First Chaplain of the Confederacy: Father Darius Hubert, S.J.

Darius Hubert was a French-born Jesuit who served churches and schools in Louisiana before the Civil War. He was the first chaplain of any denomination appointed to Confederate service and served with the First Louisiana Infantry in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia for the entirety of the war. After the war, he was unanimously elected chaplain of the veterans of the eastern campaign and became well-known for his eloquent public prayers at memorial events, funerals of prominent figures, and dedications of Confederate monuments.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 216 pages
\n Publication date: 30 October 2020
\n Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
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Darius Hubert, a French-born Jesuit, settled in Louisiana in the 1840s, serving churches and schools in Grand Coteau, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. In 1861, he pronounced a blessing at the Louisiana Secession Convention and became the first chaplain of any denomination appointed to Confederate service. Hubert served with the First Louisiana Infantry in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia for the entirety of the war, returning to New Orleans to continue his ministry among veterans as a trusted pastor and comrade. One of only three full-time Catholic chaplains in Lee's army, Hubert was the only one to return permanently to the South after surrender. In postwar New Orleans, he was unanimously elected chaplain of the veterans of the eastern campaign and became renowned for his eloquent public prayers at memorial events, funerals of prominent figures such as Jefferson Davis, and dedications of Confederate monuments.

In this first-ever biography of Hubert, Katherine Bentley Jeffrey offers a comprehensive account of his extraordinary life. Born in revolutionary France, Hubert entered the Society of Jesus as a young man and left his homeland with fellow Jesuits to join the New Orleans mission. In antebellum Louisiana, he interacted with slaves and free people of color, experienced the effects of anti-Catholic and anti-Jesuit propaganda, encountered disputes and dysfunction with the trustees of his Baton Rouge church, and survived a near-fatal encounter with Know-Nothing vigilantism. As a chaplain with the Army of Northern Virginia, Hubert witnessed harrowing battles and their equally traumatic aftermath in surgeons' tents and hospitals. After the war, he served as a spiritual director, friend, mentor, and intermediary in the fractious and politically divided Cresce.

Hubert's life was marked by his unwavering commitment to his faith and his service to others. He faced numerous challenges and obstacles throughout his career, but his resilience and determination never wavered. His interactions with slaves and free people of color, his experiences as a chaplain in the Civil War, and his role in postwar New Orleans all contributed to his understanding of the complexities of race and religion in the American South. Hubert's legacy continues to inspire and influence people today, and his biography provides a valuable insight into the life and work of a remarkable Jesuit priest and Civil War chaplain.

\n Weight: 400g\n
Dimension: 150 x 222 x 26 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780807173374\n \n