Civil War Letter -- Sullivan Ballou -- Last Love Letter

Sullivan Ballou Letter
An absolutely beautiful letter and a moving story.
During the American Civil War, a week before the First Battle of Bull Run, an officer in the Union Army named Sullivan Ballou wrote the following letter to his wife Sarah. July 14, 1861, Washington, DC My Very Dear Wife, The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days — perhaps tomorrow — and lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I am no more. I have no misgivings about — or lack of confidence in — the cause of which I am engaged, and my courage does not falter. I know how American civilization now leans upon the triumph of the government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution, and I am willing — perfectly willing — to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this government, and to pay that debt. Sarah, my love for you is deathless, and it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence can break. And yet, my love of country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly with all those chains to the battlefield. The memories of all the blissful moments I have enjoyed with you come crowding over me, and I feel most deeply grateful to God and to you that I have enjoyed them for so long. And how hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes and future years when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our boys grown up to honorable manhood around us. If I do not return my dear Sarah, never forget how much I loved you, nor that when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have sometimes been. But, Oh Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they love, I shall always be with you, in the brightest day and the darkest night. Always, Always… And, when the soft breeze fans your cheek, it shall be my breath. And, the cool air your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead. Think I am gone, and wait for me, for we shall meet again. Major Sullivan Ballou was killed a week later at the First Battle of Bull Run. Ballou had lost his father at a young age and grew up in poverty. But he persevered and went on to become a well-liked member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. He did not have to go to war, but as a man of principle, volunteered because of his ardent support of Lincoln. He died at the age of 34. Sarah never remarried, but his sons did grow up to “honorable manhood.” Among his descendants are five presidents: Millard Fillmore, James Garfield, Calvin Coolidge and both George Bushes.