At San Jacinto Elementary School in Ennis, Texas, we always had a Valentine’s Day party. We probably had cookies and punch – I’m not really sure. One thing I do
I am sitting in a rocking chair that I’ve sat in every summer of my life, starting in August of 1962. (That was a few weeks after I was born, so I was A writer's attachment to an heirloom in his family's Narragansett Beach Cottage stirs up fond memories and a connection to Civil War history.
Sullivan Ballou was a successful, 32-year-old attorney in Providence, Rhode Island, when Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers in the wake of Fort Sumter. Responding to his nation’s call, the former Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives enlisted in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, where he was elected major. By mid-July, the swirling events in the summer of 1861 had brought Ballou and his unit to a camp of instruction in the nation’s capital. With the movement of the federal forces into Virginia imminent, Sullivan Ballou penned this letter to his wife. His concern that he “should fall on the battle-field” proved all too true. One week after composing his missive, as the war’s first major battle began in earnest on the plains of Manassas, Ballou was struck and killed as the Rhode Islanders advanced from Matthews Hill.
Major Sullivan Ballou Sacrificed Love of His Family for His Country dailysignal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailysignal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.