherever he went, he drew men unto him. They might dis- 
 agree with him, might underrate his ability, but once in his 
 presence they felt his power and found themselves ready to 
 obey his wishes. 
 
 I shall never forget the time when it became necessary 
 to select a strong man, of strong personality and of winning 
 manner, to push forward a purpose which seemed vital to 
 one of our committees in the General Convention which con- 
 vened at Minneapolis, 1895. Bishop Capers had not been in the 
 episcopate long, only a few months, and it was his first attend- 
 ance upon the meetings of the committee. The other members 
 of the committee scarcely knew him, but such was his impres- 
 sion, I found their short acquaintance had led them to a true 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 285 
 
 estimate of his character, and every member with one voice 
 asked him to undertake the mission. It is needless to say he 
 wiUingly undertook the task anrl accomphshed tlic purpose 
 we were anxious to carry out. 
 
 There was something:;' about Bishop Capers which made 
 everyone who came in contact with him for any length of 
 time to think about the Master. T am sure many will bear 
 testimony with nic thai ho brought out by his life, manner, 
 and words many features of our Lord's life which had been 
 only faintly realized. 
 
 His brightness and cheerfulness made us understand the 
 Lord's presence at the wedding feast and the feast of Levi. 
 When we saw his intense sympathy for suffering humanity 
 we could easily appreciate the Lord's long journey to com- 
 fort Mary and I\Tartha. Loving souls with a true love, he 
 was firm and unyielding when sin stood in the way. but was 
 always ready to spend and be spent to lift up one individual. 
 His life, like the ATastcr's, was a constructive life. There 
 was nothing negative or destructive about it. 
 
 The purpose of his life was to do good. 
 
 May his soul rest in peace, is the prayer of one who mourns 
 his loss. 
 
 Speaking f(^r North Carolina, Bishop J. B. Cheshire wrote: 
 
 We have lost one of our nearest neighbors among the 
 bishops of the Church, the Right Reverend Ellison Capers, 
 Bishop of South Carolina. 
 
 I v\'as able to attend his funeral, as a very inadequate ex- 
 pression of the respect and affection I had learned to feel for 
 him during an ac(iuaintance of nearly twenty years. T have 
 seldom known so beatitiful and attractive a personality or 
 so pure and exalted a character. For most of us it is a hard 
 struggle to gain even a little inward grace to subdue the 
 grosser elements of our mortal nature, and we must trust to 
 the charity and forbearance of our brethren in judging our 
 
286 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 best qualities and endeavors. With him, the inward grace 
 seemed so perfectly to have accomplished its work in the 
 heart and spirit that its life and warmth could not be confined, 
 but must shine out upon all around. A singularly successful 
 and happy life was his, and all who came even into casual 
 contact with him had part in its success and happiness. 
 
 He was one of the youngest generals in the Confederate 
 arm3\ and soon after the war was made Secretary of State 
 of South Carolina. Abandoning political life, he devoted 
 himself to the work of the ministry, and as deacon, presbyter, 
 and bishop commanded universal love and respect. There 
 has been no public man in South Carolina since the war who 
 has enjoyed through his whole life up to the day of his death 
 such universal popular confidence and afifection. 
 
 His personality was a distinct and valuable asset in the 
 resources of the Church in that State. As a bishop he was 
 faithful, diligent, full of love for his people, for his work, 
 for his brethren. We who knew him feel that we have known 
 very few like him ; and in the knowledge that such characters 
 can be produced out of our human nature by divine grace we 
 thank God and take courage." 
 
 The following from the Bishop of Atlanta, the Rt. Rev. 
 C. K. Nelson, D. D., indicates the sympathy the Church in 
 Georgia felt for South Carolina in her loss : 
 
 My first acquaintance with Bishop Capers occurred on a 
 visit to South Carolina in aid of Bishop Howe in the fall of 
 1892, in calling upon him while rector of Trinity Church, 
 Columbia. 
 
 The delightful first impression created, increased with every 
 meeting in private or in public. His bonhomie was a char- 
 acteristic which never failed him. and this quality was more 
 marked in him than in any man that I ever met. Brotherly 
 kindness and charity were in him, the most perfectly developed 
 Christian traits. In council, whether on the floor or in the chair. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 287 
 
 one could not fail to mark his unvarying courtesy, his perfect 
 fairness, and his subordination of himself to the business and 
 interests which he served. Not only could not bitterness exist 
 where he was present, but his voice, his manner, his action, 
 his whole attitude in deliberation, combined conciliation with 
 fearlessness. 
 
 "Love as brethren," may be said to be the text of his life. 
 
 In the House of Bishops, of which he was a distinguished 
 member, his influence was felt from the moment of his ap- 
 pearance with us. No partisanship ever sullied his argument ; 
 no selfishness could be traced in his motives, and the good of 
 the whole Church, the benefit of humanity, and the infusion 
 of the Christ spirit were his study and delight. 
 
 The real source of his power and influence was his manli- 
 ness preserved in studious imitation of his Divine Lord and 
 Master. 
 
 See House, 
 New Orleans, La. 
 My Dear Brother: 
 
 I was glad to hear that you are to write a life of your 
 dear father, and I wish you the fullest success. It would 
 give me great pleasure to sen-e you, if I could do so; but I 
 regret that I have no reminiscences of special facts or details 
 that could add to your material. I deeply prized your father's 
 friendship, and warmly reciprocated it. He was one of the 
 most lovable men I have ever known. His personality pos- 
 sessed a rare charm and magnetism. 
 
 He had the sweetness of a beautiful spirit; the serenity 
 of a deep personal religion; the strength of a most knightly 
 and consecrated manhood. As gentle and strong, he held 
 his own convictions with considerate fairness and noble 
 patience toward others. 
 
 Fearless and humble alike, companionship with him was 
 a delight; besides his gift of calm judgment, he had the wisdom 
 of vision which is born of goodness. With an experience 
 of human nature won on fields of service very diverse, yet 
 
288 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 alike calling for the lofty chivalry of unselfish courage and 
 utmost self-sacrifice, he truly fought a good fight. 
 
 He loved men, and longed to be a helper; and I thank 
 God for the privilege of having known this gallant and 
 tender soul. He was sincerely revered among his brethren; 
 and in their affectionate memories of him they will think of 
 his persuasiveness, of his fragrant and beautiful loyalty to 
 Christ his King, and of a personality richly dowered with 
 sweet and compelling graces. 
 
 I shall always cherish his name with reverent admiration. 
 
 Again wishing you a highly successful accomplishment of 
 the grateful task you have undertaken, and with cordial greet- 
 ings, 
 
 I am sincerely yours, 
 
 David Sessums. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 TRIBUTES FROM THE CLERGY 
 
 This chapter and the one immediately following comprise a 
 portion of the tributes of respect and honor paid to the de- 
 ceased Bishop Capers by clergy, laymen, and the press. 
 
 PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL OF 
 THE DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 Immediately after the funeral of our late Bishop, at a meet- 
 ing of the clergy and laity Bishop Guerry appointed a com- 
 mittee to prepare resolutions on the death of Bishop Capers 
 and report to the Annual Council. The committee, consisting of 
 Rev. W. B. Gordon, Rev. John Kershaw, D. D., Rev. A. R. 
 Mitchell, Rev. W. P. Witsell. and Messrs. R. W. Shand, P. 
 T. Hayne, R. I. Manning, and T. W. Bacot, reported the 
 following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted by 
 the Council : 
 
 The Church in South Carolina mourns the prince and great 
 man that has recently fallen in our Israel. For well-nigh 
 fifteen years the Right Reverend Ellison Capers, doctor of 
 divinity and bishop of this diocese, was to all the flock of 
 Christ therein a loving and faithful chief shepherd and a 
 true father in God to the under-shepherds, his clergy. Elected 
 at the Council of 1893 ^"d consecrated 20th July of the 
 same year, he served the Church to the end with earnestness, 
 ability, and wisdom, bringing to the work a mind well stored 
 wath the teachings of God's Holy Word, a heart full of gener- 
 ous love for all mankind, and a personality of rare charm 
 and attractiveness. The soldierly qualities that had brought 
 
 289 
 
290 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 him merited distinction in the war for Southern independence, 
 and that had endeared him to the people of the State irre- 
 spective of ecclesiastical affiliations, and the patriotic devo- 
 tions he had shown in serving South Carolina in peace as well 
 as in war, continued to characterize him as a good soldier of 
 Jesus Christ and as a faithful servant of his Church, while 
 his broad sympathies, extending to and covering men of every 
 ecclesiastical name, and even of no name, drew to him the 
 hearts of all, making him in many respects the State's first 
 citizen as well as the Church's chief officer. When not quite 
 a year ago he was stricken down, there was, throughout the 
 State, an universal expression of profound and sympathetic 
 regret, and from the hearts and lips of great multitudes assem- 
 bled in the houses of God and about the family altar ascended 
 prayers and supplications to the one Father of all on his be- 
 half. The progress of his illness was followed throughout 
 by an interest and affection that was restrained and unobtru- 
 sive, but nevertheless strong and unfailing, when, on the 
 22d day of April, he breathed his last the hearts of all his 
 fellow-citizens were bowed as the heart of one man, in un- 
 affected grief. 
 
 None could have witnessed the great throngs that attended 
 his funeral services and stood about his grave, bearing in their 
 beautiful floral tributes and on their faces the marks of deep 
 and sincere sorrow, without realizing that he had indeed in- 
 spired and awakened in many hearts the divine grace of love, 
 and that they felt that in him they had lost, not alone their 
 bishop, but their friend. But far beyond the bounds of his 
 native State and diocese had his influence extended and his 
 winning personality drawn men to him. His brother bishops 
 loved, admired, and sought him. He was always listened to 
 by them with marked attention and sympathy; they valued 
 his counsel, they trusted his judgment, they relied on his 
 sympathy. Hailed as the healer of dissensions within his own 
 diocese, he has borne the character of mediator in other and 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 291 
 
 larger spheres, winning a place most enviable and uncommon 
 as among the peace-makers, whom our Lord pronounced 
 blessed and declared that they should be called the children 
 of God. 
 
 When he was consecrated to his high office it was asked of 
 him: "Will you show yourself gentle, and be merciful for 
 Christ's sake to poor and needy people, and to all strangers 
 destitute for help?" and he answered, "I will so show myself 
 by God's help." So open-handed was he by nature, and so 
 much more so by grace, that none appealed to him in vain, 
 the w^orthy, and often, doubtless, the unworthy also, for he 
 was not extreme in scrutinizing the justness or otherwise of 
 the appeals made, but quickly let fall upon them and those 
 making them the mantle of mercy and charity. 
 
 Thus, though not omitting to provide for those nearest and 
 dearest to him, he employed his means as would the faithful 
 steward and the trusted almoner of his Master, and so while 
 in his case the question. How much did he leave? will not 
 be asked, yet we may permit ourselves to rejoice in that he 
 laid up treasure in heaven and left to his own family, and to 
 that larger family that we represent, the riches that flow from 
 the answer of a good conscience toward God and the large 
 legacv of an example full of inspiration and inciting to noble 
 emulation. A life so rich in its powder to help and uplift, so 
 rare in its qualities of unselfishness, courage, faith, patience, 
 and generous sympathy, should not be permitted to pass un- 
 sisrnalized ; rather should a memorial be erected to our beloved 
 chief pastor, the seventh in the succession of South Carolina's 
 bishops, that shall perpetuate his name and character in a 
 manner w^orthy of him. and of the State and diocese that are 
 so greatly his debtors ; therefore. 
 
 Resolved, That in the life of Bishop Capers the Church in 
 South Carolina has much for which to be thankful, and in his 
 death much for which to sorrow, yet not as those who have 
 no hope, but as those who, with confidence, look for the gen- 
 
292 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 eral resurrection in the last day, and the life of the world 
 to come through our Lord Jesus Christ, bowing with filial sub- 
 mission to the will of our Heavenly Father, who has called 
 for his faithful soldier and servant from the labor and war- 
 fare of the Church Militant to enter that rest that remameth 
 for the children of God. 
 
 Resolved, That a suitable memorial of him be undertaken 
 by the Church in this diocese, its exact form to be decided 
 after proper deliberation, that shall in some measure be ex- 
 pressive of our appreciation of his life, character, and services. 
 
 Resolved, That a page of the Journal of this Council be 
 appropriately inscribed to his memory. 
 
 Resolved, That his successor in office be requested to convey 
 to Mrs. Capers and the other members of his family the pro- 
 found sympathies of the clergy and laity of the diocese in their 
 sorrow. 
 
 TRIBUTE FROM EAST CAROLINA 
 
 Resolved, That the Convocation of Edenton, Diocese of East 
 Carolina, assembled in St. Peter's Church, Washington, N. C, 
 has learned with profound sorrow of the death of the Rt. Rev. 
 Ellison Capers, D. D., Bishop of the Diocese of South 
 Carolina. 
 
 We record our appreciation and remembrance of his visita- 
 tion to our several parishes during the disability of our 
 beloved Bishop Watson. Truly a beloved and saintly man 
 has been called to his reward, and we devoutly thank God for 
 his life and example, as well as extend to his bereaved ones 
 our sincere sympathy. 
 
 Charles D. Malone, 
 Nathaniel Harding, 
 
 Committee. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 293 
 
 EDITORIAL FROM "tHE DIOCESE/' MEMORIAL EDITION, 
 
 MAY, 1908. 
 
 In these very columns we have set forth the splendid re- 
 sults of the episcopate of this noble prince of the Church. 
 There is no need to repeat now what has been so recently 
 written for these columns, and more recently quoted in the 
 daily papers of the State. But we do desire to call attention 
 here to some of the characteristics that made Bishop Capers 
 an intrinsically and really great man. We knew him inti- 
 mately — almost as a son knows a father. We feel that we can 
 write what we do know in this matter. And we would say, 
 first, that Bishop Capers was an absolutely genuine man. 
 There was no pretentiousness about him, and all double- 
 dealing and hypocrisy were hateful to him. He "best seemed 
 the thing he was." His noble sincerity of soul and beautiful 
 simplicity of character and manner won all hearts, and gave 
 him, like his Master, a strange attractive power. 
 
 Second, we would say, that the Bishop was not only trans- 
 parently genuine, but also unaffectedly human. He ever felt 
 himself a brother of all men, and was never out of tune with 
 any of the varying strings of the harp of true human life. 
 He was always keenly interested in all that pertained to the 
 welfare of his fellows, in the sphere of the home, the State, 
 or the Church. It often happens that separation from one's 
 fellows by circumstances of office, rank, and station puts the 
 heart out of touch with the feelings, hopes, and aspirations 
 of the ordinary man; but never was this true of him of whom 
 we now write. 
 
 And like all men who are essentially noble, he was humble 
 of heart. For without 
 
 "True humility, the highest virtue, mother of them all," 
 
 no one can be great in his personality. Certain it was that 
 he never thought of himself more highly than he ought to 
 have thought, but rather did he "esteem himself lowly in his 
 
294 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 own eyes." Or, perhaps, it would be more true to say that he 
 scarcely thought of himself at all, but only of his God, his 
 Saviour, and his fellow-men and what he could do for them. 
 
 As illustrative of this characteristic, we quote here the last 
 words we ever heard him say, spoken about twenty hours be- 
 fore his death : 
 
 "Well, Witsell, I am sorry that I could not do more for the 
 Church. I have not done much, but I have done the best 
 that I could." How like the holy and humble man of heart 
 that he was ! The reply was : "Ah, dear Bishop, you have 
 done a noble work, a great work, and your brethren thank 
 God for you and your work." 
 
 Yes, he was absolutely genuine, lovabl}'^ human, beautifully 
 humble, and also always and heartily faithful. In the splendid 
 sermon published elsewhere in this issue the Bishop greatly 
 exalts this virtue, and thereby gives to us one of the secrets of 
 his glorious career. He carried a faithful and true heart into 
 every state of life to which it pleased God to call him. 
 
 Any analysis of the personality of our late Bishop that did 
 not reveal him as a man of love would be exceedingly 
 defective. 
 
 If there was any pre-eminence among the virtues of his 
 well-rounded, full-orbed character, it must be given to the 
 spirit of love. We think that we can almost hear him say: 
 
 "But this it was that made me move 
 As Hght as carrier birds in air ; 
 [ loved the weight I had to bear, 
 Because it needed help of love. 
 
 "Nor could I weary, heart or limb 
 When mighty love would cleave in twain 
 The lading of a single pain, 
 And part it giving half to Him." 
 
 It was not then to be wondered at that he 'was successful as 
 priest and bishop, nor it is to be wondered at that men — his 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 295 
 
 soldiers, his fellow-citizens, his clergy, and his brother bishops 
 — delig-hted to honor him and to give him of their love, and 
 felt that in so doing both love and honor were worthily be- 
 stowed. 
 
 Here, then, is the imperfect and poorly made verbal por- 
 trait of this noble man and splendid bishop as he was in him- 
 self. Of him as he was in his work we have written at lenerth 
 at other times. Of what he was to us personally we cannot 
 permit ourself to write here. Suffice it to say that we regard 
 it as one of the richest blessings and greatest responsibilities 
 of our life that we should have had the confidence, friendship, 
 and love of this great and good man. He was more than a 
 faithful bishop to us- — he was also a true and fatherly friend. 
 And we heartily thank God that through His Son Jesus Christ 
 we can go on loving him forever. — W. P. Witscll. Editor. 
 
 The following "Recollections" of the Rev. A. R. Mitchell 
 (Rector of Christ Church. Greenville, of which parish Bishop 
 Capers was twenty years rector), may illustrate the apprecia- 
 tion of those who knew Bishop Capers intimately: 
 
 In writing these imperfect recollections of Bishop Ellison 
 Capers, a man made in a large mold and fashioned after the 
 likeness of Christ, I must go back to the time when I first met 
 and heard him. 
 
