For Love & Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou & His Famous Love Letter

by Robin Young

Book Overview

In the fall of 1990, the Civil War recaptured our imagination by way of an ambitious, nine-episode documentary that appeared on public television. Today, the millions of Americans who tuned in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560257245
• ISBN13: 9781560257240
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press
• Length: 830 Pages
• Weight: 2.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.0" x 6.7" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Read this!

This is a wonderful read for War Between the States buffs and the novice. I,like most, remember the letter from the documentary and was delighted to find the book about Sullivan Ballou. The background information on him and his wife certainly adds to the poignancy of the famous letter and makes you understand where all those tender feelings stem from. This is an excellent primer on the antebellum and war time eras; lots of information on custom, mores and traditions. Also, it is exhaustively researched and minute in detail on every facet of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys history.

Kirkus Review,

Historian Young's debut tells the story of Sullivan Ballou, whose moving letter to his wife on the eve of the First Battle of Bull Run was an emotional highlight of Ken Burns's PBS documentary about the war. At age 34, Ballou seemed destined for a distinguished political career. A talented lawyer in sympathy with the anti slavery Republican Party, he had already served one term as a state legislator and made an unsuccessful run for statewide office as attorney general. Shortly after the outbreak of war, Ballou volunteered for a three year term of duty defending the Union. With 20 years experience in the state militia, he received a commission as major, third in command of the Second Rhode Island Volunteers. Young follows the course of the regiment's recruitment, training and movement to Washington in the late spring and early summer of 1861, drawing heavily on documents of the time. As the crisis grew, it was soon clear to everyone that the federal army would soon invade Virginia, and the Confederates would resist. On July 21, the armies met along Bull Run, a broad creek near Manassas. Early in the action, Ballou was rallying his troops from horseback when a cannonball struck him. Evacuated to a makeshift hospital in a nearby church, he underwent amputation of a leg as the battle raged. When the beaten Union army withdrew, Ballou, (along with other Union wounded) was taken prisoner. He died a few days later. The vast amount of material about Ballou's times, his career, his death and the fate of his widow slowly accumulates to create a broad canvas of mid-19th century America as well as a searching portrait of a tragic victim of war. An emotionally focused tale enriched by a remarkable level of detail. [citation of starred Kirkus Review 12/15/2005]