Ballou, Sullivan, 1829-1861

Sullivan Ballou (March 28, 1829 – July 29, 1861) was a 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 two weeks before he was killed in the First Battle of Bull Run. Ballou was born the son of Hiram (1802–1833) and Emeline (Bowen) Ballou, a distinguished Huguenot family in Smithfield, Rhode Island. He lost his father at a young age. In spite of this, he attended boarding school at Nichols Academy in Dudley, Massachusetts and Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. After graduation from Phillips, he attended Brown University, where he was a member of Delta Phi, and went on to study law at the National Law School, in Ballston, New York. He was admitted to the bar in Rhode Island and began practice in 1853. Ballou married Sarah Hart Shumway on October 15, 1855. They had two sons, Edgar and William. 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. After the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861, President Lincoln called on the states to provide 75,000 militia troops to put down the rebellion. Ballou promptly volunteered, and encouraged others to do so as well. He was commissioned a major in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry Regiment. He was third in command of the Regiment, after Colonel John Slocum and Lieutenant Colonel Frank Wheaton. He was also appointed judge advocate of the Rhode Island militia. The 2nd Rhode Island soon moved to Washington, and joined the Union Army of Northeastern Virginia. On July 21, 1861 the regiment took part in the First Battle of Bull Run. As a senior officer, Ballou went in front on horseback to better direct his men. He was hit by a cannonball from a Confederate six-pounder cannon, which tore off part of his right leg and killed his horse. He was carried off the field, and the remainder of his leg was amputated. The Union Army was defeated and retreated to Washington, and Ballou was left behind. Ballou died from his wound a week after the battle, and was buried in the graveyard of nearby Sudley Church. 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 was 24. The battle area was occupied by Confederate forces, and Ballou's body was allegedly exhumed, decapitated, and further desecrated by Confederate troops (though most historians attribute this story to Northern wartime propaganda); his body was never recovered. In place of his body, charred ash and bone believed to be his remains were reburied in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. His widow, Sarah, never remarried. She later moved to New Jersey to live with her son, William. She died at age 82 in 1917; her remains are buried beside her husband's