 It was when a boy at the old Holy Communion Church 
 Institute, Charleston. S. C. now called the Porter Military 
 Academy, that my recollections began. 
 
 It was the custom of the Episcopal churches in Charleston, 
 about the seventies, for all the Sunday schools to assemble in 
 old St. Paul's Church every Whitsun-Tuesday for a great 
 celebration. At this service reports were read from the re- 
 spective Sunday schools, and addresses were made by dis- 
 tinguished clergymen and prominent laymen. It was an occa- 
 sion which the children looked forward to with much pride 
 and pleasure. The Sunday schools were marched through the 
 
296 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 streets from their respective churches, floating their banners 
 with various devices. 
 
 On one of these occasions, in 1877, the Rev. Elhson Capers, 
 then the eloquent and beloved rector of Christ Church, Green- 
 ville, S. C, was requested to make the principal address. His 
 great valor and bravery in the Civil War, his stirring memorial 
 addresses on the "Lost Cause," were known to every school- 
 boy, and the anticipated delight of hearing General Capers, 
 as he was then called, was clearly pictured in the faces of all, 
 especially in the faces of the boys of the H. C. C I., who wore 
 the gray uniforms. 
 
 I can remember as he rose in the chancel to speak how his 
 manly form, his handsome face, and benign countenance im- 
 pressed everyone, and eagerly did the children listen to his 
 earnest, eloquent, and telling words. Never, never, can 
 his words be forgotten by those who were privileged to hear 
 him. 
 
 After arousing the attention of the children by his sweet, 
 gentle manner and his loving greetings, he spoke particularly 
 of the Christian soldier, which he said we all were by virtue 
 of baptism. He said in substance that the same qualifications 
 and characteristics that were necessary to make a man a good 
 soldier in time of war were necessary to make a good Chris- 
 tian soldier. That was, faith in one's cause, courage and 
 earnest conviction of duty, obedience to those in authority, 
 and the true spirit of self-sacrifice. He most beautifully de- 
 scribed the Christian armor, and spoke of the success that 
 awaited those who fought under the banner of Jesus Christ. 
 To impress upon the young minds before him the necessity of 
 always looking to God for strength and guidance, he cited 
 an experience of his own during the Civil War. 
 
 "Children," said he, "I don't care how brave and coura- 
 geous a man may be, in the time of battle and danger he will 
 instinctively and inevitably call upon God for help. Just be- 
 fore the battle of Jackson I was spying out the ground to see 
 where best to pitch our guns for the battle the next day. It 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 297 
 
 was nearly twilight, and as I rode down into some low ground 
 where there was a field of high corn I heard a familiar voice 
 offering the most earnest supplications to Almighty God, pray- 
 ing for courage, and that he might not disgrace himself in the 
 eyes of his commander or his country the next day in battle. 
 I looked to see who it was, and there I saw one of the bravest 
 men of my regiment on his knees, pouring out his heart in 
 prayer to God. That man fought with undaunted courage and 
 fell mortally wounded in battle." 
 
 It is needless to say that many of the larger boys on that 
 occasion after hearing this forcible address, promised them- 
 selves, by God's help, "to continue Christ's faithful soldier 
 and servant unto their life's end." 
 
 Of those who heard General Capers on that occasion there 
 are three or four in the ministry to-day, and two are bishops 
 in the Church of God. 
 
 Up to a few years ago the diocesan conventions met nearly 
 every year in the city of Charleston, and it was expected that 
 the clergymen who attended the convention should remain 
 over the Sunday following and fill the pulpits in the respective 
 Episcopal churches. Eagerly did many look in the News- 
 Courier on Saturday to see where General Capers was to 
 preach on Sunday. Crowds flocked to hear him preach, the 
 young and old, but principally the old Confederate soldiers, 
 irrespective of denomination; many who fought under him, 
 many who were associated with him at the Citadel as a cadet, 
 and many who were his boon companions in his youth. Often 
 in his sermons he would bring in as an illustration some of the 
 thrilling scenes of his war experience. Little did I think, 
 when a boy. listening to this hero of many battles, to this con- 
 secrated man of God, possessing such a sweet personality, 
 such wonderful magnetism, and swaying by his eloquence the 
 crowds who listened to him, that some day I would be asso- 
 ciated with him in the sacred ministry and be an humble priest 
 under his episcopate. 
 
 Many years elapsed after the Sunday school celebration be- 
 
298 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 fore I met him again in person, although I always read with 
 keen delight and with Southern patriotism his heart-stirring 
 memorial addresses. 
 
 He was always regarded as one of the leading clergymen 
 in the diocese, occupying for many years the important and 
 responsible position as Secretary and Treasurer of the Board 
 of Missions. No man was more popular or wielded more in- 
 fluence in the diocesan convention than Mr. Capers, putting 
 the meeting in good humor by his pleasantries, and often 
 acting as a peacemaker, especially in the troublesome times 
 when the colored question in the Church nearly divided the 
 diocese. 
 
 After his election to the episcopate he succeeded by his tact- 
 fulness and his persuasive speech in bringing back in union 
 with the convention those parishes which had withdrawn. 
 
 My next recollection of him was when Bishop Howe had 
 arranged for my ordination to the priesthood, to take place in 
 Christ Church, Greenville, in September, 1886. 
 
 Mr. Capers was then rector of the parish. He graciously 
 received his young brothers to the ministry. Rev. A. E. Cor- 
 nish and myself, and gave us a warm welcome. The candi- 
 dates for the priesthood were presented by Dr. W. P. DuBose 
 of Sewanee, who also preached the sermon, and Mr. Capers 
 presented John Finlay, one of the young men of his parish, 
 for the diaconate. At tTiis time there were in Greenville many 
 refugees from Charleston, on account of the earthquake, and 
 the rector of Christ Church spared no pains to make them 
 feel at home, and comforted no little those who had their 
 homes destroyed and some whose loved ones had suffered 
 from the terrible disaster. His own hospitable home was a 
 welcome refuge for the stranger. 
 
 On the Monday after the ordination he had the Bishop and 
 the newly ordained to dine with his family. His winsome 
 manners and wholesouledness made his younger brethren feel 
 that in him they had a friend indeed ; there was no formality, 
 no reserve, but a genuine charm pervaded his happy home. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 299 
 
 The young were always impressed with his ease of manner, 
 his cordiaHty in his home, his sweet attention and devotion to 
 his beloved wife, and how he treated his children as his own 
 companions, bringing them always into conversation with those 
 present. 
 
 It was my great privilege and pleasure to be frequently in 
 his home after he moved to Columbia, and I was always 
 treated as one of the family. 
 
 In December of 1887 he took charge of Trinity Church, 
 Columbia, and what was Greenville's loss was Columbia's 
 gain. 
 
 It was with much grief that he left his old parish and town, 
 where he had spent nearly twenty years of his life, and where 
 he was much beloved by all. So universally was he esteemed 
 by the people of Greenville, that on the Sunday before leav- 
 ing, the various churches closed and the respective congrega- 
 tions attended Christ Church to hear his farewell sermon. 
 He was not only a faithful pastor of the flock over which he 
 had charge, but he was a public-spirited citizen, taking an 
 active part in everything for the uplift and bettennent of the 
 whole community. Once when an epidemic of measles had 
 broken out in one of the mill villages, and the people had be- 
 come impoverished and the sick needed attention, Mr. Capers 
 not only administered to their spiritual needs, but with some 
 friends he secured a wagon and, placing cans of hot soup 
 therein, went from house to house and with his own hands 
 ministered to their physical wants. Whether it was the erec- 
 tion of a Confederate monument, the organization of a fire 
 department, the building of a bridge across Reedy River, or 
 anything for the public welfare, he was among the first the 
 people sought to take an active part. 
 
 The citizens of Columbia, many of whom were his personal 
 and lifelong friends, gave him a warm welcome when he 
 moved to that city, and they felt that it was a privilege and 
 a blessing to have such a man in their community. A few 
 
300 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 days after his arrival I called to greet him and to express my 
 great delight at having him as a co-laborer in the Church 
 work. It was a cold day in January. As I entered I placed 
 my hat in the hallway and was ushered into his warm study, 
 where we smoked and chatted most pleasantly. Just as I was 
 leaving he got my hat and warmed it before the fire for me, so 
 that I might be more comfortable when going out into the cold 
 air. This seems a small thing, but it was so sweetly and 
 thoughtfully done, and there is not one in a thousand who 
 would have thought of such a delicate attention. He was 
 always so humble, and it was this virtue of humility which 
 made him so strong in the love and affection of those who 
 knew him. 
 
 He had not been in Columbia long before the poor found 
 that they had in him a friend, and often because of his big 
 heart and loving sympathy he was imposed upon. At this 
 time there were many chronic beggars in the city, many who 
 refused to work, preferring to live on the charity of the gen- 
 erous. There was an able-bodied but dissipated woman who 
 made a practice of sending her children around with a phy- 
 sician's prescription asking for money to buy medicine for 
 their mother. And this imposition was kept up until the 
 prescription was actually soiled, and then a new one would 
 be secured. Hearing one day from one of these children 
 that the mother was sick and had no wood, and learning of 
 her place of residence, Mr. Capers sent a load of wood around 
 and went himself, cutting up an armful and carrying it into 
 the house for the supposed sick woman, when, to his surprise 
 and indignation, he found the woman in bed in an intoxicated 
 condition. Even with this experience, he was so credulous 
 that again and again he gave liberally to those who asked, 
 never doubting the worthiness of the cause. 
 
 After six years of successful parochial life in Columbia his 
 brethren, appreciating his great worth, selected him to suc- 
 ceed the saintly and lamented Bishop Howe in the episcopate. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 301 
 
 The occasion of his consecration in old Trinity Church was 
 a red letter day in the diocese, and the ministers of the Chris- 
 tian denominations showed their love and admiration for him 
 by being present at the service. 
 
 He had not been bishop long w^hen he urged me to accept 
 the position of Secretary and Treasurer of the Board of Mis- 
 sions, which he had filled so acceptably for many years. This 
 position necessarily threw me in intimate association with him, 
 and notwithstanding his busy life he was always ready and 
 willing to confer with me and give wise counsel. 
 
 It would have been a privilege to any young clergyman to 
 sit at his feet and learn. His whole life was a sermon, and 
 sometimes his face was so radiant with divine glow you could 
 not but feel that he had been in sweet and silent communion 
 with the Master. 
 
 One of his sweetest characteristics was his cheerfulness, 
 nearly always looking on the bright side of life. His great 
 consideration of the feelings of others, and his great reticence 
 in speaking of the faults and infirmities of his fellow-man, 
 was natural to him. He was brim full of humor and frequently 
 saw the funny side of life, and made others convulse with 
 laughter when reciting some of his own ridiculous experiences. 
 
 Bishop Capers was one of the most entertaining men I have 
 ever met in my life, and there were few subjects that he could 
 not converse freely on. 
 
 It was a great privilege and pleasure for young men to be 
 present and hear him talk with his old army friends on the 
 subject of the War, telling in his graphic way the thrilling and 
 trying experiences of the Confederate soldier. And even in 
 the thickest of battle he noticed and loved to relate many 
 funny incidents. It was just after the War that he took charge 
 of Christ Church, Greenville, first as a lay reader, when he 
 was preparing for the ministry, and in 1867 as rector, after 
 his ordination. 
 
 He found a large debt upon the parish, and his dear people 
 were so impoverished after the War that Bishop Davis re- 
 
302 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 quested him to go North and soHcit assistance from our 
 Church people. He was a stranger to New York, but he went 
 provided with letters to the bishop and some of the prominent 
 and influential clergy of that diocese. He was graciously re- 
 ceived by the Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix. rector of Trinity Church, 
 and heartily welcomed to his parish. General Capers told 
 him the purpose of his visit, and Dr. Dix said, "Capers. I am 
 preaching a series of sermons now on Sunday mornings, but 
 next Sunday afternoon we are likely to have a large congrega- 
 tion, and I will gladly give you the ofTering for your cause ; 
 now you can either preach or make the appeal." General 
 Capers felt that he was a poor beggar for any object, so he 
 said, "Doctor, I will preach, and I would appreciate it if you 
 would make the appeal." 
 
 Dr. Dix spoke most feelingly of the impoverished condi- 
 tion of the South as the result of the War. and urged the con- 
 gregation to give generously to his brother's cause. It had 
 been published in the papers that Mr. Capers would preach, 
 and some of his South Carolina friends who happened to be 
 in the city went to hear him. When the offering was taken 
 up, from appearances Mr. Capers thought a large amount 
 would be realized, and in his mind's eye he could see the debt 
 on his church cancelled. But when in the vestry room. Dr. 
 Dix ran his fingers through the offering and indignantly said, 
 "Nothing but nickels. Capers. I will add fifty dollars to this 
 myself." The onlv five-dollar bill in the plate was placed 
 
 there by General Capers' old Baptist friend, Dr. B of 
 
 Greenville, who had gone to hear him preach. From some of 
 the other churches and the many friends he made while in 
 New York he received a good amount for the debt on his 
 church. 
 
 As this was his first visit to the metropolis, he was surprised 
 at the large buildings, the immense business done, and the 
 multitudes which thronged the streets. He reached the city 
 at night, and stopped at the old St. Nicholas Hotel, and when 
 he threw his window open in the morning he was greatly im- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 303 
 
 pressed with the crowd, and afterward remarked to a friend, 
 "JVIarkley, and that was the crowd we tried to hck!" 
 
 As I have said, he was full of humor and was a fine 
 raconteur. 
 
 When he attended his first general convention as a delegate, 
 which met in New York, a layman friend of his living in 
 Brooklyn asked him to take a late dinner and gave him explicit 
 directions as to how to find his residence, after crossing Ful- 
 ton Ferry. 
 
 In taking the car in Brooklyn he secured a seat between 
 a rather thin but sour-looking man on one side and a fat, 
 jolly fellow on the other. He had not ridden far when a 
 fat marketwoman with a large basket on her arm entered the 
 car and caught hold of the strap right in front of him. Before 
 he could get up and ofifer her his seat the car made a lunge 
 around the corner and the old woman sat squarely in his lap. 
 He at first laughed, and all in the car were convulsed. He 
 immediately remarked, "Madam, if you will get up I will 
 give you my seat," but she sat complacently and took no notice 
 of what he said. The thin man on his right, without a smile, 
 indignantly said to General Capers, "It is an imposition; I 
 would not stand it. Shove her off, shove her off!" Mr. 
 Capers said, "My knees are bent and my hands are under her. 
 I have no purchase." And Mr. Capers said, "Madam, I am 
 in earnest; if you will get up I will gladly give you my seat." 
 Still she took no notice. Then the fat man on his 
 left, shaking with laughter, said, "Mister, why don't 
 you pinch her? Pinch her good." By this time the 
 whole car roared. Mr. Capers felt he was being made 
 a butt of, and with some feeling repeated his request for 
 her to rise, but she placidly sat, seeming somewhat uncon- 
 scious of the ridiculous position she was occupying. Sugges- 
 tions came from all parts of the car: "Mister, why don't you 
 bite her?" "Mister, why don't you butt her?" Shortly after 
 this the car stopped and the old soul got off, perfectly uncon- 
 cerned. Then someone remarked, "Why, mister, she is as 
 
304 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 deaf as a door post and did not hear a' word you said." Laugh- 
 ingly the General said, "Well, it seems to me she should have 
 been conscious of where she was sitting." 
 
 The colored people were devoted to Bishop Capers, and it 
 was only necessary for him to tell them to do anything, and 
 it was done. 
 
 One Sunday in Columbia, after he had held several services 
 in the city, he went out a few miles into the country that night 
 to hold a confirmation at one of his colored missions. The 
 archdeacon of the colored work was with him. While driving 
 out he said, "Brother J., you must preach to-night, as I am 
 very tired. I will confirm the class and make an address." 
 "But," said Brother J., "you must preach, Bishop, for they 
 are expecting you to do so, and it will be a great disappoint- 
 ment to them if you don't. Some of these colored people 
 have never seen a Bishop." But the Bishop insisted on 
 Brother J. preaching. The archdeacon, after protesting for a 
 while, consented. He always spoke very plainly to his col- 
 ored flock. The text Brother J. took that night, said the 
 Bishop, was "Whence comest thou? . . . Gehazi, thy 
 servant went no whither." After describing the circumstances 
 and showing the faithlessness of Gehazi, the preacher went 
 on to say, "Now, when some of you fellows go out at night 
 drinking and gambling and engaged in all kinds of badness, 
 and you go home late and your wife says, 'John, where have 
 you been?' and you say 'Thy servant went no whither,' you 
 know you are lying." Just then, said the Bishop, one man 
 who felt the home thrust, cried out in the congregation, "Now 
 you are getting under my jacket!" The Bishop, whose risibili- 
 ties were easily aroused, said he could hardly keep from 
 laughing out loud. 
 
 In one of the old colored churches in Charleston where 
 services were held before the War for the good old respectable 
 church people, many of whom could not read but knew most 
 of the service by heart, and where some of our distinguished 
 white clergymen loved to preach in simple language to the 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 305 
 
 people, there was sent a few years ago a colored clergyman 
 of ability to take charge. He made many innovations to the 
 plain service that the people were accustomed to, and preached 
 considerably over their heads. A desire came for a change 
 on the part of many of the old congregation, who wished for 
 a return of the simple, old time preaching and congregational 
 singing. The Bishop was asked to visit the parish and hear 
 the complaints. After taking in the situation pretty thor- 
 oughly, he met with some of the leading men of the congre- 
 gation in order to settle the difficulties. While in conference, 
 he said to one of the pious old men who had sat under the 
 old pastors that had taken a loving interest in them: "Now, 
 Cato, what are your complaints ? What fault do you find with 
 
 Mr. M r "Well, Bishop," said he, "dat man do preach 
 
 over our heads. We no understand him ; he ain't do as we is 
 'customed to; he wear things in the chancel we nebber see 
 befo', and he had a service dat we don't understand. Now I 
 want to ax you, Bishop, who dat man Socrates he preach 
 about — he one of de 'Postles, he servant of de Lord?" "No," 
 said the Bishop, "he was a great philosopher." "Well den," 
 said Cato, "I ain't want to hear about 'em. I want to hear 
 about Peter and Paul and John and de Lord Himself. Den 
 again. Bishop, he talk about a man name Plato, and Aristotle. 
 Is dem 'Postles, Bishop? Was dey de servants of de Lord?" 
 "No," said the Bishop, "they were also great philosophers." 
 "Well, den," said Cato, "I ain't want to know about dem. I 
 want de good old time gospel." 
 
