The Battlefield Letter of Sullivan Ballou, July 14, 1861

n the study of history, where resources of fundamental and priceless depth are at our disposal, few artifacts erase the alienation of time and circumstance like letters. In letters we find our predecessors’ very personal sentiments, beliefs and hopes—not in justified, placid retrospect but in the beating moment when each second was precious and fleeting as now our present is. Last letters are on another plain entirely—they are the last recorded testament of an eternal soul.

On July 14, 1861, not even four months into our Civil War, Major Sullivan Ballou sat himself down at his headquarters and wrote a fervent letter to his wife, Sarah. A successful Rhode Island attorney, at the age of 32 he joined the Union Army upon President Lincoln’s call for volunteers to quell Southern independence. Faced with imminent battle at Bull Run in Virginia, Major Ballou poured his heart, love and prayers for Sarah and their sons into a missive that would prove to be his last. It remains one of the most stirring declarations of devotion handed down to posterity:

Sullivan Ballou (1829-1861)

An artist’s depiction of the First Battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861

Headquarters, Camp Clark
Washington, D.C., July 14, 1861

My Very Dear Wife:

Indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days, perhaps to-morrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write a few lines, that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.

Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine, O God be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battle-field for any country, I am ready.

But, my dear wife, when I know, that with my own joys, I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with care and sorrows, when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it, as their only sustenance, to my dear little children, is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country…

Sarah, my love for you is deathless. It seems to bind me with mighty cables, that nothing but Omnipotence can break; and yet, my love of country comes over me like a strong wind, and bears me irresistibly on with all those chains, to the battlefield. The memories of all the blissful moments I have spent with you come crowding over me, and I feel most deeply grateful to God and you, that I have enjoyed them so long. And how hard it is for me to give them up, and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our boys grow up to honorable manhood around us.

I know I have but few claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me, perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar, that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, nor that, when my last breath escapes me on the battle-field, it will whisper your name.

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have oftentimes been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears, every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot, I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.

But, O Sarah, if the dead can come back to this earth, and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you in the garish day, and the darkest night amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours always, always, and, if the soft breeze fans your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air cools your throbbing temples, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dear; think I am gone, and wait for me, for we shall meet again.

As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father’s love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care, and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers, I call God’s blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.

—Sullivan

Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island—final resting place of Sullivan Ballou and his beloved wife Sarah; she never remarried, died at the age of 82 in 1917, and was buried next to the husband of her youth

Image Credits: 1 Sullivan Ballou (wikipedia.org) 2 First Battle of Manassas (wikipedia.org) 3 Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, RI (wikipedia.org)

“Truly England and the church of God hath had a great favour from the Lord, in this great victory given us.”
—Oliver Cromwell, on the Battle of Marston Moor, 1644

The Battle of Marston Moor, July 2, 1644

erhaps the largest battle ever fought on English soil took place two years into England’s bloody Civil War. There the King of England, Charles I, had his royalist army routed and destroyed on a rural plain, about six miles outside the walled city of York. It would prove the first major royalist defeat of the war. That day victory belonged to the combined armies of Parliament under Sir Thomas Fairfax and a contingent of Scottish Covenanters led by Alexander Leslie, the Earl of Leven. This victory would spell the end for King Charles’ control of the North, and his ultimate downfall.

The Battle of Marston Moor by John Barker

For weeks prior, the Scottish and Parliamentary troops had laid siege to the strategic city of York. Thus, King Charles sent his young nephew Prince Rupert of the Rhine, with a considerable host, to the relief of the city. Prince Rupert succeeded at his commission admirably, drawing away the Parliamentary besiegers with a series of feints and advances. But being charmingly rash, Prince Rupert was dissatisfied with his temperate victory and chose to engage with his enemy on the ground outside the city walls, hoping to destroy the combined army of Fairfax and Leslie.

King Charles I of England (1600-1649)

Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland (1619-1682)

Sir Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1612-1671)

Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (1580-1661)

The armies met at Marston Moor, both sides having around 7,000 cavalry. However, the 11,000 Royalist infantry were easily outnumbered by the 20,000 combined Parliamentary and Scottish infantry. The two sides drew up with infantry in the middle and cavalry on either wing. A short artillery exchange in the early afternoon produced no movement from either force, leading Prince Rupert to believe that there would be no engagement until the next day.

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)

Lord George Goring (1608-1657)

Surprisingly—and much to the disbelief of many—at seven thirty that evening, Parliamentary forces attacked Prince Rupert’s position during a thunderstorm. A single cavalry troop, led by Oliver Cromwell, routed the Royalist cavalry on their right wing while on their other wing the Royalist cavalry, led by Lord George Goring, held back a Parliamentary charge and then smashed the Scottish infantry. Cromwell responded by returning to attack Goring’s cavalry in their rear, after which his own cavalry helped the Parliamentary infantry to decimate the Royalist center.

