Dear Sarah

My dear Sarah,

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days -- perhaps tomorrow. And Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more. 

I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. 

I know how strongly 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, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield. 

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And it is hard for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. 

If I do not return to you, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I loved you, and 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 and foolish I have sometimes been! 

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the brightest day and in the darkest night; always, always. And if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. 

Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again. 

Sullivan

 

(This letter was written by Major Sullivan Ballou of the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer Regiment a week prior to his first engagement in battle during the Civil War. He was killed a week later at the Battle of Bull Run. Major Ballou's letter is considered to be one of the finest, more literate pieces of writing to come out of that war)