 Finding that the parish evidently had the wrong man as 
 minister in charge, the Bishop urged the flock to pay up the 
 clergyman his salary in full, and in a delicate way suggested 
 to the minister that he accept another charge that he would 
 give him, and which, perhaps, might be more congenial to him. 
 
 Rev. Wm. E. Evans, D. D., who succeeded Bishop Capers 
 as rector of Trinity Church, Columbia, S. C. (and is at present 
 
3o6 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the rector of Advent Church, Birmingham, Ala.), wrote thus 
 of his departed friend and bishop : 
 
 The death of Bishop Capers is a distinct loss to the Church 
 and to the State. His life stood for righteousness, and his 
 public utterances and his lofty life have been a benediction 
 through many years to the young men of his State. Almighty 
 God must have great love for South Carolina. See how he 
 has honored her with so many men of loftiest character, born 
 upon her soil, living their lives within her boundary line, and 
 achieving their high purposes in the elevation of the social 
 order of that old Commonwealth that has given to the world 
 courtly men and queenly women without superiors anywhere. 
 
 Among the men who have had the high places of thought 
 and action for many years past in South Carolina, none was 
 truer than Bishop Ellison Capers. Unselfishness, sympathy, 
 gentleness, courage, and conscientiousness blended in beautiful 
 harmony in his character. 
 
 "His life was gentle; and the elements so mixed in him 
 that nature might stand up and say to all the world, this was 
 a man." 
 
 It was a benediction to me to be associated with Bishop 
 Capers through the years which I lived in Columbia. I was 
 honored with his friendship and with his confidences, and, as 
 imposing as he was in public, in his private and home life he 
 was at his best. 
 
 During his lifetime he was both soldier and clergyman, but 
 first of all, and beneath all, he was a man with a great heart 
 which endeared him to other men. He knew their faults and 
 their virtues, and he allowed for both. 
 
 Everyone realizes that South Carolina has lost one of her 
 noblest souls, one of the type that makes a commonwealth its 
 greatest and grandest. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 TRIBUTES FROM LAYMEN AND THE PRESS 
 
 It is a rather remarkable tribute (indicating the universal 
 esteem in which South Carolina held Bishop Capers), that not 
 only did the great daily papers pronounce through their edi- 
 torial columns the highest encomiums upon him, but without 
 exception every county paper in the State bore testimony to his 
 memory as soldier, citizen, and bishop. The tributes from the 
 press and laity are too numerous for publication here. How- 
 ever, we venture to select a few salient eulogiums paid by 
 editors and citizens to the memory of Bishop Capers : 
 
 Bishop Capers was probably the best known and best loved 
 man in South Carolina. As bishop of the Episcopal Church 
 of South Carolina, he became acquainted with the rank and 
 file of the people and they loved him as a priest, as a soldier, 
 and as a citizen. Georgetown mourns with all South Carolina 
 for him. — Georgetown Outlook. 
 
 Bishop Capers, who died in Columbia yesterday, was with- 
 out doubt the best loved man in South Carolina. 
 
 The Confederate veterans loved him for his war record, 
 which was as gallant as that of any man who served the 
 Confederacy. 
 
 The members of his Church loved him as their good bishop 
 and faithful, consecrated servant. 
 
 And all the people who knew him loved him as a man and a 
 citizen. — Anderson Mail. 
 
 In the death of Bishop Ellison Capers South Carolina sus- 
 tains an irreparable loss, the Church is deprived of a useful 
 
 307 
 
3o8 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 and devoted servant, and the people, irrespective of denomi- 
 national affiliation, a true friend, v^hose greatest pleasure in 
 life was in lending- aid and assistance to his fellow-man and 
 uplifting fallen humanity. A volume would not suffice to 
 recount his innumerable unselfish deeds. Coming in contact 
 with every class, dispensing charity wherever needed, aiding 
 others by words of encouragement, this noble man so endeared 
 himself to the people of his native State that in his death every 
 man, woman, and child in South Carolina will feel a peculiar 
 grief; unbounded sympathy will go out, in this sad hour, to 
 those who are bereft of husband and father. — Orangeburg Sun. 
 
 The death of Bishop Capers carries the writer back to the 
 days when the war clouds had just passed away, and the time 
 when he was rector of the Episcopal church in Greenville, 
 known and revered by the students of Furman (Baptist) Uni- 
 versity, as General Ellison Capers. No more knightly gentle- 
 man ever lived. The perfect gentleman in every sense of the 
 word. 
 
 His contemporaries and fellow-laborers then were Drs. 
 James C. Furman, John A. Broadus, James P. Boyce, William 
 Williams, and Basil Manly. There never lived in a small vil- 
 lage. — which Greenville was at that time, — such a coterie of 
 great men. Great not only for their learning, but for their 
 patriotism and their noble Christian characters. Mr. Capers 
 was the junior of these gentlemen by several years, but he 
 enjo^^ed their companionship and was held in the highest 
 esteem by them. 
 
 No doubt as Bishop Capers went home three days ago there 
 was a blessed reunion in that kingdom where they are sitting 
 down with Abraham and Jacob, 
 
 "Soldier of Christ, well done! 
 
 Thy glorious warfare is past ; 
 The battle is fought, the victory is won, 
 
 And thou 9^rt; crowned at last." 
 
 r— Greenwood Journal, 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 309 
 
 To-day the mortal remains of Ellison Capers, citizen, sol- 
 dier, statesman, scholar, man of God, lie in state and will be 
 consigned to the grave. There is sorrow throughout South 
 Carolina, where he was known best; but there will be deep 
 regret throughout the South, where the influence of this un- 
 usually active and vigorous life was felt. 
 
 Greenville, where twenty of his most useful years as a min- 
 ister were spent, feels a personal bereavement. The exalted 
 services which Bishop Capers rendered his State, his Church, 
 and his fellow-men in the varied scenes of his activity — all of 
 which were rendered with conspicuous ability— are too well 
 known to be recounted here. He was a man; pure, noble, 
 great. The death of few in South Carolina could come so 
 close home to so many. 
 
 The humanity of the man, which shone in every relation in 
 life, his love for his fellows, and his confidence in the ultimate 
 triumph of right, endeared him to those who came under his 
 influence. He loved courage and honor and truth, and he 
 hated cant and hypocrisy. He was at all times frank and 
 cordial, and even the humblest parishioner felt uplifted in his 
 presence. 
 
 A great man has gone to his reward, but after a life spent 
 in good deeds. The end came like the setting of the sun, 
 silently, calmly, inevitably. — Greenville News. 
 
 sorrow of the bankers expressed on account of bishop 
 
 capers' death. 
 
 At the meeting of the Bankers' Convention in session April 
 ■22, 1908, the following resolutions were offered by Mr. Doar of 
 Summersville, and were adopted by the Convention : 
 
 Whereas, Ellison Capers, Bishop of the Episcopal Church 
 in South Carolina, died on the afternoon of April 22 at his 
 home in the city of Columbia, where we are now assembled 
 in convention ; therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That we. the Bankers of South Carolina, repre- 
 
3IO THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 senting every section of the State, deplore the death of Bishop 
 Capers, who in war and in peace, in state and in Church, so 
 well discharged his duties as to merit and attain the highest 
 honors, and at the same time, by his genial manner, his sym- 
 pathetic nature and his catholic spirit he won the affection and 
 esteem of all people. Few men have died in South Carolina 
 more universally beloved than was Bishop Capers, and we 
 feel sure that the State at large mourns his loss. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be spread on our minutes 
 and a copy be sent to his surviving family. 
 
 Mr. W. A. Clark (president Carolina National Bank), paid 
 a very beautiful tribute in seconding these resolutions to the 
 soldier-priest. He told of his connection with the beloved 
 bishop, of his great and noble qualities, and the convention was 
 given the benefit of knowing more about the bishop, "who was 
 not only a South Carolinian, but a son of the whole South." 
 
 HON. ROBERT W. SHAND, CHANCELLOR OF THE DIOCESE OF 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 My personal acquaintance with Bishop Capers dates from 
 
 1866 or '67. He was only about two years older than myself, 
 but we graduated at different institutions and served far 
 apart during the war, — he on the coast of South Carolina and 
 in the army under the command of General Bragg and his 
 successors, and I, in the army of Northern Virginia. After 
 
 1867 I was frequently in his company until the close of 1887, 
 after which we lived in the same community until his death, 
 for the first seven years of which time only a public street 
 separated our residences, and he was the rector of Trinity 
 Church, of which I was a member both of congregation and 
 of vestry. In 1893 he was elected bishop of the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church for the diocese of South Carolina, and as such 
 he appointed me his chancellor or legal advisor. 
 
 During all these years I saw him much ; was often in his 
 company, and few men had better opportunities for forming 
 a correct estimate of him as man, citizen, and clergyman. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 311 
 
 In support of my opinion of him as herein after expressed, 
 I am sure of the fact, which was generally conceded at the 
 time of his death, that no person in South Carolina was more 
 esteemed nor more popular with all the people of his State, 
 no bishop in the House of Bishops more beloved by his fellow- 
 prelates. 
 
 Of his war record I have heard much. Commencing as a 
 staff officer, he soon became an officer of the line, rising to 
 the colonelcy of a regiment, and finally to the rank of briga- 
 dier general. His gallantry was never questioned, as the 
 printed records show, and he was often wounded in battle, 
 having been in many of the fiercest conflicts of the war. He 
 took pleasure in talking of his experiences as a soldier, and 
 upon this subject, as upon all others, he conversed most enter- 
 tainingly. This subject was always of interest to me, and I 
 listened with great pleasure to his narratives. He spoke not 
 to exalt himself, and there were no words of self-praise. 
 Indeed he simply told of the battles in which he had been 
 engaged — ^James Island, Franklin, Jackson, Chickamauga — 
 as any onlooker might have done. Some of the incidents 
 which he related with animation were of his discomfiture. 
 For instance, he merrily told of his capture of a Federal regi- 
 ment on the coast of South Carolina, which, after capture, 
 refused to move at his command, with the result that he had 
 to withdraw his regiment on the approach of a larger force 
 of the enemy. 
 
 I will here relate an incident which happened during the 
 war which bears more upon his personality than upon his sol- 
 dierly qualities. A Confederate officer rode up to the brigade 
 headquarters and stopped to inquire who was the young officer 
 he had passed on the road, describing the man and horse. He 
 was told that it was Colonel Ellison Capers of South Carolina. 
 He expressed his thanks and remarked : "I did hot know 
 him, never saw him before, but was anxious to have his name, 
 as he is the first man I have ever met with whom I fell in 
 love on sight." 
 
312 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 His life was a sermon that bore fruit. His presence was 
 felt as a benediction, and his love for his fellow-men, shown 
 by words and deeds, made others love him. His charity led 
 him to minimize the conspicuous faults of his people, and to 
 ascribe to them the possible motive which was least reprehen- 
 sible. No pastor ever had a more loving congregation; no 
 minister ever led a more consistently Christian life. From 
 the heart of this man who loved all his fellow-men came 
 sermons which tended to elevate his hearers and make of them 
 true Christian men and women. 
 
 In a passenger train, one very cold night from Columbia to 
 Charleston, a man was badly injured and brought into the 
 baggage car and laid upon the floor. He was insufficiently 
 clothed for such cold weather. Many passengers visited him, 
 but Bishop Capers took his heavy overcoat, laid it over the 
 sufferer, and left it with him until received into a hospital 
 in Charleston. Someone present remarked : "What a splen- 
 did sermon that was." 
 
 The cares and burdens that came to him were great, but 
 he bore them all without a murmur, showing here, as at all 
 times, the sweet temper and full faith of a true Christian. 
 All in all, he was a brave soldier, a noble citizen, and a godly 
 man. I feel that my life has been bettered by my past asso- 
 ciations with him. 
 
 A. B. Williams, for many years editor of the Greenville 
 Daily Neztfs, in South Carolina, was regarded as one of the 
 State's ablest writers, while throughout the South he was 
 recognized as a foremost editor. Having lived in Greenville 
 during the twenty years Ellison Capers was rector of Christ 
 Church, that city, we quote the following from Mr. Williams 
 in appreciation of Bishop Capers' ministry: 
 
 In my view Ellison Capers' influence for good in the Green- 
 ville community, where I was associated with him most inti- 
 mately, and in the State generally, was beyond estimate. I think 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 313 
 
 it safe to say that during many years he was the most potent per- 
 sonal force in Greenville. When the town was just beginning to 
 awaken, and was taking the first forward steps in the progress 
 that has become so notable, he always was on the side of 
 improvement and development. By his kindly and gentle as- 
 sociation with people of all classes and all denominations, he 
 won affection and confidence, made all the stronger by his 
 reputation as one of the modest heroes of the war. 
 
 His tenderness and toleration were endless, and his man- 
 hood was sturdy, and his courage was dauntless. I recall on 
 one occasion being with him on the train between Spartanburg 
 and Greenville when a drunken countryman had trouble with 
 the conductor. The man finally drew a knife and the con- 
 ductor made an ominous movement toward his revolver. 
 Mr. Capers interposed and asked that the man be turned 
 over to him, sat by him on the seat, put an arm over his 
 shoulder, and in a few persuasive, gentle, earnest words 
 induced him to consent to get off. the man having a drunkard's 
 stubborn determination that he would not show his ticket. 
 Put off at the front platform, taking a sudden change in his 
 freak, he seized the railings of the back platform as the car 
 passed him and swung aboard again, apparently more des- 
 perate and bloodthirsty than ever. Mr. Capers again got 
 him in a seat, and with infinite pity and patience at last quieted 
 him down and actually induced him to surrender the point 
 he had made and avoid trouble. 
 
 I have no doubt that Bishop Capers' life was crowded with 
 instances of this kind. There was a story long told in Green- 
 ville, of how a rather helpless and improvident old gentleman, 
 well known in the State, went to General Capers' house one 
 winter night confessing that he had not in his own home bread 
 or fuel with which to keep his family alive. He was given 
 a sack of flour, as I recollect the story, and directed to the 
 woodpile. Then he made inquiry as to how he would get the 
 contributions home, as it was beneath his dignity to be seen 
 carrying things through the street. As I recollect the incident. 
 
314 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 General Capers promptly shouldered as many sticks of wood 
 as he could carry, and marched off to the house of his bene- 
 ficiary, with the wood on his shoulder and the flour under his 
 arm. The qualities illustrated by occurrences of this kind en- 
 deared him to the whole people. 
 
 In later years, when unhappy political and social dissensions 
 distracted and divided the State, he was one of the few men 
 of the old regime who held his power over the people gen- 
 erally and never lost their confidence. No human agency 
 could have checked the outburst that came, but I am convinced 
 that he did much toward softening animosities and preparing 
 the way for the reunion of the people of the State, which 
 has come partly, and which I hope the younger men will live 
 to see completed. Of course. General Capers' war record is 
 part of the written history of his State and country. 
 
 As I knew him at the end of the Reconstruction period, 
 through the times of peace that followed, and later through 
 the days of intense political strife and bitterness, and through 
 all the time of the upward struggle, I regarded him, as I am 
 sure all South Carolina did, as one of the State's most valuable 
 assets. 
 
 A beautiful story related by Capt. C. K. Henderson, illus- 
 trating the piety of the dead prelate. 
 
 To the Editor of the State: 
 
 Among the beautiful tributes to the memory of our great 
 departed general. Bishop Capers, in your issue of Thursday, 
 was one recalling the Bishop's prayer at the unveiling of the 
 statue of General Wade Hampton on Capitol Square, when 
 thousands who had assembled in honor of the great Hampton 
 stood with uncovered heads, while his lifelong friend, the 
 good Bishop, led them to the throne of God. 
 
 I thought then, and your article in yesterday's issue revived 
 the memory, of another prayer which I heard this man of 
 God offer. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 315 
 
 The circumstances are wholly different; there were no dis- 
 tinguished orators present; no great concourse of people, no 
 one called upon to pray. And yet, among the cherished pic- 
 tures that hang upon the walls of memory there is none to 
 me more sublime than this one. It was in the year 1900, 
 when General C. Irvine Walker, General J. W. Floyd, Colonel 
 J. Harvey Wilson, Bishop Capers and myself were serving 
 on a commission for the State, locating the lines and position 
 of the South Carolina troops on the famous battle-field of 
 Chickamauga. The government had placed an ambulance and 
 two mules at our disposal to carry us over those historic fields, 
 made sacred by the American soldiers who had struggled here 
 with heroism and valor unsurpassed in the annals of the war. 
 
 In the party were the above named gentlemen, and General 
 H. V. Boynton and Colonel E. E. Betts, Federal officers in 
 charge of the park. 
 
 Our work in locating the lines was accomplished with 
 comparative ease, except in the case of the brigade com- 
 manded by General Capers. It was late in the afternoon when 
 this was located. Bishop Capers at once arose and stepped 
 out of the ambulance, saying, "Gentlemen, I wish to pray 
 where my troops stood in the long years that are gone." And 
 out in the falling rain, under the dull gray sky, he stood 
 uncovered and poured out his heart to God in one of the most 
 touching and beautiful prayers I have ever heard offered. He 
 thanked God for sparing his life and permitting him to stand 
 there again, without the roar of artillery and the rattle of 
 the musketry ringing in his ears; for the beautiful fields no 
 longer dyed crimson with human blood, nor covered over with 
 wounded and dying men ; for all the heroic lives offered upon 
 the altar of their country; for the fact that the sounds of war 
 were now hushed and still, and in their place had come the 
 song of love and peace, a reunited country — one aim, one 
 banner, and one guide. 
 