Diagram showing the placement of the respective troops during the Battle of Marston Moor

The fight lasted a mere two hours, and after an initial trading of momentum, the royalist defeat was uncontested and Oliver Cromwell would henceforth be dubbed “Old Ironsides”—a nickname passed on to his soldiers in the New Model Army—courtesy of their vanquished foe, Prince Rupert.

The battle of Marston Moor confirmed how a well-equipped, fully trained army could win the war and thus established Cromwell as a great military commander. A year prior he had complained to Parliament regarding the state of the militia thusly: “Your troopers are most of them old, decayed serving-men and tapsters. You must get men of spirit…or else I am sure you will be beaten.” What a difference a year of discipline and dedication would bring about!

Cromwell after the Battle of Marston Moor

The losses amounted to 2,000 of 27,000 Parliamentary and Scottish troops; 4,150 of 18,000 Royalist.

In the battle’s aftermath, the royalists effectively abandoned all control of the North of England, clinging to power in the South with those forces still remaining loyal to them. In the end they too would be met with defeat, King Charles would lose his head—condemned to execution by Parliament as a traitor to his own people—and England’s Commonwealth would be established.

Battle of Marston Moor monument in front of Marston Hill, crowned by the clump of trees known as “Cromwell’s plump”, reputedly the site of the Parliamentarian and Covenanter headquarters

Cromwell gazes on the decapitated body of King Charles I

Landmark Events will be tromping across this remarkable battleground in July, learning from Dr. Bill Potter about its wide impact and the legacy of General Oliver Cromwell on our historic tour of Northumbria.

Image Credits: 1 Battle of Marston Moor (wikipedia.org) 2 Charles I (wikipedia.org) 3 Prince Rupert (wikipedia.org) 4 Thomas Fairfax (wikipedia.org) 5 Alexander Leslie (wikipedia.org) 6 Battle Plan (wikipedia.org) 7 Oliver Cromwell (wikipedia.org) 8 George Goring (wikipedia.org) 9 Aftermath (wikipedia.org) 10 Monument (wikipedia.org) 11 Cromwell & Charles I (wikipedia.org)

Congress Approves the Resolution for Independence, June 7, 1776

mongst the largely futile clamor that marked the early half of the Second Continental Congress, there rose to his feet the leading delegate of powerful old Virginia, and he declared with chilling clarity his motion to resolve “that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA where the Second Continental Congress convened

The reaction was hardly that of unanimous agreement or even spirited dissent—delegates sent by their respective colonies to exert new ways to pacify England were utterly alarmed and dubious that their Virginian colleague even had the backing of his state to propose such an inflammatory motion. Richard Henry Lee, the “Cicero of Virginia” as he was called on account of his oratory, assured them he had. His state’s House of Burgesses were agreed: peace with such tyranny was no longer fitting for a free people—there must be separation, whatever the cost.

Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794)

Interior of Independence Hall, where the Second Continental Congress convened

His resolution was approved by Congress on June 7, 1776, making it the first official act of the United Colonies that set them irrevocably on the road to independence. Almost a month’s worth of debate, persuasion and the seeking of each colonies’ approval drew the process on interminably, as violence continued in the northern colonies and General Washington’s poorly-equipped militia suffered loss after loss. But there were many amongst the delegates who were not taken by surprise: they had yearned and prayed for this day from before the start of the first Congress.

Patrick Henry’s famous speech was met with passionate response, both for and against his ideas

Knowing the proposition must come from a Virginian to be persuasive to the rest of the Congress, Massachusetts firebrand John Adams happily stepped aside for Lee to lead the charge. It did not prevent Adams, however, from almost immediately following Lee’s divisive resolves with a few of his own: one being the setting up of a delightfully hopeful committee to draft a Declaration of Independence—in the off-chance this extremely polarizing resolution were to actually pass. Adams famously persuaded Thomas Jefferson to pen the document and the rest now comprises one of the most pivotal moments of our national story.

The Second Continental Congress charged the Committee of Five—comprised of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman—with authoring the Declaration

In the popular overview of our revolution that we often learn, there is acknowledgment of the monumental opposition that had to be surmounted. Yet nothing short of a thorough dive into the particulars—a dive that only leads to ever more astonishing findings that go on and on endlessly—gives even a glimpse of how long and anticipated was our nation’s birth..

“Declaration House” or the Graff House at 700 Market Street, Philadelphia, is the boarding house in which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence

The portable writing desk on which Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence

It was miracle enough that on July 4 the Declaration of Independence was ratified and proclaimed to the public. Behind that date were years of visionary patriots longing for independence, but caught amongst a people not fully ready to embrace the inevitable.

It is a beyond hopeful study to read of their frustrations, but also of their patient purposefulness. Just as an example:

As far back as 1768, Richard Henry Lee proposed and created the Committee of Correspondence for the purpose of linking the leaders of the thirteen colonies together. This committee later became a crucial communication route for “treasonous” plans—plans that included his proposal that there be a Continental Congress in the first place.

