Here’s another version of Sullivan Ballou’s famous letter. Hat tip to Dmitri.
Not my cup of tea, but whatever floats your boat. See here for all my posts on Ballou, including what I think is the most complete and accurate version of the letter (the whereabouts of which are not known).
Harry Smeltzer
Bull Runnings 
Harry
It almost goes without saying that the letter was read that way for it’s emotional impact. If you listen to the reader carefully, it sounds like he got chocked up reading it, there is a slight break, followed by a very flat narration. Appreciate you posting the whole thing.
Steve Keating
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Sorry, ment choke instead of chock.
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I’m thinking you meant “she” instead of “he” too? Or are you referring to the David McCullough reading from the Ken Burns documentary?
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Now that I think of it, that wasn’t McCullough who read the letter…it was the late actor Paul Roebling.
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I’m just not as moved by this rendition, not to mention that it is wayyy off the hook, but that’s just my opinion.
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Me either. It kind of reminds me of a song on Alanis Morrisette’s second album. But I’ve never been big on opera or operatic voice (‘cept Mario Lanza and a good beer drinkin’ song!)
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I meant ‘he’ from the Ken Burns documentary. I really haven’t listen to the opera version, as I’m not that big on it either. That makes me a cultural Neanderthal, I guess.
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Harry,
What was your overall impression of Robin Young’s ‘For Love and Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter’? It seems impressive at least in its doorstopper size.
Thanks for the post,
Chris
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Uneven. Way to much “might have beens” and “probablies” and “must haves”. Lots of filler. LOTS of mistakes in the Bull Run part. But also some good stuff, background on Rhode Island and on the 2nd RI, and on the Ballou family.
I read the WHOLE thing.
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Thanks Harry,
I’ll try to dive into it in the near future. I had read that the First Bull Run part was a sizable part of the book itself. I see that you are reading ‘In Camp and Battle with the Washington Artillery’. I purchased that book last year and have really enjoyed reading it. It really contains some classic anecdotes of the Army of Northern Virginia. I love the part at Appomattox with Custer and Longstreet. Something about the artillerists in the ANV made them good writers: Porter Alexander, Poague, and Owen are really wonderful to read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Chris
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I guess to each his own, but I’d sit and listen to her sing the phone book.
Then again, I’ve asked Celtic Women if they could cover the US Tax Code….
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