 When the prayer ended, each veteran in his heart said 
 "Amen," and they rode away from the spot with a picture 
 
3i6 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 in their lives that even Time's remorseless finger shall not 
 make dim. 
 
 We could not close this part of our volume more fittingly 
 than by introducing here the beautiful poem of Charles S. 
 Vedder dedicated to Bishop Capers : 
 
 ELLISON CAPERS. 
 
 The Bayard of the tented field, 
 
 Where knightly deed was done; 
 The Sydney of the stainless shield, 
 And princely heart in love revealed 
 
 When the red field was won. 
 
 His falchion sheathed, a shepherd then, 
 
 His knightly deeds are sure; 
 
 Alike to rich and poor 
 The good Sir Galahad of men, 
 Whose strength was as the strength of ten 
 
 Because his heart was pure. 
 
 He sleeps a paladin at rest, 
 
 In Heaven's eternal peace; 
 His life on others' lives imprest; 
 His name, his words, his memory blest. 
 
 By tongues that will not cease. 
 
PART II 
 
 ADDRESSES AND SERMONS 
 
 The following addresses and sermons of Bishop 
 Capers are probably by no means the finest instances 
 of his pulpit ability or oratorical powers, but they 
 have been chosen mainly by reason of the circum- 
 stances under which they were delivered. 
 
 The Bishop was invited many, many times to de- 
 liver addresses both within and without the borders 
 of the Commonwealth of South Carolina. Of these 
 addresses and pulpit discourses much of their glam- 
 our necessarily vanished with the conditions that 
 gave them birth. They are, however, of more than 
 transient interest, not merely because of their his- 
 torical significance, but because they reveal how a 
 versatile mind can focus the lambent fires of memory 
 and imagination upon kindred topics from so many 
 different angles. 
 
THE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS BEFORE THE 
 SOUTH CAROLINA ACADEMY, CHARLESTON, 
 S. C, JULY 28, 1886. 
 
 In obedience to the invitation of the superintendent and 
 faculty of my ahna mater, the grateful duty is assigned to me 
 of making the address at the close of these interesting exer- 
 cises. 
 
 While I cheerfully assume the responsibilities of the hour, 
 I could wish, sincerely, that the choice of the officers had fallen 
 upon some son of the academy who could bring larger abilities 
 to her service, whose voice might be heard in her behalf with 
 more effect throughout the length and breadth of our beloved 
 Commonwealth. 
 
 But while I mistrust my capacity to do full justice to the 
 worthy institution I have now the honor to represent, I bring 
 to the duty before me a heart full of grateful respect, and 
 shall speak in behalf of the old Citadel, and the work she has 
 done in the past, and the work I trust she has yet to do in the 
 future, as a loyal son would speak of a cherished mother 
 whose patience had borne with the follies of his youth, and 
 whose wisdom and fostering care had given spirit and pur- 
 pose to his manhood. 
 
 In greeting you to-day, young gentlemen, as the first gradu- 
 ates from the academy, under its second charter from the 
 State. I do so with mingled emotions. Associations, insepara- 
 ble from these exercises, revive hallowed memories ! They 
 recall the fomis and faces of those who greeted us here years 
 ago, and who will meet us here no more forever! 
 
 It would be to me a most gratifying task to speak to you 
 of the old board of visitors ; of Jones and Jamison, and Means 
 
 318 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 319 
 
 and Hanna, and Wallace and Wilson — the fathers of our alma 
 mater! those faithful, wise and patriotic men who watched 
 with jealous care its steady progress, and hailed from year 
 to year the increasing evidences of its usefulness to the 
 State. 
 
 With equal gratitude I could tell you of the old professors, 
 and speak of them with abundant appreciation; but my duty 
 is to devote my time to the consideration of that for which 
 they all devoted their abilities and accomplishments with un- 
 faltering energy, the advancement of the character and work 
 of the Academy itself. 
 
 Why should there be a manifestation of so much interest in 
 the success and stability of our State institutions of learning? 
 
 Why are their friends ever ready to maintain their work? 
 
 And why should the State extend her fostering hand to 
 shield and protect them? 
 
 I shall attempt to answer these questions, and will state, as 
 fully as I can, first, the ground of the being of the South 
 Carolina Academy; and then present some of the most cogent 
 reasons which influence the friends of the Academy to wage 
 their maintenance as important agencies of the State in pro- 
 moting her highest welfare. 
 
 To bring the subject before you as distinctly as I can, I 
 must refer to that part of our history which lies so far back 
 of our times that we are only too prone to overlook its lessons. 
 
 And yet we should remember, my fellow-citizens, and we 
 should teach our children to remember, that the history of 
 those early days contains the gemis of all our succeeding his- 
 tory. We are eating the fruit of trees planted by those who' 
 knew full well they would never enjoy them; but they were 
 content to plant for us. We are living and acting by princi- 
 ples and governed by ideas which cost our forefathers the 
 abandonment of their homes in the Old World, the perils of 
 thousands of miles of sea, and the untold hardships and dan- 
 gers of a settlement in the wilds of an untried land, inhabited 
 only by savages and wild beasts. They counted not their lives 
 
320 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 dear to themselves and their families if happily they might 
 lay safe foundations for their descendants. 
 
 Turning back the pages of Carolina's history, we find the 
 fathers and founders of our State careful to lay sure founda- 
 tions on a rock. 
 
 Within twenty years from the removal of the colony to the 
 site of this ancient city, the Assembly voted to establish a 
 public library in Charlestown, and the law made provision 
 that the books should be loaned out for the benefit of the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 The first schools established by our fathers were free 
 schools, and the act establishing them declares them to be 
 founded "for the benefit and use of the inhabitants of South 
 Carolina." In one of the early acts of Assembly, 1712, the 
 building of schoolhouses and the settlement of schoolmasters 
 is encouraged, the act authorizing twelve pounds to be paid 
 from the treasury toward erecting each schoolhouse and ten 
 pounds toward paying the salary of each parish schoolmaster. 
 
 Thus, you perceive, while the first generation born on the 
 soil of Carolina was yet growing up, when the frontiers of 
 the State were not more than fifty miles away from Charles- 
 ton, when the Red Man and the Spaniard were plotting the 
 destruction of the infant State, and while yet great forests 
 were to be cut down and cleared away that a virgin soil might 
 produce food for the colonists and furnish the materials for 
 founding trade and commerce, the founders of the State laid 
 down the principle that it is of vital importance to the well- 
 being of the whole community that the enlightenment of the 
 citizen should be the care of the State. They created a public 
 library in Charlestown, and established free schools in every 
 part of the colony for the express benefit of all the inhabitants. 
 
 The accomplished historian who writes the early literary 
 history of our State, and tells us that the knowledge of gram- 
 mar, of history, of mathematics, of Greek, and of Latin could 
 be obtained in Carolina at any time after 171 2, tells us also 
 that no State in the American Union afterward, Virginia 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 321 
 
 excepted, obtained a greater proportion of national honors, 
 or enjoyed larger opportunities of public service; and, further, 
 that this htness for discharging her high duties to a great 
 republic of free and self-governing States was mainly due to 
 the attention paid by the fathers to the liberal education of 
 their sons. 
 
 This attention to education by the State, laid dov^n as a 
 principle of true policy in 1712, has been ever since maintained 
 in South Carolina. 
 
 In 1801 the Legislature gave signal expression to it by the 
 passage of a bill founding the South Carolina College at 
 Columbia, and in the preamble to the act uses the following 
 language: "Whereas, the proper education of youth con- 
 tributes greatly to the prosperity of society, and ought always 
 to be the subject of legislative attention; and, whereas, the 
 establishment of a college in the central part of the State, 
 where all its youth may be educated, will highly promote the 
 instruction, the good order, and the hannony of the whole 
 community: Be it enacted," etc. 
 
 This preamble embodies the principle upon which some of 
 the greatest institutions of learning in our country have been 
 founded. 
 
 Harvard and Yale colleges owe their existence to State aid 
 as well as private munificence; while William and Mary Col- 
 lege, in Virginia, next in age to Harvard, was endowed from 
 the royal domain, and was at first chiefly supported by the 
 income of a tax on tobacco. The University of Pennsylvania 
 sprang from a free academy, founded by Franklin in 1749. 
 The University of Virginia is an imperishable monument to 
 the wisdom of the greatest of Democrats, its immortal founder, 
 and has been for more than fifty years a peculiar fountain 
 whence have flowed streams of blessing to the State. The 
 universities of Georgia. Alabama, Mississippi, and North Caro- 
 lina, like our own and the university which Jefferson's wisdom 
 founded, are all State universities, and cherished by the State. 
 
 The greatest institution of learning in the Northwest, where 
 
322 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the largest number of students assemble, of all the colleges in 
 our land, is the free University of Michigan, which was 
 founded from the sale of public lands and is the boast of that 
 mighty and vigorous Commonwealth. Ohio, Maryland, Dela- 
 ware, West Virginia, and many of the enterprising States 
 beyond the Mississippi, with the great States of California 
 and Louisiana, have flourishing State universities and acade- 
 mies, liberally endowed, or generously supported, by their 
 people. 
 
 We may well appreciate the language in which a Governor 
 of South Carolina in communicating his message to the legis- 
 lature estimates the value to the Commonwealth of its seat of 
 learning: "She has done more and is now doing more for the 
 State," said Governor Hammond in 1844, "than every other 
 corporation put together within its limits." 
 
 To a preceding legislature Governor Richardson had put 
 the argument for State aid and State interest in a single sen- 
 tence: "The benefits of a single year, the attainments of a 
 single class, the acquirements of one, only, of its ripe scholars, 
 the fruit of a single one of those great minds, whose energies 
 it has developed, would not only compensate for all the 
 patronage which has hitherto been extended to it, but is im- 
 measurably more valuable to the State than the results of all 
 her other benefactors to advance interests." 
 
 Then, should it not be the honorable pride of every Caro- 
 linian, that his State, in her corporate capacity, has ever sought 
 to elevate her citizens by extending to them the benefits of 
 the broadest culture? 
 
 Should it not be a cause for general rejoicing wherever 
 learning is appreciated and character honored, that Carolina 
 may point to some of her most eminent citizens in the past, 
 and some of her most honored and useful citizens in the pres- 
 ent, to whom the bounty of her generous hand extended the 
 coveted blessing of a liberal education. 
 
 Imbued with such sentiments, and from a high sense of his 
 duty to the State, Governor Richardson took the first 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 323 
 
 steps toward lighting a new beacon of learning in Carolina in 
 1841. 
 
 At that time the State needed, as I believe she now needs, 
 a military establishment for her safety and protection. She 
 maintained two companies of enlisted men, and employed 
 accomplished officers to command them. By this' means two 
 garrisons were established, one in Columbia and one in 
 Charleston, at the Citadel. At these points amis and munitions 
 were stored and kept in order, ready, in case the State should 
 need them for the protection of the lives of her citizens. 
 These garrisons cost South Carolina annually twenty-four 
 thousand dollars. No one complained of this expenditure of 
 the people's money, because everj^one readily understood that 
 it was for the general good, for the State's physical protec- 
 tion, in case of a possible insurrection. Not a cent of this 
 expenditure came back to the State in the quickened intelli- 
 gence of her sons; not a dollar was returned to her in the 
 well-being of her indigent youth trained to duty in her service 
 and taught to appreciate the opportunities of life. 
 
 The physical benefits of the State was the only end sought, 
 and for this our people willingly spent twenty-four thousand 
 dollars. Governor Richardson conceived the idea of making 
 this sum yield a nobler return to the State, a more enduring 
 benefit. He would guard her arsenals and maintain her dis- 
 ciplined soldiers, but he would convert each arsenal into an 
 academy of learning, and each soldier into a loyal, cultured 
 citizen, and return him to the Commonwealth, after his term 
 of service, "aniniis opihusqiic parati." To excite public in- 
 terest in so noble a scheme his attention was directed to cer- 
 tain poor young men who, fired with the ambition to learn, 
 stood bound by the cold hand of poverty at the foot of the 
 ladder they were more than anxious to climb. Of his own 
 authority he sent them to the arsenal in Columbia to be the 
 first beneficiary cadets of the coming South Carolina Military 
 Academy. 
 
 In December, '42, the lamented Jamison introduced the bill 
 to give the noble conception of Governor Richardson a legis- 
 
324 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 lative recognition, and the act was passed which secured to 
 CaroHna the guardianship of her arms by her young sons, 
 who, serving her as soldiers, were to become educated and 
 useful citizens. 
 
 Under this system the maternal hand of the State extended 
 a liberal education to her poor sons, but more were to receive 
 it, whose circumstances enabled them to compensate the State 
 for their education. 
 
 A board of visitors, to whom the legislature wisely gave 
 the appointment of the State cadets, exercised a discriminating 
 judgment, and each county in South Carolina sent its repre- 
 sentations to the Academy. Many of the most distinguished 
 graduates were beneficiary cadets, and some of these in after 
 years became her accomplished professors. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the South Carolina Military Acad- 
 emy was founded in the practical thought that, while educating 
 her sons for duty, each son must become her servant and sol- 
 dier, and by a faithful service ennoble the intellectual labor 
 that secured his education for life. 
 
 "It would be enough," says Governor Richardson, while 
 urging his scheme upon the legislature, "it would be enough 
 to determine the advantages of the alterations proposed to 
 contrast the usefulness of more than fifty of our most promis- 
 ing young men, educated in the service of the State, with the 
 ennobling consciousness of having paid for their education by 
 their service ; going abroad, under the first feeling of a proud 
 and manly independence, to occupy their places in society; 
 imbued with a State patriotism, as the nurslings of her insti- 
 tutions; combining the enterprise and decision of a military 
 character with the requirements of their scholastic oppor- 
 tunities ; dispersing knowledge and intelligence through all 
 the vocations of life, which they are destined to fill, and per- 
 haps usefully diffusing them as the instructors of succeeding 
 generations. 
 
 "If the success of these institutions," continues Governor 
 Richardson, "should form the basis of important improve- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 325 
 
 ments which may be extended to our free schools; if they 
 should supply better teachers from their alumni ; if they should 
 suggest higher and better systems of morals and tuition; or 
 if they should only awaken greater ardor in the people, and a 
 warmer interest in our hearts to advance the cause of educa- 
 tion, they will achieve more for the w^eal and honor of our 
 State than all the other labor and appliances of government 
 could, in any other manner, confer." Such was the language 
 of the founder of our Academy, addressed to the lawmakers 
 in 1842. 
 
 And from that message of Richardson's to the message of 
 the wise, practical, and farseeing one in '6^, fourteen succes- 
 sive governors of Carolina have commended the patriotism 
 and wisdom of the fathers and founders of the State Military 
 Academy. 
 
 Having thus presented the ground of the being ot the insti- 
 tution, it remains for me to state the reasons which impel the 
 friends of the Citadel Academy to urge its maintenance as 
 one among the great and useful agencies of our State in pro- 
 moting her highest welfare. 
 
 First among these is the fact that the work the Academy 
 has done for South Carolina demonstrates its value to the 
 State. 
 
 The money she has invested in her military school has paid 
 a good dividend. 
 
 One of her most worthy, accomplished graduates, in h's 
 carefully prepared sketch of the history of the military 
 academies, presents a descriptive roll of the graduates. This 
 roll is from the official record, and was carefully compiled and 
 revised by Captain John B. Patrick, the secretary of the board 
 of visitors. The period embraced by the roll covers twenty- 
 two years, and the number of graduates is 240. I would 
 respectfully submit to the board of visitors that the diploma 
 of the academy might, in propriety and with eminent justice. 
 be awarded those eighteen cadets who were within three 
 months of graduating when the merciless exigencies of war 
 
326 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 dismissed them to their calling in life. On the descriptive 
 roll I have referred to, not a single idler appears! Opposite 
 the name of each son of the Academy is the record of a manly, 
 earnest, working life. They represent every county in the 
 State, 123 coming from the upper counties and 117 from the 
 middle and lower. They represent every worthy calling in 
 life: 
 
 Forty-four teachers, 36 merchants and business men, 34 
 lawyers, 31 physicians, 27 planters and farmers, 2^ civil engi- 
 neers, 13 ministers of the gospel of Christ, and 28 graduating 
 in '61, '62, '63. and '64, and at once entering the Confederate 
 service, died for the honor of the State. 
 
 Looking over that roll you will find the names of men who 
 have been themselves founders of institutions of learning, and 
 who are to-day reverenced by hundreds of our youths to whom 
 they have been guides and instructors. 
 
 You will find the names of able and learned professors, 
 some of whom once filled the chairs from which they re- 
 ceived the instructions of Graham and Calcock, Capers and 
 Finley, Hume, Lealand, and Brisbane, Herbert and Matthews ! 
 
 You will find the names of gentlemen representing the 
 pulpit, the bar, the railroad, and farming interests of the State, 
 to whom the present control and management of the academy 
 has been instructed by the legislature as her board of visitors. 
 These worthy gentlemen are here to-day, sitting in the hon- 
 ored places once occupied by the fathers of the academy. 
 
 You will find the names of graduates who have served Caro- 
 lina in the exalted office of her chief magistrate or filled with 
 marked success and public approval the chairs of secretary 
 of State, superintendent of education, senator, and legislator. 
 
 On the roll I am reviewing you will find the names of sol- 
 diers who served their country in the greatest of modern wars, 
 and not one of whom failed to do his duty to South Carolina. 
 Among these soldiers are the names of forty-one graduates 
 who died martyrs to the cause they maintained. 
 
