What was the Sullivan Ballou letter?

Just a month after Major Sullivan Ballou wrote the letter, in which he tells his wife, Sarah, of his conviction that he will die in battle but be reunited with her in the next world, he was fatally wounded at First Bull Run.

Is the Sullivan Ballou letter real?

The letter may never have been mailed; it was found in Ballou’s trunk after he died. It was reclaimed and delivered to Ballou’s widow by Governor William Sprague, either after Sprague had traveled to Virginia to reclaim the effects of dead Rhode Island soldiers, or from Camp Sprague in Washington, D.C.

Who wrote Sullivan Ballou letter?

Horatio Rogers Jr.
The letter first appeared in print in 1868 in a chapter written by Horatio Rogers Jr. in Brown University in the Civil War, a volume looking at Brown alumni killed in the war. Rogers, a Brown alumnus who also served in the 2nd Rhode Island, was a friend of Ballou’s.

When did Ken Burns read the Civil War letter?

In 1986, filmmaker Ken Burns received a copy of a long-forgotten Civil War soldier’s letter that a scholar thought he might find interesting. Burns, then working on his award-winning PBS documentary about the war, began to read it out loud to his wife, brother and another staff member in his Walpole, N.H., headquarters.

How did Ballou die in the Civil War?

Ballou was struck in the leg by a cannonball during the battle and died a week later. The battle was a Union defeat. The letter, a copy of which resides in the Rhode Island Historical Society, is from the “if I do not return” genre, often written by soldiers on the eve of battle.

Where was the Civil War soldier’s farewell letter written?

“My dear Sarah,” the letter began, “the indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days. . . . The letter, written in Washington on July 14, 1861, continued, as the author bade a heartbreaking farewell to his wife.

What did Ballou write in his farewell letter?

“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.” The letter was never mailed but was returned to his wife with her husband’s effects. Ballou was struck in the leg by a cannonball during the battle and died a week later. The battle was a Union defeat.