"I have no misgivings about,
or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged. I am willing, perfectly willing to lay down
all the joys of this life to help maintain this government. Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it binds
to me in 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 battlefront. The memory of all the blissful moments I have
enjoyed with you come crowding over me. And I feel most deeply grateful to God that
you and I have enjoyed them for so long.
And now hard as it is 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 boys grow up to be honorable manhood around us. If I
do not return, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I loved you. Nor when that last breath escapes me on the
battlefield, that it will whisper your name.
Forgive my many faults and the many pans I have caused you, how
thoughtless, how foolish I have sometimes been.
But, oh Sarah, I shall always be with you in the brightest day and the
darkest night, always. And when the soft
breeze fans your cheek it shall be my breath; the cool air on 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." –Civil War
letter, killed at Bull Run
Never dismiss the value of words. They have lasting impact. After all, you are only reading this letter because it has been preserved by those who were blessed by it.
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