 Among them are soldiers of Carolina, whom Davis, Lee, 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 327 
 
 Stonewall Jackson, Beauregard, Johnston, and Hampden hon- 
 ored and respected for their services, and upon whose unsulHed 
 uniforms the Southern Confederacy fixed the stars and the 
 bars and the wreath of her approval. 
 
 What more could our fellow-citizens reasonably demand 
 of their academy? 
 
 If to do your duty in life be, indeed, the highest achieve- 
 ment of man, and if the mother who trains her sons for duty 
 is worthy the consideration mankind has shown her in all 
 ages, and under every form of civilization from pious Hannah 
 of Israel and the devoted Cornelia of Rome to the mother 
 of our Washington, then may our alma mater well receive, 
 as she well desen^es to receive, the consideration of the people 
 of South Carolina ! 
 
 When an eloquent son of Charleston, William Crafts, was 
 pleading for common schools in the legislature in 181 3. he 
 referred to the work the schools had done in their two years 
 of existence, and estimated their value to the State in these 
 words: "We raised." said he. "an infant corps of future 
 patriots, and those years were fruitful in children for the 
 State. Learning never produced ingratitude, and from those 
 children, thus adopted, patriotism may look for ornaments 
 and sacrifices. In the course of two years six thousand poor 
 children have been partially instructed, and the State expends 
 thirty thousand dollars. Now, sirs, if only one of those six 
 thousand should, in the day of peril, defend this nation, and 
 like Perry, cover this country with the mantle of his own 
 glory; if only one of them in the holy ofiices of religion should 
 illumine the path of virtue and purity; if only one of them 
 should ably advocate in the senate the liberties of the country 
 and the rights of the people — for one such individual thirty 
 thousand dollars would be a cheap equivalent, to say nothing 
 of that more numerous, but not less important class, who 
 would be thereby fitted for the unambitious, but useful offices 
 of private life." 
 
 Another cogent reason why the State should maintain her 
 
328 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 military academy is found in the system of training and the 
 practical character of the instruction it offers our youth. 
 
 The prime object of the academy is not to make soldiers. 
 That is strikingly evident from the fact that not one of her 
 graduates has chosen the profession of arms as a calling in 
 life. Her military discipline and instruction are incidental 
 features of her training. She has employed these means to 
 enforce the great and essential lesson of order, obedience to 
 rightful authority, respect for our betters, and that self-con- 
 trol which youth ever needs, and never more than now. 
 
 For some natures such a training is the sine qua non of their 
 success. However irksome it may have seemed to the cadet, 
 exacting, and at times, perhaps, irritating to the graduate in 
 life, his military discipline follows him into business, regulates 
 his habits of order, enters and organizes and disciplines his 
 home; constantly reminds him of his own obligations to law; 
 and is a silent, all-pervading force in his character, subordinat- 
 ing him and his rightful place in society. 
 
 The positive effect of a military training to develop charac- 
 ter and form habits of attention to duty finds an evident illus- 
 tration in those high and noble characters who were trained 
 for the places they filled in our country's history at our 
 national military academy. 
 
 No man since Washington has been so much admired as 
 General Lee, and no character in American history is so thor- 
 oughly the product of a military training. 
 
 I do not advocate such a course of education for every 
 youth, but I believe for a large proportion of our young men 
 and boys in this precocious age of universal manhood and 
 universal freedom, parents would but serve the highest inter- 
 ests of their sons by subjecting them to a military training. 
 
 I fear that the reins of family government are held more 
 loosely now than they used to be. 
 
 vSelf-indulgence and self-will are cursing our youth. 
 
 Parents in South Carolina in 1844 hailed the establishment 
 of her military academies, and so rapidly had they grown in 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 329 
 
 public favor that the buildings were doubled in capacity within 
 seven years after their founding. 
 
 In 1857, the thirteenth year of their history, the number 
 of pay applicants for cadetships so far exceeded the ability 
 of the institution to accommodate them, that for want of the 
 necessary quarters twenty-eight pay applications were rejected, 
 and the board recommended a third enlargement of the build- 
 ings at the arsenal, to gratify the desire of a large body of the 
 people of the State to have their sons taught at these schools. 
 
 In their report to the governor, shortly after the experi- 
 ment had been well tested, the board of visitors gives the 
 secret of the popularity of the military academy in these 
 words : 
 
 "The military training of the cadets facilitates their in- 
 struction in other branches of study by the habits of order and 
 discipline which it promotes, and in the opinion of the board 
 appears to solve the difficult problem of the management of 
 a number of young men gathered in one institution of learn- 
 ing and science. By requiring them to account for every 
 moment of their time, it prevents them from acquiring vicious 
 habits, by withdrawing them from the allurements of dissipa- 
 tion." 
 
 A practical and scientific course, embracing history, the 
 French language, every department of mathematics, book- 
 keeping, rhetoric, moral, mental, and natural philosophy, archi- 
 tectural and topographical drawing, chemistry, geology, min- 
 eralogy, botanv. civil and military engineering, the constitu- 
 tional law of the United States and the law of nations, gave to 
 each cadet the opportunity to fit himself for the business of 
 life or for the higher pursuits of learning in any of the great 
 professions. Hundreds of Carolina's youth embraced this 
 opportunity. From first to last more than two thousand of 
 our young men have been trained and taught at the academy, 
 to a greater or less extent. 
 
 If our alma mater could to-day collect the names of the 
 cadets who left her walls, after receiving one, two. or three 
 
330 TUt SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 years of her government and teaching, and if she could do 
 for them what Colonel Thomas and Captain Patrick have 
 done for her graduates — write opposite to their names a his- 
 tory of their work in life — what ample justification it would 
 afford my argument ! 
 
 Who could estimate by a money standard the value of the 
 academy's stamp upon those two thousand youths? 
 
 Who could say how far they had extended her benefits to 
 society? Into what nooks and corners the light had shone 
 which they had kindled at her altars? 
 
 When the accomplished president of the great University 
 of Michigan was recently presenting the claims of that insti- 
 tution upon the State, he urged the thought I am now pre- 
 senting in glowing language. "True education," said Presi- 
 dent Augell, "is luminous, outgoing, diffusive, reproductive. 
 It is by this diffusion of educated men, and by the diffusion 
 through them of the direct and indirect advantages of. educa- 
 tion among the inhabitants of every town and hamlet, that a 
 great school of learning does its highest work and justifies its 
 claim to support by the whole people. It is not true that a 
 State institution blesses only the man who receives its diploma. 
 In a large sense it is true that the advantages of the higher 
 education cannot be selfishly monopolized. An education can- 
 not be truly enjoyed, it can hardly be used in an honorable 
 way. without conferring benefits on others. You might as' 
 reasonably talk of the sun monopolizing and enjoying alone 
 the light that is generated in it. as to speak of a scholar 
 monopolizing the advantage of his education. The moment 
 the sun shines the wide universe around is bathed in his life- 
 giving beams." 
 
 The graduates and cadets who have gone, and who go forth 
 to-day, from this State academy go forth bearing a lighted 
 torch. They go forth bearing precious seed, with the purpose 
 and commission to sow by all waters, in all fields, and their 
 fellow-citizens must share with them the harvests. 
 
 Learning and character cannot be converted into secret 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 331 
 
 treasures which men may hide away in their homes or their 
 communities, as the sordid miser hides his bag of precious 
 gold. They go with the man wherever he goes, they do the 
 work he undertakes, they plead the cause he advocates, they 
 fulfill the trusts he assumes, they serve the State he serves, 
 they multiply a hundredfold all his efforts to do good in the 
 world, and consecrate his example ! 
 
 Let the day be forever remote Avhen South Carolina shall 
 withhold a great agency in forming the characters and train- 
 ing the minds of her sons. 
 
 Another consideration which to my mind offers a mighty 
 reason for cherishing our military academy is. that with the 
 University at Columbia it is a unifying agency, uniting our 
 people. These State institutions are centers of unity, as no 
 other institutions of learning can be. The very principle upon 
 which they are fostered by the State is, that they belong to 
 her entire people, without distinction of section, class, or 
 religious belief. Hence, parents of all sections, all classes, and 
 of every religious denomination are free to commit their sons 
 to the care of the State institutions. Being there, what is the 
 effect of their association as fellow-students? Friendly con- 
 tact with those Avho differ from us. conscientiously, teaches 
 respect for their sincerity; and, in the degree that men are 
 faithful to their convictions, consideration for their convic- 
 tions. 
 
 When a youth for the first time emerges from the narrow 
 limits of the township in which he was born, and finds himself 
 in daily association with representatives from every quarter 
 of his State, some of whom will hold religious beliefs, and 
 practice, it may be, religious customs he may have been taught 
 to hate, while others will belong to a political creed he had 
 never considered — that youth has entered a new world, and 
 must make happy discoveries. 
 
 He will learn toleration, consideration for the rights of 
 others, and that independence in holding one's opinion which 
 is noble only when it is dignified by a becoming respect for 
 
332 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the opinions of others. Watched by the maternal eye of the 
 State, and nurtured by her care, he will early feel the bond of 
 citizenship. 
 
 A sentiment for the whole State will grow in close associa- 
 tion with friendships so strong, so dear, that distance, nor 
 difference of opinion, nor opposing State policies, nor the 
 clash of rival interests, nor the ambition of aspiring men. nor 
 mountain, nor seaboard, nor any other creature shall be able to 
 separate him from the catholic spirit of his academic life. 
 
 This is a great gain to the State, and a noble end to be 
 achieved by her State institutions of learning. The thought- 
 ful student of our history, from the Revolution to the present 
 time, must see the deadly tendency to sectionalism which that 
 history records. 
 
 Though sectionalism may be a natural feeling, yet it is 
 ruinous to the harmony of the State, mars its character, and 
 must effect injuriously its legislation. 
 
 A mere partisan for his section or his sect may be the 
 embodiment of intellectual ability, earnestness, and honesty 
 of purpose, but he cannot be a just lawmaker. 
 
 No cataract which afflicts the human vision, distorting the 
 lovely objects of nature into hideous shapes, and misleading 
 the steps of man. is a greater blinder than traditional preju- 
 dice. 
 
 Let the kindly offices of friendly association, like the healing 
 out of the skillful oculist, gently remove the confusing obstruc- 
 tion, and men and measures stand in their proper relation, 
 and the light of justice and truth pours into the mind, as into 
 a temple swept and garnished. 
 
 "Would you make a Commonwealth an unit?" "Educate its 
 sons together." This was the counsel of the great and good 
 Thornwell. Having devoted a large portion of his life to the 
 business of instruction, says Dr. Labarde, in his sketch of 
 Dr. Thornwell, he had occasion to examine for himself the 
 great question of education, and his matured conclusions are 
 to be found partially stated in his letter to Governor Man- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 333 
 
 ning in 1853. In concluding that letter he thus speaks of the 
 unifying powers of a common education, and the need of a 
 common center of instruction : "There ought to be some com- 
 mon ground on which the members of a State may meet 
 together and feel that they are brothers ; some common ground 
 on which their children may mingle without confusion or dis- 
 cord, and bury every selfish and narrow interest in the sublime 
 sentiment that they belong to the same family ! Nothing is so 
 powerful as a common education, and the thousand sweet 
 associations which spring from it, and cluster around it, to 
 cherish the holy brotherhood of men. Those who have 
 walked together in the same path of science, and taken sweet 
 counsel in the same halls of learning; who went arm in arm 
 in that hallowed season of life when the foundations of all 
 excellence are laid ; who have wept with the same sorrows, or 
 laughed with the same joys; who have been fired with the 
 same ambition ; lured by the same hopes, and grieved at the 
 same disappointments — these are not the men in after years to 
 stir up animosities or foment intestine feuds." 
 
 I would present one other consideration. Our State should 
 preserve her military academy as the complement of her pub- 
 lic school system. To-day you graduate fifty-three cadets. 
 Of this number thirty-five are to be teachers in our common 
 schools and in their respective counties for the next two years. 
 This service they owe to the State as the recipients of her 
 generous bounty. The academic education of these thirty-five 
 teachers has cost the State the sum of forty-two thousand 
 dollars, which is twenty-nine cents tax to each taxpayer on a 
 thousand dollars, in four years. 
 
 A large body of our fellow-citizens representing the farm- 
 ing interests of the State, recently convened in Columbia, 
 have resolved that the State military academy is a useless 
 expense to the taxpaA'^er, and gravely recommended its de- 
 struction. 
 
 Well, my friends, if the record I have attempted to present 
 to-day goes for nothing in the minds of our assembly; if the 
 
334 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 policy of our State, from its colonial history to the present, 
 was erroneous or unwise; if our fathers have blundered in 
 their patriotic efforts to elevate the citizens of the State, and 
 if the legislatures of Carolina, from 171 2 to 1886, have been 
 perpetuating in the sacred name of learning and enlightenment 
 a great wrong, then indeed let the Palmetto flag be hauled 
 down from yonder flagstaff, and the Citadel and college go ! 
 
 We have witnessed the torch and the rude hand of war 
 burn and destroy what most we loved and prized ! It may be 
 before us, fellow-graduates, and friends of the old Citadel, 
 to witness the hands of our own brothers tear the crown from 
 the honored brow of our alma mater; and, invoking the same 
 authority that gave her being, deprive her of the State's com- 
 mission to do good in her day and generation — but until I 
 "witness the catastrophe I will not believe its consummation 
 possible in a legislature of South Carolina composed of repre- 
 sentative South Carolinians. 
 
AN ADDRESS BY REV\ ELLISON CAPERS, D. D., 
 MEMORIAL DAY, MAY 20. 1890. GREENVILLE, 
 S. C. 
 
 Ladies of the Memorial Association : 
 
 The return of the springtime commemorates the twenty- 
 fifth anniversary of the surrender of the Southern armies 
 and the downfall of the Southern Confederacy. 
 
 A generation has grown into manhood since the memorable 
 spring of 1865. Mr. Davis and the majority of his cabinet 
 have passed away in an honored old age, and, with most of 
 the distinguished soldiers who led our armies, are "resting 
 under the shade of the trees" beyond the great river that 
 separates them from us ! The government against which they 
 led our people triumphed over their counsels, and their armies 
 crushed to atoms their power, trampled their hopes into the 
 dust, and its proud banner waves over their graves and is the 
 flag of our common country to-day! 
 
 To that flag they swore allegiance before they died, and 
 those of us who survive them stand pledged to defend its 
 honor with our heart's blood. 
 
 The cause they fought for is often denounced as the "re- 
 bellion" ; or the unholy war for slavery; or it is pitied as "the 
 lost cause" of an ambitious and arrogant aristocracy. Its his- 
 tory is written, for the most part, by its enemies, and its most 
 sacred archives have been burned to ashes, or lost in the wreck 
 and ruin of homes, or surrendered to the custody of the 
 conqueror ! 
 
 And yet we keep memorial days ! 
 
 Our people strew the graves of Confederates with fresh 
 flowers, and though twenty-five years have elapsed since the 
 soldier returned to his home from the field of his defeat and 
 
 335 
 
336 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 surrender, yet his countrymen trust and honor his courage! 
 The noblest monuments of art in all our Southland have been 
 erected to commemorate his valor and perpetuate his heroism, 
 chiseling his uniformed statue in Parian marble, and inscribing 
 for all time, as on our own State monument, the solemn legend 
 of his sacrifices : 
 
 "Let the stranger who may in future times read this inscrip- 
 tion recognize that these were men whom power could not 
 corrupt, whom death could not terrify, whom defeat could 
 not dishonor; and let their virtues plead for just judgment of 
 the cause in which they perished; — let the South Carolinian 
 of another generation remember that the State taught them 
 how to live and how to die ; and that from her broken fortunes 
 she has preserved for her children the priceless treasure of 
 their memories, teaching all who may claim the same birth- 
 right, that Truth, Courage and Patriotism endure forever." 
 
 These monuments are dear to our Southern people; they 
 speak to us, they teach us, they comfort us, they guide us, they 
 inspire us ! They are to us what the trophy of Marathon was 
 to the Athenians, — they perpetuate the memory of our fathers, 
 and brothers, and sons, "who died in the performance of their 
 duty," and "glorified a fallen cause by the simple manhood of 
 their lives, the patient endurance of suffering, and the heroism 
 of death." 
 
 On the brilliant pages of Macaulay is a graphic description 
 of the manner in which the Irish of Londonderry turned the 
 town wall, the cathedral, the whole city into a memorial of 
 the devotion of its defenders in 1689. The historian concludes 
 in these words : "It is impossible not to respect the sentiment 
 which indicates itself by these tokens. It is a sentiment which 
 belongs to the higher and purer part of human nature, and 
 which adds not a little to the strength of States. A people 
 which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote 
 ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remem- 
 bered with pride by remote descendants." 
 
 All peoples, all worthy nations, have respected this pure 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 337 
 
 sentiment of our humanity; and in that sacred history, which 
 holy men of God wrote, as they were moved by the Holy 
 Ghost, we read of the monuments they built to commemorate 
 the faith and courage and patience and devotion of the Lord's 
 hosts, and to perpetuate the memory of His mercies. 
 
 Aye, they built monuments to teach posterity! 
 
 Speaking of that which Joshua built on the western bank 
 of the Jordan, to commemorate its miraculous passage by his 
 army, he said to his people : "This shall be a sign among you, 
 that when your children ask their fathers, in time to come, 
 saying, what n:ean ye by these stones? then ye shall answer 
 them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark 
 of the Covenant of the Lord, when it passed over Jordan; and 
 these stones shall be a memorial unto the children of Israel 
 forever!" 
 
 And this is precisely the meaning of our memorials and 
 monuments — they are for us, and for our children, forever! 
 
