Faith, Valor, and Devotion: The Civil War Letters of William Porcher DuBose Edited by W. Eric Emerson and Karen Stokes Book launch and signing Friday, July 9, 2010 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. The Fireproof Building Free and open to the public* Light appetizers and beverages will be served.  Attendees will receive a special discount of 20% off the cover price!

This previously unpublished collection of the wartime correspondence of William Porcher DuBose chronicles his eventful career as an officer and chaplain in the Confederate Army. The book presentsover 150 letters which reveal the extraordinary mind and personality of a South Carolinian who would become a leading Episcopal theologian.

A native of Winnsboro, DuBose was a brilliant and devout young man studying for the Episcopal priesthood when the Civil War began. He joined in the defense of his country, serving as an officer in Holcombe Legion and narrowly surviving multiple wounds and a stint as a prisoner of war. In 1863 he became a chaplain in Kershaw's Brigade and continued to share in the hazards and hardships of the men to whom he ministered. In these letters we see the workings of a mind and heart exceptionally intimate with God and dedicated to his service, and the foreshadowing of ideas which would later be fully developed in published works that gained DuBose international recognition as a theologian.

About the editors:W. Eric Emerson is the director of the South Carolina Department ofArchives and History in Columbia and the author of Sons of Privilege: The Charleston Light Dragoons in the Civil War. Karen Stokes is the processing archivist at the South Carolina Historical Society. Her articles on South Carolina history have appeared in numerous newspapers and journals.

* Please e-mail or call for reservations: 843-723-3225, ext. 11