Introduction to " Letter to Sarah"

Sullivan Ballou was a soldier during the Civil War. He was Major Sullivan Ballou of the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers. At the age of 34, he was among the first of over 600,000 soldiers, Union and Confederate, to die in that horrible war. He was leading his Rhode Island unit in the first battle of Bull Run when his leg was shattered by cannon fire. He died of his wounds later on the same day, July 21, 1861. Major Sullivan Ballou was survived by his wife Sarah, and their two sons, Edgar and William. I don't know what became of Edgar or William, but Sarah worked as a secretary for the Providence Rhode Island School System. She never remarried and lived on for another 55 years until, at the age of 80, she passed away. Sarah was laid to rest in Providence, Rhode Island at Swan Point Cemetery in a grave next to her beloved Sullivan, where there, they would spend the rest of eternity, side by side. On July 14, 1861, Sullivan was stationed in Washington, DC. Noting the hostile political climate, and sensing the inevitable, Sullivan took the occasion to pen a letter home. The following is that letter from Sullivan to his beloved Sarah, the last words of Major Sullivan Ballou, 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers.

"Letter to Sarah"

July 14, 1861
Washington, DC.

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 compelled 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 in which I am now engaged. And my courage does not halt or 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, 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 irrisistibly to the battlefield. The memory 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 all up and burn to ashes the hopes, the future years when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our boys grown 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 and 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 or 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.

My Dear Mother

My Dear Mother,

This is the last you may ever hear from me. I have time to tell you that I died like a man. Bear my loss the best you can. Remember that I am true to my country and my greatest regret at dying is that she is not free and that you and my sisters are robbed of my worth whatever that may be. I hope that this will reach you and you must not regret that my body cannot be obtained, it is a mere matter of form anyhow. This is for my sisters too as I cannot write more. Send my dying release to Miss Mary... You Know Who.

Jeremiah Cage Co.A 11th Miss. This letter is stained with my blood.

The University Greys At Gettysburg

The University Greys were formed in early January 1861 by students at the University of Mississippi in responce to the seccession of their state from the Union. Seventeen year-old Captain William B. Lowry slowly built the company up to 66 members. In early April he lost half the boys in his company because they were under age. To make up for the losses he accepted 35 Lafayette County boys into the Greys. Events moved quickly and on May 1st the Greys left Oxford for Corinth where they enrolled as Company A, 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment.

Soon after the Greys' departure, The University of Mississippi closed and did not re-open untill the fall of 1865.

In the battle of 1st Manassus, The University Greys won " imperishable glory " for their gallant conduct under fire. With 60 men present for duty, the Greys suffered a casualty rate of 20%, which was the lowest rate it would suffer over the next 2 years in such great battles as 7 Pines, Gaines Mill, 2nd Manassus, and Sharpsburg, where its casualty rate was 95%. During the winter of 1862-1863, some of the Greys who had been wounded or captured returned to the company and, along with new recruits, replenished its ranks.

On that fateful afternoon of July 3, 1863, The University Greys were on the Confederate left flank. during the cannonade just prior to the Pickett-trible charge, Sergeant Jeremiah Cage (UM'60, UM Law,'61) was mortally wounded. He was taken to a field hospital where he wrote the letter on the next page before he died.

After the cannonade the Confederate left flank advanced. As the University Greys crossed the Emmitsburg Road and charged the stone fence near Brian's Barn, they met a withering volley of musket fire. The galant Mississippians fell " like leaves in an autumn wind." A Union General wrote, " The death Angel alone could produce such a field." One of the University Greys, W. F. DeGraffenreid, actually reached the stone wall where he was badly wounded. Every member of The University Greys in the charge at Gettysburg was killed, wounded or captured, for a casualty rate of 100%. This then is glory. May they never be forgotten.