 History may impartially record the failures, or the mis- 
 takes, or the unwisdom of a people, and its perusal may dis- 
 appoint and discourage us, but so long as that history inscribes 
 the record of patience under trials, courage in danger, forti- 
 tude in adversity, faith in misfortune, and cheerful energy in 
 defeat. — such a history can never be a dishonor to any people. 
 He dishonors himself who fails to respect it, and he alone is 
 unblessed by its examples who is unmindful of its memory. 
 
 These memorial days, the monuments we build to the Con- 
 federate dead, proclaim to the civilized world the self-respect 
 of a people who would not command, as they would not 
 deserve, the respect of civilized nations and patriotic States, 
 if they failed to hold in reverence and honor the sacrifices 
 of men who gave the highest, the best, the last proof which 
 mortal man can give of the sincerity, purity and patriotism 
 of their conduct; "greater love hath no man than this, that 
 a man lay down his life for his brethren!" 
 
 If the Southern armies had won no glory in the war, — if 
 every campaign had been a military blunder, and every battle 
 
23^ THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 crushing defeat, — if the South had produced no great gen- 
 erals, or able seamen; but if, on the contrary, we had met 
 our ultimate overthrow in half the time consumed by the 
 millions who effected it— still, our dead soldiers would be 
 worthy of the lasting love and gratitude of our people, and 
 their sacrifices and struggles entitled to sacred commemora- 
 tion; for they all died in the performance of their duty to 
 the political, social, and religious principles held sacred by 
 us all ! The war they engaged in was not waged for the 
 conquest of territory not already their own ; for dominion 
 over their Northern brethren ; or for the enforcement of 
 their opinions and convictions upon the North ; it was a war 
 for their rights under the charter bequeathed to them in the 
 Constitution ; it was a war in maintenance of the great right 
 of a free people, of Anglo-Saxon blood and history, to choose 
 for themselves the government which would best promote 
 their prosperity and happiness. 
 
 The brilliant Senator from Alabama has well said : "The 
 American people were neither seduced, surprised, nor betrayed 
 into the war. The conquerors searched in vain and failed 
 to find a vicarious sufferer who could personate the alleged 
 treason of the people." "There was no treason in the war. 
 There was no traitor of any note to either flag during the 
 war. Its causes had such deep hold on the convictions of the 
 people that every man fought as he would have fought for his 
 family or his religion." 
 
 "For more than forty years the people had warned and 
 admonished each other in every solemn form, that warring 
 opinions and angry debates were surely and steadily approach- 
 ing a crisis that would compel war. Every test of the ballot 
 had developed only the evident determination of the people 
 on both sides to yield nothing to each other. Many com- 
 promises were devised by generous patriots, who set high 
 examples of personal sacrifice — but their counsels were re- 
 jected." The voice of warning and advice was lost in the 
 tumult of heated passion, and the burning sense of wrong 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 339 
 
 and injury. The war was inevitable. Aye — in the mystery 
 of that good Providence that rules in the affairs of nations, 
 as of individuals, the war was necessary to our distracted 
 country. It was necessary to end the long, bitter, relentless 
 debate between the sections — necessary to decide issues which 
 touched the interests and consciences of men so deeply, so 
 thoroughly, so absolutely, that the sword could be the only 
 arbitrator — it was necessary to bring peace and prosperity 
 to our country, and to ennoble our people through the fiery 
 trial of suffering and loss through which they passed — and 
 necessary it was, because it was the last resort of millions of 
 American freemen to maintain what they cherished of Ameri- 
 can freedom and independence. 
 
 Mr. Davis, in his Inaugural Address at Montgomery, in 
 February, i86r, declared for himself, and for the people of 
 the Southern Confederacy, the motives and principles which 
 impelled the secession of the Southern States, and the for- 
 mation of the Confederate government, in language as un- 
 mistakable as it was sincere: The declared purposes, said the 
 first and only President of the Confederacy, the declared pur- 
 poses of the compact of Union from which we have with- 
 drawn were to establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, 
 to provide for the common defense, to promote the general 
 welfare, and to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves 
 and our posterity; and when, in the judgment of the sover- 
 eign States, now comprising this Confederacy, it had been per- 
 verted from the purposes for which it was ordained, and 
 ceased to answer the ends for which it was established, an 
 appeal to the ballot box declared, that so far as they were 
 concerned the government created by that compact should 
 cease to exist. Tn this, continued Mr. Davis, they merely 
 asserted a right which the Declaration of Independence of 1776 
 defined to be inalienable. As a necessity, not a choice, we have 
 resorted to separation. . , . If a just perception of 
 mutual interests shall permit us peaceably to pursue our sepa- 
 rate political career, my most earnest desire will have been ful- 
 
340 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 filled. But if this be denied us, and the integrity and juris- 
 diction of our territory be assailed, it will but remain for us 
 with a firm resolve to appeal to arms, and invoke the blessings 
 of Providence upon a just cause. 
 
 This was the language of President Davis at his inaugura- 
 tion, spoken in behalf of the newborn government which he 
 represented. In full accord with its declarations of peace 
 and good will, South Carolina sent a commission of her dis- 
 tinguished sons to Washington to adjust all questions of dis- 
 pute between herself and the United State government; and 
 one of the first acts of the Confederacy was, to accredit agents 
 to visit Washington, and use all honorable means to obtain a 
 satisfactory adjustment of the relations of independence and 
 peace which the South sought to maintain for herself and 
 towards the United States. "Both efforts failed, and the 
 war," to use the language of the Confederate Congress, in a 
 most solemn appeal to the fair judgment of mankind, "the 
 war was forced upon us, against all our protests, and the most 
 earnest efforts to the contrary." If a sense of duty to the 
 Union; or to the Constitution, as the North construed it; or 
 a conscientious purpose to abolish slavery, fired the Northern 
 heart and inspired the Northern government to invade our ter- 
 ritory and lay waste our homes, the highest instinct of our 
 common humanity, the deepest, strongest, holiest motives of 
 the human heart, the sentiments of manhood and patriotism, 
 summoned the South, as one man, to the Potomac and the 
 Ohio, to the seacoast, and to the Mississippi to hurl the invader 
 back, or dispute every inch of his advance. In this determina- 
 tion our whole people concurred. There is scarcely a parallel 
 in history to the unanimity, the enthusiasm, the ardor with 
 which our whole people responded to the sound of the trumpet. 
 This unanimity cannot be appreciated except by those who 
 were eye-witnesses and participants. 
 
 Whatever differences existed among us, they were all laid 
 aside and forgotten in the one com.mon Southern impulse 
 and determination to dispute, by force of arms, the right of 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 341 
 
 the United States government to coerce us into compliance 
 with sentiments and principles we had solemnly rejected, and 
 a government we regarded unfriendly, inimical, and injurious 
 to our interests. 
 
 Your own Governor Perry, true man as he was to his con- 
 victions, and brave as a lion to maintain his principles, sac- 
 rificed the political teaching of his whole life on the altar of 
 his manhood, and took his place to defend the Southern Con- 
 federacy. 
 
 In his beautiful and classic tribute to the character and 
 memory of the gallant Pettigrew. Mr. William Henry Tres- 
 cot describes this unanimous rush of the South to arms, in 
 language accurate, as it is just and eloquent : "Never in the 
 history of the world has there been a nobler response to a 
 more thoroughlv recognized duty! Nowhere anything more 
 truly glorious than this outburst of the youth and manhood 
 of the South. And now that the end has come, and we have 
 seen it. it seems to me that to a man of humanity. I care not 
 in what section his sympathies mav haA^e been nurtured, there 
 never has been a sadder or sublimer spectacle than these ear- 
 nest and devoted men, their young and vigorous columns 
 marching to battle, like the combatants of ancient Rome, be- 
 neath the imperial throne in the amphitheater, and exclaiming 
 with uplifted arms, moraturi te salntant' ! . . . And if 
 in ordinary times it is one of the saddest of human experi- 
 ences to see the sudden destruction of great gifts, the extinc- 
 tion of fair promises, the uncompleted and fragmentary 
 achievement of useful and honorable lives, with what bitter 
 reo-ret must we not review that long list of the dead, whose 
 virtues, whose genius and whose youth, we sacrificed in vain. 
 To the memory of these men we owe a peculiarlv tender care. 
 Thev went to death at our bidding, and the simple and heroic 
 language of one not the least among them, spoke the spirit 
 of them all. 'Tell the Governor.' said Maxcy Gregg, as he 
 was dvinf>-. 'that if T am to die noAv. T giA^e my life cheerfullv 
 for the independence of South Carolina.' " 
 
342 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 "Their leaf has perished in the green, 
 And while we breathe beneath the sun, 
 The world, which credits what is done, 
 Is cold to all that might have been." 
 
 But now that a quarter of a century has cooled the passions 
 and tempered the prejudices excited by years of war, and a 
 calmer and fairer discernment is brought to the consideration 
 of the great struggle and its causes, the earnestness, the valor, 
 the self-sacrifice, the heroic devotion of the Southern soldier 
 is more and more felt, and more frankly conceded. 
 
 In an article in the Century for this month, a distin- 
 guished soldier of the United States Army, who held high 
 command in the war, writing of the "valor and skill of the 
 Civil War," thus truthfully and gracefully speaks of the 
 Confederate soldier : "The Southerner felt that he was fight- 
 ing for his home and fireside. This greatest of all inspira- 
 tions we [of the North] lacked. He fought with an intimate 
 knowledge of the territory, with the aid of every farmer, in- 
 deed of every woman. He was more in earnest, as a rule, 
 as will be every soldier whose fields and homesteads are being 
 wasted and burned. . . . It is not difficult to state the 
 task of the South. It was simply to conquer its independence. 
 No student of the war, no old soldier, no American, but har- 
 bors the warmest admiration for what the Southerner did. 
 He began the war with a vow to win or die in the last ditch. 
 He did not win, but he did actually do the other thing. He 
 gave up the struggle because he had practically used up his 
 last man and fired his last cartridge. Nor he. nor any other, 
 could do more." 
 
 Instituting a comparison between the defensive campaijjns 
 of the South and the defense of Prussia by the great Fred- 
 erick, this writer further says : 
 
 "Frederick rarelv had in the field more than one-fourth of 
 the force of his enemies, but on the battle-fields, by superior 
 strategy, central position, interior lines, and nimble legs, he 
 usually managed to oppose to them one-half as many at the 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 343 
 
 point of the actual contact. Owing to its extraordinary exer- 
 tions, the South had under arms until the last third of the war 
 an averao-e of about three-fourths of the force of the North." 
 He further asserts, in explanation of the time which the 
 United States Government took with its vast resources, to 
 "put down the rebellion," that up to 1864 the forces of the 
 North and South "at the point of actual contact" in battle 
 "were not far from equal." 
 
 In this article of General Dodge the population of the South, 
 including slaves, is put down at five and a half millions, and 
 that of the North at three and a half times greater, or under 
 twenty millions. According to General Dodge's table the 
 South, from a population of five and a half millions, one-third 
 of whom were slaves, with the usual proportion of aged men, 
 women, children, and non-combatants, had in the field under 
 arms, on the ist of January, 1863. 690,000 men! If this is 
 true, then every white man and boy in the South who could 
 shoulder a musket and endure the fatigues of war was a sol- 
 dier in the field! Much nearer the truth are the carefully 
 compiled tables of the Southern flistorical Society, submitted 
 to the inspection and criticism of that accomplished soldier 
 and gentleman. General S. Cooper, the A. & I. G. of the C. S. 
 A. and published in the Southern Historical Society papers. 
 In using the word truth. I do not mean to cast the slightest 
 reflection upon the truthfulness of the brave soldier from 
 whom I quote the figures. He was too gallant a man, and 
 too true a soldier to his country, to write an3^thing but that 
 which he believed to be truth. By these tables, which General 
 Cooper pronounced "as nearly critically correct," the Con- 
 federate forces, actively engaged during the whole war, 
 amounted in round numbers to 600.000. Of these 600,000 
 five-sixths, 500,000. were lost in the great and unequal strug- 
 gle; 200,000 from death in battle, wounds, and disease; 
 200.000 shut up in Northern prisons and refused exchange, 
 in order to crush the rebellion: 100,000 discharged by reason 
 of age, sickness, and disability, or lost to the South by deser- 
 
344 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 tion! And when the memorable spring of 1865 came 100,000 
 Confederate soldiers, half -clad, half-shod, poorly fed, stood 
 by their colors, scattered from Petersburg to the Mississippi, 
 and beyond, confronting 1,000,000 Federal troops, superbly 
 armed, perfectly equipped, well fed and clothed, with the 
 resources of all the world at their command. 
 
 Well may the gallant General Dodge write that the South 
 had practically used up her last man and fired her last car- 
 tridge. 
 
 We of the South have accepted this result as the will of 
 God concerning us ; and since ours are the armies that were 
 surrendered, and ours the flag that was furled, and ours the 
 cause that was lost, on us, and on us alone, is laid the high duty 
 of maintaining the character and the spirit and the courage 
 and the patriotism of the men who carried us through the con- 
 test with honor, and sustained it to the bitter end. It is the 
 glory of our people ; alike the sure token of their untarnished 
 fame, and the certain prophecy of their future happiness anrl 
 prosperity, as a people, that they have never ceased to honor 
 the cause they lost, or to hold in most sacred esteem "the 
 virtue, and the intellect, and the courage which were piled high 
 in exulting sacrifice" on the sacred altar of their faith. 
 
 I could wish, my friends in Greenville, that I could read 
 to you to-day the full roll of your Confederate dead. When 
 T had the honor to address you on memorial day in 1879. I 
 expressed the hope that such a roll would be prepared and 
 preserved in the archives of the country. Who has preserved 
 the roll of those true men. my comrades in camp and on the 
 field, who fell with the gallant, modest, faithful Major O'Neall 
 in the night attack at Kennesaw Mountain, and were buried 
 by the enemy? Survivors of the Sixteenth South Carolina 
 Volunteers, do not allow another memorial day to come with 
 its garlands and its memories and find this duty to our com- 
 rades unfulfilled. Let Bolin? from the Mountains, and Mc- 
 Cullough from Dunklin, and Funnan from the city, and Crit- 
 tenden and Blythe and Caele and Hawthorne and Perry and 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 345 
 
 Maudlin, and all the old soldiers, rally the living men and 
 write in lasting characters the names of our dead comrades 
 who sleep in unknown graves. 
 
 The Butler Guards with becoming pride have recorded the 
 spot and the circumstances where fell at Gettysburg Pulliam 
 and Pool, and Jennings, and Markley, and Smith, and Gil- 
 reath — how first Manassas received the offering of John 
 Payne, and Scruggs at Lewenville; the brave and generous 
 Watson on Malvern Hill, the gallant James Dyer at Chicka- 
 mauga, Smyer and Turpin at the Wilderness, Williams at 
 Spotsylvania Court House, Shumate and Gerard Dyer and 
 Goodlett at Cold Harbor, Garmany at Cedar Creek, Randolph 
 Bacon at Charlestown. Norman Henning at Bentonville, and 
 Tracy at Appomattox Court House. 
 
 These men fell in battle, or died of wounds; and others 
 fell by the wayside, worn down by the burdens of their ser- 
 vice or wasted by disease. So fell Turner and Pool, and 
 Goodlette and Carson, and Mauldin and Dr. Gibson, and 
 Joseph Gibson and Holland and Snyder, and Baldwin and 
 Huff. Men of Greenville laid down their lives in Mississippi, 
 at Dalton, at Atlanta, on the bloodiest of all fields, Franklin, 
 and at Nashville. 
 
 And there are the honored dead of the Brooks Troop; of 
 Earle's and Holtzclaw's batteries, of Bozeman's. and Austin's 
 and Goodlett's companies. It is with a feeling of honest 
 pride that I can read to-night an extract from a letter written 
 me in 1879. by the last colonel of the Sixteenth and Twenty- 
 fourth South Carolina Volunteers, consolidated, bearing the 
 testimony of a gallant commander to the faithfulness of his 
 men to the end of the great contest. In response to the invita- 
 tion of the survivors of the Sixteenth South Carolina Volun- 
 teers to attend a reunion meeting here in Greenville in August. 
 1879, Colonel B. Burgh Smith writes to me : "I will yield to 
 none in warm friendship for my old comrades and in admira- 
 tion for the fortitude and gallantry of the veterans of the 
 Sixteenth and Twenty- fourth, whom I had the honor to com- 
 
346 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 mand at the close of the struggle. The four hundred and 
 seventy (I think) men of those regiments that surrendered 
 with me, representing the winnowed grain of the three thou- 
 sand that had been from time to time borne upon their rolls, 
 were unsurpassed by any body of men in the Confederate 
 army. Soldiers they were true and tried, and I assert that 
 no body of men marched to their homes in better or more sol- 
 dierly 'form' than did these two regiments, that represented 
 one-half of South Carolina's contribution to the army of the 
 West." Brave and true men all! Honored be their memo- 
 ries forever. 
 
 And to you. young men of this generation, sons and 
 brothers of these heroes, I would speak in the earnest words 
 of a gallant Georgian: "As they died in duty, live in duty; 
 as they died for country, live for country; as they died for 
 liberty, live for liberty!" 
 
 And as the future in its march brings on the new; an in- 
 spiration at its best of the old; as it comes to you with its 
 duties, may you, in this grand land of ours, rebuild each 
 waste, — restore each barren spot, — improve her! forward her! 
 until she blossoms like a rose, — and then lay it, the red rose 
 amongst nations, at the feet of our heroes, and tell them, 
 "this we learned from you — this we do for you." 
 
 This is the true purpose — this the hallowed lesson of memo- 
 rial day! To the women of the South a debt of deepest grati- 
 tude is due from ever\^ patriotic heart — from every man who 
 respects himself and honors our dead, — for the faithful and 
 true observance of our memorial day. 
 
