Ballou, Sullivan, 1829-1861

Sullivan Ballou; Born March 28, 1829, Smithfield, Rhode Island; Died July 29, 1861 (aged 32), Sudley Church, Virginia; son of Hiram (1802–1833) and Emeline (Bowen) Ballou; 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;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; 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; His widow, Sarah, never remarried. She later moved to New Jersey to live with her son, William; In his now famous letter to his wife, Ballou endeavored to express the emotions he was feeling: worry, fear, guilt, sadness, and the pull between his love for her and his sense of duty to the nation. The letter was featured prominently in the Ken Burns documentary The Civil War, where a shortened version of it was paired with Jay Ungar's musical piece "Ashokan Farewell" and read by Paul Roebling; The letter may never have been mailed; it was found in Ballou's trunk after he died