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Ellison Capers

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Ellison Capers Famous memorial Veteran

Birth
Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Death
22 Apr 1908 (aged 70)
Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina, USA
Burial
Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina, USA GPS-Latitude: 34.0017281, Longitude: -81.0311203
Memorial ID
View Source
Civil War Confederate General, Anglican Bishop. A distinguished Civil War officer, he is probably better remembered for his later career in the Episcopal Church. Raised in Charleston, he was educated in the local schools and in 1857 graduated from The Citadel, of which his older brother Francis Withers Capers was the founding President, and became an instructor in mathematics at that institution, then briefly taught at Mt. Zion College of Winnsboro, South Carolina. Appointed Major of South Carolina Volunteers, he took part in the April 12, 1861 shelling of Fort Sumter, initially served in coastal defense, and in 1863 was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel after helping to recruit the 24th South Carolina Infantry. Fighting in North and South Carolina as well as at Vicksburg, Capers was wounded multiple times; he served under General Braxton Bragg at Chickamauga and was advanced to Colonel during the Atlanta Campaign. Receiving brigade command following the death of General States Rights Gist at Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864, he was appointed Brigadier General effective March 1, 1865. Captured at Bentonville, North Carolina, in late March of 1865, he went to Columbia, South Carolina, at the end of the war and was appointed Secretary of State. While serving in that position, Capers read Holy Orders under the direction of the Bishop of South Carolina, the Right Reverend Thomas Davis. Ordained a Priest in 1866, he was called to Christ Church of Greenville, South Carolina, where he was to serve intermittently for 20 years while also teaching at the Greenville Military Academy, the Greenville Female Academy, and Furman University. After spending 1875 at St. Paul's Church in Selma, Alabama, he returned to Greenville, then in 1887 was appointed Rector of Trinity Church, Columbia, and in 1889 was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) by the University of South Carolina. Consecrated the 169th Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States in 1893, he was named Bishop Coadjutor of South Carolina, succeeding to the Episcopate upon the death of Bishop William B. W. Howe the following year. The Right Reverend Capers headed the Diocese of South Carolina for the remainder of his life, served for many years as Chaplain General of the United Confederate Veterans, authored the South Carolina volume of the "Confederate Military History", and was Chancellor of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, from 1904 until his death. He died of the effects of a stroke suffered in 1907 while at Sewanee for board meetings. Camp #1212 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which is located in the Charleston suburb of Moncks Corner, and a hall at The Citadel carry his name, while the inscription on his tombstone reads: "He rendered unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's".
Civil War Confederate General, Anglican Bishop. A distinguished Civil War officer, he is probably better remembered for his later career in the Episcopal Church. Raised in Charleston, he was educated in the local schools and in 1857 graduated from The Citadel, of which his older brother Francis Withers Capers was the founding President, and became an instructor in mathematics at that institution, then briefly taught at Mt. Zion College of Winnsboro, South Carolina. Appointed Major of South Carolina Volunteers, he took part in the April 12, 1861 shelling of Fort Sumter, initially served in coastal defense, and in 1863 was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel after helping to recruit the 24th South Carolina Infantry. Fighting in North and South Carolina as well as at Vicksburg, Capers was wounded multiple times; he served under General Braxton Bragg at Chickamauga and was advanced to Colonel during the Atlanta Campaign. Receiving brigade command following the death of General States Rights Gist at Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864, he was appointed Brigadier General effective March 1, 1865. Captured at Bentonville, North Carolina, in late March of 1865, he went to Columbia, South Carolina, at the end of the war and was appointed Secretary of State. While serving in that position, Capers read Holy Orders under the direction of the Bishop of South Carolina, the Right Reverend Thomas Davis. Ordained a Priest in 1866, he was called to Christ Church of Greenville, South Carolina, where he was to serve intermittently for 20 years while also teaching at the Greenville Military Academy, the Greenville Female Academy, and Furman University. After spending 1875 at St. Paul's Church in Selma, Alabama, he returned to Greenville, then in 1887 was appointed Rector of Trinity Church, Columbia, and in 1889 was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) by the University of South Carolina. Consecrated the 169th Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States in 1893, he was named Bishop Coadjutor of South Carolina, succeeding to the Episcopate upon the death of Bishop William B. W. Howe the following year. The Right Reverend Capers headed the Diocese of South Carolina for the remainder of his life, served for many years as Chaplain General of the United Confederate Veterans, authored the South Carolina volume of the "Confederate Military History", and was Chancellor of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, from 1904 until his death. He died of the effects of a stroke suffered in 1907 while at Sewanee for board meetings. Camp #1212 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which is located in the Charleston suburb of Moncks Corner, and a hall at The Citadel carry his name, while the inscription on his tombstone reads: "He rendered unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's".

Bio by: Bob Hufford



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  • Maintained by: Find a Grave
  • Added: Mar 19, 2000
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8961/ellison-capers: accessed ), memorial page for Ellison Capers (14 Oct 1837–22 Apr 1908), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8961, citing Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Cemetery, Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.