 After the Mexican War Kentucky brought back to her own 
 soil the bodies of her fallen soldiers, and laid their ashes to 
 rest at her capital. Over their graves, inspired by woman's 
 devotion and love, she erected a tall and graceful column of 
 purest marble, bearing the names of the battles they fought 
 for the honor of their country. In recognition of the devo- 
 tion of the women of Kentucky, the State crowned the lofty 
 memorial shaft with the statue of a woman, with hands bear- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 347 
 
 ing chaplets of flowers, uplifted in blessing over "the silent 
 bivouac of the dead." 
 
 Fitting emblem of the constant faith, that ever blessed with 
 hopeful love the Confederate soldier! 
 
 Silent, but eloquent monument of the patience and forti- 
 tude and unshaken constancy of our mothers, and wives, and 
 sisters, and daughters! 
 
SPEECH OF GEN. ELLISON CAPERS AT THE UN- 
 VEILING OF THE CONFEDERATE MONUMENT 
 AT CHICKAMAUGA BATTLEFIELD, MAY 27, 
 1901. 
 
 Fellow-Citizens and Confederate Comrades: 
 
 All hail to the monument! 
 
 Public monuments are the recognized symbols of worthy 
 history. They are enduring exponents of character. The 
 lessons which high example and honorable history teach are 
 written not alone in the perishable pages of books, or in the 
 fading memories of a generation. True patriotism has ever 
 engraven them in stone, and builded high their immortality in 
 granite and Parian marble. 
 
 The monument at Thermopylae, with its simple inscription, 
 "Go, stranger, and tell at Lacedaemon that we died here in 
 obedience to her laws," is held sacred to valor, to honor, and 
 to patriotic devotion to country, and has ever taught to all the 
 ages those holy sentiments and noble attributes of the human 
 soul, though the band of vSpartans were all slain, and their 
 splendid leader's body hung by Xerxes on a gallows, and their 
 country overrun. 
 
 If our monuments had no ethical value, if they were not 
 the symbols of an honest and earnest people in an honest and 
 earnest struggle, they might justly be regarded as signs of 
 disloyalty to the government which overpowered their efforts, 
 crushed their armies, destroyed their resources, forced the sur- 
 render of their cherished hopes, and compelled their return to 
 the LTnion. But our great country knows full well that the 
 men and women who build them consecrate them to the mem- 
 ory of virtue and valor; and that their virtue and valor stand 
 pledged to abide by the union of our country as alike the will 
 
 348 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 349 
 
 and wisdom of an overruling Providence, and the dictate of a 
 consequent duty. If this monument did not commemorate 
 virtue, the virtuous could not participate in these ceremonies. 
 
 If this great occasion could not be recognized by the Gov- 
 ernment under which we live, no ex-Confederate soldier who 
 gave his parole of honor when he laid down his arms in a 
 hopeless struggle would be willing to violate a soldier's honor 
 by his participation here to-day. If this monument fostered 
 the spirit of discontent, and was designed to keep alive the 
 ashes of burnt-out passions, the faithful followers of our 
 Divine Master could not here assemble, as to a patriotic con- 
 \'ocation, and invoke the smile and blessing of Almighty God 
 upon this noble tribute to virtue and to truth. 
 
 We feel it good to be here ! 
 
 There is an odor of sanctity about this battle-field which 
 humbles and yet exalts our spirits, and sends us back to our 
 duties and responsibilities with a deeper sense of the truth 
 that the real value of every sacrifice is its moral value, and 
 not the value of the prize for which the sacrifice was made. 
 The prize may be lost, or torn from an enfeebled hand by a 
 hand more powerful, yet the noble spirit and the real heroism 
 of the sacrifice remain forever! 
 
 They live in memory ; they live in history ; they are with us 
 in our monuments, to refine our selfishness, to purify our 
 ambitions, to chasten our hopes, and to exalt our courage. 
 
 I count it, my fellow-citizens, amongst the dearest experi- 
 ences of my life that I knew my comrades and had the honor 
 of being a fellow-soldier with them; that I witnessed their 
 cheerfulness in camp and their splendid courage in the field; 
 that I learned from them some of the best lessons of my life, 
 as I saw them, poorly clad, and poorly fed, and poorly paid, 
 march willingly to their hard tasks and fight their unequal 
 battles. It is an inspiration and strength to the greatest and 
 best to see men die in this high spirit, and his must be a sordid 
 heart that can feel no exaltation of his nature here to-day 
 when the great Government under which we live, and against 
 
350 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 which we strove with all our might and main, hails ex-Con- 
 federate soldiers on a battle-field of common glory, and salutes 
 with its triumphant flag the monument South Carolina has 
 erected to Confederate valor. 
 
 And now, my countrymen. I have the honor, which I most 
 dearly prize, of directing the unveiling of this sacred monu- 
 ment on this hallowed spot. I shall call the names of four 
 girls from South Carolina who represent the four commands 
 of South Carolina troops who had the honor to share in the 
 sacrifice of this great battlefield. These fair daughters of our 
 mother, the State, with their own faithful hands, will present 
 to your view South Carolina's tribute of honor and devotion 
 to her faithful sons. 
 
SERMON DELIVERED ON THE DAY APPOINTED 
 FOR PRAYER AND HUMILIATION ON THE 
 OCCASION OF THE BURIAL OF PRESIDENT 
 GARFIELD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1881. 
 
 Text: "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee; the remainder of 
 wrath shalt thou restrain." — Psalm Lxxvi. 10. 
 
 We have assembled to-day, my dear brethren, to cominemo- 
 rate one of the most impressive events in the history of our 
 country. 
 
 With remarkable agreement the minds of all Christians have 
 been turned to God. the Almighty Sovereign Ruler of the 
 Universe, and men have agreed everywhere in our land that 
 He is speaking to us in the sad event of our late President's 
 wounding and suffering and death. 
 
 Human hopes have been disappointed, human aspirations 
 quenched, human love most sorely grieved, human plans 
 utterly prostrated, and human skill and boasted science baf- 
 fled, blinded, made powerless ! With one voice, and one wish, 
 and one heart, our people have carried their prayer for the 
 life of the late President to the Throne of Grace; but the 
 answer has been a disappointment ! Day by day, as the zealous 
 reporters for the press have sent us their comments upon the 
 bulletins of the ever kind and watchful physicians, we have 
 formed opinions, only to see them contradicted by the onward 
 progress of events, until men ceased to form opinions, and 
 knew not what to expect. The only certain things, of which all 
 have felt assured, were the patience and faith and courage of 
 the suft'erer and the anxious love that watched over his suf- 
 ferings. And when the end came and the good President 
 ceased to suffer, and, we trust, through the merits of the Re- 
 deemer, entered into the rest that remaineth for the people of 
 
 351 
 
352 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 God, death came from secondary causes, unknown, unlooked- 
 for, unrecognized by man ! Surely, brethren, in all this we 
 must see the hand of an o\^erruling Providence. 
 
 We must recognize the great lesson of the text. God is 
 speaking to the American people through this signal event in 
 their history. And I cannot better illustrate the text, I cannot 
 more clearly point out -its pregnant meaning, than to summon 
 your attention to a few particulars in our very recent history, 
 which have an impressive connection with the sentiments and 
 feelings that move us all to-day ! 
 
 We have only to go back a few months to recall the harsh 
 and bitter words, the pointed sarcasm, the languages of re- 
 proach, the charges of fraud and infamy, with which a partisan 
 spirit made us speak of the Republican candidate for the 
 Presidency. How changed is all this ! How altered are our 
 feelings! How different our judgments ! How much modified 
 our opinions! How sincere is the reverence with which we 
 have prayed for the officer whom but yesterday we pronounced 
 unworthy of the office. God has rebuked our wrath, my 
 brethren, and taught us its injustice and folly by calling up the 
 nobler feelings of generosity and sympathy and kindness and 
 brotherly love, and all honor to our people that they have had 
 the manliness to express without stint the sympathy they have 
 truly felt for the man whose political leadership they had 
 bitterly rejected! 
 
 All honor to our people that they assemble to-day to respect 
 his memory and to receive the lesson of his death ! Let it 
 sink down into our hearts, beloved, and rebuke forever the 
 unthinking carelessness with which we assail the characters of 
 our fellow-men, whether they are opposed to us or whether 
 they differ with us; the guilty freedom with which we are 
 forever judging of one another's motives ; the sinful folly with 
 which we are using our tongues in condemnation of our oppo- 
 nents, or those whom we dislike, or who may dislike us ! 
 
 Fresh from the passion, the strife, the turmoil, the divisions, 
 the bitterness, and the terrible sin of a mighty political con- 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 353 
 
 test, God in his wonderful providence drew the American 
 people around the person of a great sufferer, and that sufferer 
 was the victor in this contest. In these sufferings God has 
 led us, brethren, into the home and into the heart of the man. 
 By his gentleness, by his love, by his unmunnuring submission, 
 by his courage and faith, by his freedom from resentment, 
 and by the self-command which uttered through those eighty 
 days of pain no word of impatient, uncharitable reproach. 
 God has taught his opponents that they had misjudged him in 
 their hot zeal — that he was worthy to be President of the 
 United States. Surely, my brethren, in the tribute of respect 
 we bring our dead President we praise the overruling Provi- 
 dence which has made the passions of man rebound to His 
 glory, and to our good. 
 
 If ever an event in history illustrated this great truth, it finds 
 that illustration in the event that has assembled us in the 
 Lord's house to-day. The sentiments which with wonderful 
 unanimity have been felt and expressed by our people for the 
 past weeks, are the sentiments and feelings which do honor to 
 God. in which he delights, which are revealed to us as traits 
 of His grace. 
 
 When a whole people do honor to the steadfast love which a 
 mother gives her son, and the reverence and respect which the 
 son gives his mother ; when the sweet love of home is revealed 
 in its purest and noblest forms; when the holy obligations of 
 the family are manifested in the most devoted faithfulness, 
 and by their own gentle, yet potent sway, move and guide 
 the heart of millions! hush the passions of a mighty nation! 
 stop the voice of strife and rebuke the rage of malice! surely, 
 brethren, God is praised in this hour of our disappointment, 
 and in this sad event of the President's long illness, his patiently 
 borne sufferings, his untimely death ! 
 
 From the White House, from the cottage at Long Branch, 
 through days and weeks and months of bitter trial and anxious 
 hope we have seen the greatest office of our country sanctified 
 in the eyes of our people. We have seen the quiet duties of 
 
354 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 home, and the virtues of home life, confer a dignity on the 
 Chief Magistrate of our land, and illumine his character with 
 a light of love and truth which has won the admiration of both 
 continents and inspired the sympathies and taught the hearts 
 of the most enlightened rulers of the w^orld. God is impressing 
 His broken, neglected and often despised law: "Honor thy 
 father," etc. "Let every one of you in particular so love his 
 wife; and the wife see that she reverence her husband as being 
 heirs together of the grace of life." "I say unto you, whoso- 
 ever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and 
 shall marry another, committeth adultery, and whosoever 
 marrieth her that is put away doth commit adultery." 
 
 Let the lesson of the sanctity, the permanency, the essential 
 dignity, the sweet beneficence of the home, God's oldest institu- 
 tion for man's blessing, sink down into the hearts of His people. 
 Let our country learn the truth that her citizens are fashioned 
 in their homes, and not in the selfish wrangle and the corrupt- 
 ing strife of politics and elections. Let our youth remember 
 that the greatest earthly glory that can come to man. the 
 noblest, best, and brightest honors he can win, the grandest 
 office he can fill- — none of these things, nor all of them to- 
 gether, so enrich the character, and ennoble the man. giving 
 pledge of earthly happiness and eternal peace, as faithfulness 
 to the law and the spirit of a Christian home! 
 
 In the mad conquest for pleasure, for mere momentary 
 gratification, how sadly is this law and spirit of home despised ! 
 In the madder quest for riches, how is it violated and abused ! 
 In the blind devotion to a wordly dictation, how is it ignored ! 
 The social gatherings at home, the social pastimes of home, 
 the social amusements of home, innocent, pure, free from the 
 snares of vice and the pitfalls of ruin, are exchanged for public 
 dances and heterogeneous assemblies. The obligations of 
 paternal oversight are substituted by the irresponsibilities of 
 the chaperon, and the will and wish of father and mother 
 give way to the rule which "everybody observes," Business 
 and pleasure rule our land. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 355 
 
 Our husbands and fathers must grow rich, must make their 
 profits and sales, though they meet their famihes only at the 
 breakfast table! The young must have their enjoyment and 
 meet their so-called friends, though they live on the streets, 
 and form their tastes and manners, and their religion too, from 
 standards of their own choosing. It has been well and truly 
 said that there are influences peculiar to us as Americans, with 
 our free political institutions, which are fast developing a type 
 of precocious youth not pleasant to look upon. We are too 
 fast losing the habits of home authority, filial reverence. It 
 has been said of us that we have as much family government 
 as ever, but the children govern the parents. We have few 
 children nowadays. Our infants leap from the nursery into 
 the drawing-room ; and while in stable England the girl or 
 boy has hardly left the retreat of home, here in America they 
 are already veterans in the ways of fashion, and society is 
 quite surrendered to them. We may grow in wealth and the 
 wonderful developments of our vast natural resources, but let 
 these fast habits of the time, this mad following of pleasure, 
 this greed for gain, eat into the heart of our home life and 
 piety, and the whole body must die, poisoned in its very blood. 
 ("Washburn's Social Law," p. 102.) 
 
 God has consecrated the home as the basis of all true life, 
 and he who despises its restraints, or violates its law of dutiful 
 love, despises his own best life and wrongs his own soul. But 
 I must ask you, dear brethren, to receive one more lesson from 
 the hour. What are all the dignities and honors of this life, 
 its grandest pomp and its mightiest achievements, its fairest 
 promises and its surest hopes, compared with the realities of 
 sorrow and the terrible certainties of death and eternitv! 
 
 Compare the grand but mournful procession which at this 
 very moment is marching to the grave of the late President, 
 with the surging excited masses that surrounded the Capitol 
 on the fourth of last March ! Think of the sorrowing mother 
 and the bereaved wife, and fatherless children of to-day. and 
 compare them with the happy family of last March. 
 
356 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 Do the glories of that past day, does the great office it con- 
 ferred, do the excitements and hopes, the power, the grandeur 
 of rank, the ample provision for every want, the splendid 
 occasion to use the grandest of this world's opportunities, — 
 do these things minister to bleeding hearts ? Do they support 
 the sinking soul ? Do they bestow the courage of faith or the 
 patience of hope? Can they fill the void in the human soul 
 which God has made with his own hand? Let the greatest, 
 the best, the truest of this world's mighty potentates answer 
 for us all in the Christian language of the good queen of 
 England : "May God comfort you, as He alone can." 
 
 What a lesson, brethren, to our public men. who are wor- 
 shiping their offices, and making a shrine of their ambition! 
 What a lesson to the sensualist who is living for the hour, 
 and worshiping this life! What a rebuke to the infidel, who 
 makes his plan of life with no reference to Providence, and 
 finds his God and his heaven in his earthly prospects and his 
 worldly hopes ! 
 
 And what an enforcement of the Christian's faith do we 
 find in this great national affliction ! 
 
 The Supreme Ruler of this universe is the God and Father 
 of us all. His will is supreme. He disposes of all man's 
 propositions, and His dispositions are wise. "He doeth all 
 things well." 
 
 If. my dear brethren, we acknowledge God in this hour, if 
 the lesson of the past few weeks teach us that He and not man 
 is the Sovereign, the Governor, the Law-Giver and Lord of us 
 all — if we, as a people, shall fear him more and worship him 
 more and keep his commandments more truly, then with the 
 Psalmist may we say: "It is good for our country that the 
 Lord has afflicted her." 
 
 "Before I was in trouble I went wrong, but now I will keep 
 the law of God." 
 
 "Surely the wrath of God shall praise thee, the remainder of 
 wrath shalt thou restrain." 
 
CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH IN SELMA, 
 ALABAMA, OCTOBER 19, 1881. 
 
 "Behold, I will build an house to the name of the Lord, mj' God, to 
 dedicate it to Him, and to burn Him sweet incense, and for the con- 
 tinual shewbread and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on 
 the Sabbaths and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the 
 Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel." — 2 Chron. ii, 4. 
 
 The text which I have just read interprets the meaning of 
 our service to-day. It is the language of obedient faith! It 
 is the expression of reverent love! It is the earnest declara- 
 tion of the devout purpose to give no sleep to the eyes, nor 
 slumber to the eyelids, until a place of holy worship be found 
 for the Lord, a habitation for the Mighty God of Jacob! It 
 is the voice of the heart that was made glad, because the feet 
 of brethren were to stand within the gates of Jerusalem, and 
 the tribes of the Lord were to go up unto the testimony of 
 Israel, and give thanks unto the name of the Lord. The loyal, 
 true, and gratified soul, which seeks communion wnth the 
 Father in His holy house, esteems those most blessed and 
 most happy who are found praising God in His temple, who 
 go from strength to strength while they pass through the 
 valleys of Baca, for the Lord God is their sun and shield, and 
 withholds no good thing from them that walk uprightly, and 
 that esteem a day in His courts better than a thousand spent 
 in the tents of wickedness. 
 
 Three thousand years have passed away since the great 
 consecration service which my text commemorates, but it is as 
 appropriate to apply the language of that service to this fair 
 temple that you, dear brethren of St. Paul's, Selma, have 
 built "to the name of the Lord," as to the splendid temple 
 which crowned the sacred mount. 
 
