Civil War Letter Response

Micah Rodney

Mrs. Fielding

English 12

12/05/05

A Living Man’s Dying Message


This letter, written on July 14, 1861, is the last a Civil War
soldier, Sullivan, sent to his wife, Sarah. Sullivan was in the
Union army, and part of a company that was about to head
out to battle. He believed that he would not survive the
encounter and decided to write a “last letter” to his wife
“Lest I should not be able to write you again,” (Paragraph 1).
His goal is to comfort his wife and give her instruction should
he die. To comfort her, he says many romantic things like
“never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath
escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.”
(Paragraph 7) He died on the battlefield three nights later.

He describes his wife, Sarah, as a doting mother and wife.
This letter is very personal. Sullivan declares his love for
her by saying (among other things) “Sarah, my love for you
is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables
that nothing but Omnipotence could break…” (Paragraph 6).
Sullivan wrote out of fear and, if such a thing exists, intuition
of his coming doom, but mostly out of a love for his family.
Guilty of the way he has taken his family for granted, he asks
his wife to “Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have
caused you…How gladly would I wash out with my tears every
little spot upon your happiness…” (Paragraph 8).

Many other men may have written similar notes of love to
their wives, family, and friends. This letter also leads one to
believe that many men, like Sullivan, exist who would put duty
before personal desire. Sullivan feels bound by his duty to God
and country; “Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is
necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country,
I am ready.” (Paragraph 2). Sullivan is a Patriot and probably what
one would call an “All-American Man” of the time. He has a deep
belief in “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.” (Paragraph 2) This passage tells how soldiers respected
the soldiers before them, and how they feel compelled to complete
their duty no matter what. That is how some soldiers feel about war.
Even though they are bound to the earth by their family and loved
ones, to protect them (and their way of life) they will gladly die.