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Sullivan Ballou (March 28, 1829July 29, 1861) was an American lawyer and politician from Rhode Island, and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He is remembered for an eloquent letter he wrote to his wife Sarah a week before he was mortally wounded in the First Battle of Bull Run. He was left behind by retreating Union forces and died a week after the battle.
Ballou married Sarah Hart Shumway on October 15, 1855. They had two sons, Edgar and William." Dispatch Delayed ", Washington Post, July 8, 2001. Transcribed at bessel.org. Accessed October 20, 2006.
Ballou was active in public affairs. In 1854, soon after beginning his law practice, he was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives. He was chosen as Clerk of the House, and later as the Speaker. He was a staunch Republican and supporter of Abraham Lincoln. The Sullivan Ballou letter. (2002)
After training at Camp Clark in Washington D.C., the 2nd Rhode Island had joined the Union Army of Northeastern Virginia by July 1861. On July 21, the regiment took part in the First Battle of Bull Run, which was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The 2nd Rhode Island Infantry were in the Second Brigade under the command of Colonel Ambrose Burnside and were part of the Second Division in the Union Army of Northeastern Virginia.
Ballou died from his injuries a week later and was buried in Sudley Church's graveyard. He was one of 94 men of the 2nd Rhode Island killed or mortally wounded at Bull Run. He was 32 at the time of his death; his wife Sarah was 24.
The battle area was occupied by Confederate forces, and Ballou's body was allegedly exhumed, decapitated, and burned by Confederate troops; his body was never recovered. In place of his body, some charred ash and bone from Sudley were reburied in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island.
Sarah Ballou never remarried. She later moved to New Jersey to live with her son, William. She died aged 82 in 1917; she is buried next to her husband.
The letter was said to have been found in Ballou's trunk after he died. . It was reclaimed and personally delivered to Ballou's widow by the Governor of Rhode Island, William Sprague, after the governor had personally gone to Virginia a year later to reclaim effects of dead Rhode Island soldiers.
The letter is also the inspiration for the song "Dearest Sarah" by the band Goodnight, Texas.
John Kander set selections from the letter in his song “A Letter from Sullivan Ballou.”
The letter was the inspiration for the MMO World of Warcraft quest "Sully Balloo's Letter" for the Alliance faction. The letter must be delivered to his widow, Sara Balloo.
Letter
Ballou's now-famous letter to his beloved 24-year-old wife, Sarah, endeavored to express the emotions he was feeling on the eve of battle against the Confederacy: worry, fear, guilt, and sadness, while at the same time conveying his undying love for her and his children and his desire to fulfil his sense of duty to his nation.
Media
The letter was featured prominently in Ken Burns' 1990 award-winning Documentary film The Civil War, where an abridged version was read by Paul Roebling in a pairing with Jay Ungar's musical piece "Ashokan Farewell".
External links
Categories: 1829 Births, 1861 Deaths, 19th-century American Lawyers, 19th-century American Letter Writers, American People Of French Descent, Union Army Officers, Union Military Personnel Killed In The American Civil War, People Of Rhode Island In The American Civil War, Speakers Of The Rhode Island House Of Representatives, Rhode Island Lawyers, State And National Law School Alumni, Brown University Alumni, Nichols College Alumni, Phillips Academy Alumni, People From Providence County, Rhode Island, Burials At Swan Point Cemetery, Deaths By Cannonball, 19th-century Members Of The Rhode Island General Assembly
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