 Our service to-day is the service of dedication of three 
 
 357 
 
358 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 thousand years ago, for we, too, have built an house to the 
 name of the Lord, for the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. 
 The prayer of faith has come to take the place of sweet 
 incense; the sacrifice of Calvary has fulfilled all the sin-offer- 
 ings ; holiness to the Lord, the offering of the body, soul and 
 mind in worship and in a Christian life, is now the burnt- 
 offering which our Lord requires : and as oft as we celebrate 
 the sacrament of His grace and love, we show forth His death 
 till he come,- — yet we dedicate this house to Him in the use of 
 His servant, King Solomon's language, for that language is 
 the expression of the one obedient purpose to pay our vows 
 unto the Lord our God, and worship him in the beauty of 
 holiness! The splendid temple in which, from generation to 
 generation, the knowledge and the worship of the God of 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were perpetuated crowned Mount 
 Zion but for four hundred years ; and its successor, the house 
 built under so many difiiculties and after so much sorrow, 
 remained in its stead but six hundred years longer, yet the 
 words of the believing king are fulfilled, and God's ordinance 
 stands fast forever, that Israel shall worship in temples and 
 the tribe of the Lord enter His earthly courts with praise. 
 
 Israel has had her temple and her worship from the altar 
 of Abel to the Christian churches of our time; for holy 
 worship is an ordinance forever to Israel. 
 
 Rich, grand, and magnificent as the temple of Solomon 
 was, it is not too much to say that Christian temples, temples 
 built in His honor and consecrated to the worship of God, 
 through His all-prevailing intercession in behalf of sinners, 
 redeemed by His cross, have as far surpassed it in size, beauty 
 and costliness as they have enjoyed fuller measures of the 
 Divine gifts of truth and grace. Temples there are now 
 standing, and resounding with hymns of the faith and the 
 voice of worshipers, which have numbered more years than 
 both the temples of the holy mount, and seem to the eye of 
 faith destined to be God's ordinance to Israel for ages yet to 
 come. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 359 
 
 And so, dear brethren, we see that the words of this old 
 dedication service find a confirmation in the fulfiUment of the 
 prophecy of one greater than Solomon : "The hour cometh," 
 said our Lord, "when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor 
 yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. The hour cometh when 
 the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in 
 truth." Not only at Jerusalem, or at Gerizim, but everywhere 
 shall the Father be worshiped. What was once a local ordi- 
 nance, under a subordinate worship, shall in the fulness of 
 times, in the days of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, and 
 the Truth as it is in Jesus, become to Israel a great Catholic 
 Christian privilege. 
 
 This privilege we realize to-day, in the solemn dedication 
 to the worship of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, of this 
 beautiful temple, which you have built to the glory and honor 
 of God. 
 
 These reflections on my text suggest some thoughts on the 
 permanence of the Lord's house. It is a glorious reflection, 
 dear brethren, that if our earthly tabernacles are dissolved we 
 have a building of God which cannot be moved, a sacred home 
 for faith, which "the God of Heaven has set up," and which 
 shall never be destroyed. 
 
 As life deepens, and men see and feel how all is change and 
 decay, the soul longs for the presence in this world, the testi- 
 mony of the immovable, the enduring! The witness of the 
 undying! The prophecy of the everlasting! We have it, my 
 brethren, in the sacred temples of the Lord. They rear their 
 spires aloft and point to foundations in the heavens ! They 
 speak with the voices of saints and sages long passed to their 
 rest, and they keep the words of eternal life! They have the 
 only balm for weary hearts, and the only truth for earnest 
 souls ! Their doors alone stand wide open to all the world, 
 and at their holy altars may we unite with the loved and lost 
 in the blest communion of the family of God. This is an 
 ordinance for Israel forever! 
 
 The permanence, the durability, of Christian worship was 
 
36o THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 the theme of prophecy, and the subject of some of its grandest 
 images. Look for a moment at the image of the sacred psalm, 
 in which a great King from the throne of Zion decrees the 
 spiritual conquest of the nations of this world; calmly con- 
 templates their raging opposition ; claims the remotest heathen 
 for His inheritance, and the uttermost part of the earth for 
 His possession; challenges the great kings and the wise judges 
 of the earth to serve Him with fear, and to rejoice in His 
 presence with trembling; declares the awfulness of His wrath, 
 and pronounces those only blessed who put their trust in Him ! 
 
 What can give us a nobler conception of the Psalmist's 
 faith in the permanence of Zion's throne and the universality 
 of the empire of Jesus ! 
 
 In the image of the prophet Daniel, the kingdoms of his- 
 tory are giving place, one to another, but the kingdom which 
 the Lord of Heaven set up is represented as gathering strength 
 continually, until at last its empire covers the world ! 
 
 No human hand set that stone in motion which broke to 
 pieces and scattered, like chaff of the threshing floor, the great 
 worldly idol of iron and clay and brass and silver and gold ! 
 And a greater than Daniel the Prophet set before Llis Church 
 the image of a tree, springing up into life and beauty and 
 glory, whose branches should fill the lands, and shelter the 
 weary nations of the earth. History has set its seal upon 
 prophecy, and lo ! to-day we gather together under the boughs 
 of the mustard tree, whose branches have come to us over the 
 seas, and whose gracious arms are extending to every people of 
 the earth! 
 
 What greater sign can be given than the Church itself? All 
 history is prophecy verified, and the man who does not find 
 in the history of the past eighteen centuries a sign from 
 Heaven, attesting the truth, the stability, the conquering 
 pov/er of the Lord's house, is blind to the testimony of facts 
 and incapable of appreciating the logic of the sacred argument. 
 We turn to our Greek Testaments to find the meaning of our 
 Lord's parables of the mustard tree, and the leaven, and the 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 361 
 
 draw-net, and the growing seed, but their best interpretation 
 is written in the past Christian centuries ! Their most con- 
 vincing verification is found in the being of the Church of 
 God ! A brilliant French critic has well observed that "the 
 Church is a great thought which every man should study." 
 "We Christians," says the great theologian of St. Paul's, 
 London, "are probably too familiar with the blessed presence 
 of the Church to do justice to her as a world-entrancing 
 institution and as the nurse and guardian of our moral life. 
 Like the air we breathe, she bathes our whole being with 
 influences we do not analyze." [Liddon, iii, 118.] But it is 
 our duty to analyze them. Here is the great fact of Chris- 
 tianity and the Church, and we can no more ignore the witness 
 of this fact as binding upon us in its testimony to the truth 
 which the Church declares, than we can ignore the existence, 
 the light, the heat, and the power, of the sun in the heavens. 
 
 The polities and policies of this world have been tried and 
 have failed time and again ; and they have been as often set 
 aside for other and still other systems of government, of 
 philosophy, or religion, but the Church of Jesus confronts age 
 after age and asserts her one faith, one Lord, and one baptism. 
 A hundred years hence may witness every existing govern- 
 ment revolutionized in its spirit as well as in its principles. 
 Neither the wisest statesman nor the most hopeful patriot 
 would be willing to guarantee his doctrines for a hundred 
 years, however devoutly he might believe them ! Look at 
 France, where there is so much of this world's wisdom, and 
 courage, and strength ! What changes of principles, and 
 changes of rulers, and changes of dynasties have we witnessed 
 there in our generation! And what have the past hundred 
 years witnessed? 
 
 Ah, brethren, these stones, cut out of the mountain by 
 human hands and made into foundations, crumble to dust 
 beneath the weight which men build upon them ; but the house 
 of God, the home of faith, whose foundations are laid on 
 apostles and prophets of God, Jesus Christ being the chief 
 
362 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 cornerstone, can never be removed ! Can never fall ! Indi- 
 viduals may fail, separate churches may depart from the faith, 
 the Lord may remove the candlestick out of the place which 
 proves unappreciative by its light, but His ordinance to Israel 
 is forever! Zion shall not be moved! More firmly planted 
 in the earth than ever, stronger in her hold upon the faith 
 and the affections of the millions v^ho have been born unto 
 God within her; though meeting with more than usual scorn 
 and opposition from her enemies, the Church to-day, my 
 brethren, has peculiar claims upon her members — her loyal, 
 devoted oft'spring. Bear with me a few moments longer while 
 I state what I think and feel to be some of the most important 
 of these: 
 
 And first, brethren, the Church claims from each one of us 
 our own personal witness to the verities of our faith. The 
 apostolic injunction is laid upon us: "Contend earnestly for 
 the faith." Men will not, for they cannot, contend for what 
 they do not know and experience in the depths of conviction ; 
 for what they do not prize as a tried and proven blessing! 
 The age in which we live is quick to detect shams of all sorts, 
 and I believe as quick to recognize what is real and what is 
 true. Let us be real and let us be true, beloved, in the witness 
 we bear before our fellow-men. This after all is the argument 
 which tells — the appeal, the convincing testimony of a manly, 
 Christian life! To this our Lord appeals in these memorable 
 words so oft repeated in His Church : "Let your light so shine 
 before men that they may see your good works and glorify 
 your Father which is in heaven." It is a truth that the 
 Christian must be something special with reference to the 
 age, the time, the thought in which he lives and moves. If 
 this, our time, is the age of mental unrest, of change and 
 revolution in the empire of thought, then for us churchmen 
 it is the time for devout, earnest, painstaking loyalty to our 
 sacred convictions. The man whose religion is superficial, 
 whose attachment to the Church of Christ is questionable, 
 cannot be a witness for the faith delivered to the saints, in 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 363 
 
 this or in any age. The man with the microscope or the man 
 of science receives the faith of this generation because 
 he presents the verities, the facts of nature! 
 
 Let us, beloved, bear our testimony in our Hves to the reaH- 
 ties of divine grace and truth, and we shall have the ear and 
 faith of our fellow-men. The spirit of intelligent investiga- 
 tion which is all abroad and quick to separate between what 
 is said only because other men have held and said the same, 
 and what is said out of the abundance of the heart which can- 
 not but speak its experiences — will have no power, moral or 
 intellectual, to reject the manifested facts of godliness. We 
 may show our zeal against materialism and infidelity by pro- 
 ducing arguments to prove their weakness, but we will never 
 convert the materialist unless he sees that we are spiritually 
 strong; that we do not rely upon the weakness of his position, 
 but on the strength of our own. This requires of us Christians 
 a depth of sincerity in our loyalty to Christ and His Church 
 which the Church demands of all her sons and daughters. It 
 may be our duty to know what the writers and thinkers of 
 our day are teaching for truth, but the supremest duty laid 
 upon us as churchmen is to know the ground on which we 
 stand, and to stand loyally on it. Books are multiplied in the 
 boldest advocacy of the unbelief of this epicurean age, and 
 men with new Gospels and new interpretations of the old 
 Gospel, and new views of inspiration and new comments on 
 the Bible, and new churches and creeds are, alas ! too numerous 
 on every hand ! How does all this affect the man who believes 
 supremely in one Book, one faith, one Lord, one baptism? 
 
 Such is the energy, the zest, the almost idolatrous devotion 
 with which men are living for this world, that they are losing 
 faith in the realities of the world to come. 
 
 The beatitude of the Master rests upon the pure in heart; 
 the self-denying for righteousness sake; the meek; the believ- 
 ing; the good and the true! 
 
 The beatitude of this world is given by the prosperous ; the 
 thrifty; the great in office and rank; the beautiful and the 
 
364 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 gifted! Our religion teaches us that this life is not an end. 
 but a probation ! That it is God's great school, in which he is 
 training his children through His Church for immortal life! 
 The testimony of the world is, that this life is all, that temporal 
 happiness, enjoyment, ease, gratification — these are worth liv- 
 ing for, and only these. 
 
 We Christians, my brethren, must bear our testimony for 
 both worlds. The man who prays on Sunday to be delivered 
 from the eternal consequences of his sins, and lives during the 
 week in the indulgence of sin, only strengthens the infidel in 
 his unbelief, and makes his profession of the Church's faith 
 worse than a nullity. 
 
 It is the scoff of an English critic that the churchman who 
 professes to say the general confession with sincerity once, or 
 twice, or more, every week, is either a fool or a hypocrite ; 
 that the man who leaves undone every week what he know^s 
 to be his duty cannot be sincere ; that it is no excuse for him 
 that he can plead the devices and the desires of the human 
 heart ; that he dishonors a God of righteousness to ask his 
 forgiveness more than one hundred times a year for tl^ousands 
 of offenses against laws, obedience to which his faith declares 
 to be the pledge of life eternal ! Of course, my dear brethren, 
 we can have no sympathy with the unbelief which prompts 
 such a sarcasm on the purity of the law of Christ and the 
 w^eakness of the human heart, but is there not a just rebuke 
 underneath this mocking criticism ? 
 
 My brethren, if the world saw us to be more in earnest in 
 the service of God, more careful to live sober, righteous, and 
 godly lives ; more active in the sweet charities of Christ ; 
 kinder to the poor; more charitable in our judgments one of 
 another ; more trustful of God in our troubles ; and more hope- 
 ful in our work: if, in short, our week-day life was more in 
 harmony with our Sunday worship, would there be any force 
 whatever in the sneer of the critics? 
 
 Verily, brethren, we are not called upon to go to the stake 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 365 
 
 for the testimony of Jesus ; but I believe the Church of our 
 day is called to bear witness to the truth with all the power and 
 earnestness of the life that gives itself up sweetly, cheerfully, 
 and truly to walk in the ways of duty and pleasure, as under 
 the eye of the Father, whose smile we daily covet, and whose 
 frown we dare not deserve. In spite of every hindrance, the 
 Church is successful and is gaining her victories over the 
 world and extending her empire over the fairest portions of 
 the earth ; but has not history taught us that victory may 
 prove more disastrous than defeat? 
 
 The Christian is compared to a soldier, but not a soldier 
 shut up in an impregnable fortress ! No ; verily, a soldier on 
 the battle-field, fighting for truth and holding his position by 
 true courage and increasing activity. The Apostolic concep- 
 tion of the Churchman is the Roman warrior, clad in armor, 
 with sword in hand, doing battle against his foe. My brethren, 
 the foe in our day is gross materialism ; intense love for this 
 world ; distrust of the world to come. Men are not indifferent 
 because thev are wilfullv bad. 
 
 The Church claims from us such a life as will leave no 
 doubt on the minds of men who know us about the reality of 
 our religion, however they may question the deductions of 
 our faith. 
 
 When I consider the times in which we live; the unbelief, 
 the worldliness which enters the home of faith itself: the lack 
 of godly zeal for the promotion of the best and noblest inter- 
 ests of men; the comparatively slow progress the great 
 domestic and foreign mission work of the Church is making; 
 the slow growth of our parishes, and the want of heartiness 
 and spiritual fire in our religious lives ; it appears to me, my 
 brethren, that the supreme want among us is a truer, juster, 
 more conscientious sense of our obligations to strive together 
 for the faith of the Gospel. 
 
 In the cares and anxieties we feel for our families, in the 
 rush of business, in the absorbing, consuming struggle of life. 
 
366 THE SOLDIER-BISHOP 
 
 let us not forget that we belong to a great Catholic body 
 which seeks the good and the happiness of all mankind; whose 
 ministry among men is a ministry for men. 
 
 How grand, how effective, would be the Church's triumph 
 if every loyal son and daughter would cultivate a sense of 
 responsibility like this! Then every Christian would be the 
 missionary of the Church in his life, and his life would be all 
 the more effective because of its broad humanness. 
 
 To you, dear brethren of St. Paul's, Selma, I offer my 
 heartiest congratulations and greet you in brotherly love. This 
 day consecrates you afresh to the glorious work of serving 
 God in His Church. This beautiful temple you have built, 
 which to-day has been consecrated to the Master's service by 
 vour beloved Bishop, stands before this community as well 
 for your witness as for the testimony of the Catholic faith. 
 Here, my brethren. T call on you to consecrate vour hearts to 
 the blessed life of faith, hope, and charity! Speaking from 
 my knowledge of this parish, and from mv sense of its spirit 
 toward this sanctuary. I predict for the Church in Selma a 
 career of iise fulness which will strengthen and gladden every 
 loval heart, and be the best memorial of vour devotion to 
 Christ and vour interest in the Avelfare of vour fellow-citizens. 
 Be united, brethren, in every good work and let vour watch- 
 word be Love! Believe me, dear brethren, the Church needs 
 the love of Jesus shed abroad in the hearts of her members 
 by the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. 
 
 Freely, richly, abundantly as the gift is ministered unto us 
 in the word and the sacraments, such is the worldliness of 
 these poor hearts of ours, such is our want of faith in spiritual 
 things, that we come to the sacred fountains of life and go 
 away thirsty ; we live too much, alas ! on the meat that perishes ; 
 and so we fail of the strength and glory of the life which 
 grows only in the soil of faith, and flourishes by the works of 
 righteousness ! 
 
 Every man who is honest with himself must know and feel 
 that he cannot assume the spirit of Jesus ! He cannot affect it. 
 
ELLISON CAPERS 367 
 
 The verities of history, the verities of grace, the testimony of 
 the Church, the witness which the conscience bears, the sacred 
 evidence of the loved and the lost — all, all declare how real, 
 how true, how strong is the power of the heart in which Jesus 
 Christ is enthroned as that heart's Prophet, Priest, and King! 
 
 This is the heart we must have, my brethren, or we will not, 
 because we cannot, do the Church's work. And glorious 
 thought ! inspiring emotion ! blessed truth ! That heart we 
 each may have! It is ours by covenant and promise in bap- 
 tism; by our self-surrender and God's grace in confirmation; 
 by our faithful participation in the life of Jesus in his holy 
 feast of grace; by the consecrated atmosphere we breathe in 
 our worship of the God and Father of us all in His Holy 
 Catholic Church ! Only be true to Jesus and it is yours. Faith- 
 ful in prayer; in communion; in the knowledge of the Word 
 of Christ ; in the works of love which he has prepared for us 
 to walk in, we will have the henrt, the spirit, and in our 
 measure the power of Jesus as certainly as we have His body, 
 the Church, among us ! 
 
 In all love for you, my brethren, in all affection for your 
 rector, in sincerest respect and reverence for your bishop, 
 and in heartiest interest for the work and life and snirit of the 
 Church in Alabama, I bid you, beloved. Godspeed in Selma. 
 
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