Major Sullivan Ballou of the Union Army wrote this letter to his wife Sarah. One week later, Major Ballou was killed at the first battle of Bull Run:

"I have no misgivings about or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged and my courage does not falter. I know how American civilization leans upon the triumph of the government. I know how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the suffering of the Revolution. An…