The Liberty Tree in Boston, under which the Committee of Correspondence frequently met

John Adams was famously a lawyer in Boston who used his practice to defend British soldiers in the wake of the Boston Massacre. His victory that day—proving that English Common Law still ruled America with justice and impartiality—got thrown back in his face shortly after during the British occupation of his city. Fully convinced that England was no longer ready or willing to govern justly, he appealed desperately to both congresses while his family was suffering under the thumb of British occupation. His efforts seemed futile in the face of others’ indolence, but in the end his tenacity was greatly rewarded.

An unfinished painting of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence,
by Charles Édouard Armand-Dumaresq, c. 1873

Patrick Henry, fierce persuader in the first Continental Congress, swayed the pivotal vote for ratifying independence in Virginia’s House of Burgesses, and later served as wartime Governor of the state. Henry had such foresight that he was warning his countrymen a year before the vote thusly:

“They tell us, sirs, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and Who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!

The famous painting of Patrick Henry’s impassioned and persuasive speech

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace—but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

A depiction of the Second Continental Congress voting on the United States Declaration of Independence

Image Credits: 1 Independence Hall (wikipedia.org) 2 Richard Henry Lee (wikipedia.org) 3 Independence Hall, interior (wikipedia.org) 4 Patrick Henry’s speech (wikipedia.org) 5 The Committee of Five (wikipedia.org) 6 Graff House (wikipedia.org) 7 Jefferson’s Desk (wikipedia.org) 8 Liberty Tree (wikipedia.org) 9 Signing the Declaration (wikipedia.org) 10 Patrick Henry (wikipedia.org) 11 Congress voting for independence (wikipedia.org)

David Livingstone Leaves for Africa, June 1, 1841

n his book The Man Who Presumed, Byron Farwell records that former Confederate soldier turned journalist-explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, upon meeting David Livingstone in Ujiji “along the shimmering blue waters of Lake Tanganyika”, presented his hand and asked, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” “Yes… I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you,” the famous missionary-explorer responded. And so began a meeting of which few in the English-speaking world would not hear of, and marvel at the amazing story of the Scottish missionary. His story has no modern parallels.

Henry Morton Stanley’s famous meeting with David Livingstone at Ujiji

Born in the mill-town of Blantyre, Scotland, along the River Clyde, David Livingstone heard the Gospel from his earliest years from his parents and church. His father, Neil, faithfully conducted family worship, passed out Gospel tracts as he travelled for his work, and taught Sunday school. David was given a New Testament for reciting Psalm 119 from memory. The study of science and the creation captured young David’s mind, an interest that one day would contribute greatly to his African exploration after God had captured his heart.

The David Livingstone Centre, Shuttle Row, Blantyre, Scotland is a museum dedicated to the life and work of David Livingstone, housed in the buildings in which he lived and worked

While studying in medical school, Livingstone determined to leave for the mission field in the Far East, but political circumstances, and his meeting missionary Robert Moffat, steered him toward Africa where he could see “the campfires of a thousand villages where the Gospel had never been heard.” He left for Africa at age 28, where he would serve for most of the next 32 years. Livingstone spent about three years with one tribe, but quarreled with a fellow missionary and, seeing no fruits of his preaching, moved to another tribe. He again saw no conversions there and left after two years for another with the same result. It seemed that God’s kingdom would not be expanded through the Scottish missionary’s witness.

Livingston preaches to the natives

Map of the travels of David Livingstone in Africa

Livingstone moved into the interior of Africa following the Zambezi River, mapping the course of the river and the terrain as well as keeping record of the flora and fauna of the continent. He met with chiefs and negotiated peaceful passage through their lands. He still preached, with no results, but also traded, learned languages, studied the cultures, and wrote down everything he observed. Convinced that he was mapping a way into the interior for future missionaries, he successfully convinced other British missionaries to follow in his paths. A number who took him up on the idea perished in the wilderness from the many fatal diseases that awaited white men in the jungle. He himself suffered often from malaria and other maladies.

Inside Livingstone’s birthplace, fitted with furnishings of the period

He visited England and published a book of his travels, making him one of the best-known explorers of the century. He was fêted by the scientific community and given a roving commission by Queen Victoria’s government. His expeditions took him to places never before seen by Europeans and his maps and journals paved the way for many who followed. Livingstone took his family with him in the early days, but his wife died at the age of 27 in Africa and most of his children died young there. They rarely saw him. One son died fighting for the Union in the American Civil War.

A letter written by Jacob Wainwright in 1873 recalling the death of David Livingstone

African slave traders and their captives

Livingstone fought slavery through his writings and sometimes on the ground in Africa. He worked hard to prevent abortion and infanticide among tribal people. His years of devotion to preaching, exploring, mapping, and recording, resulted in his heart being buried in Africa by the Africans and his body interred at Westminster Cathedral. While David Livingstone had proposed to found churches, God had disposed to map the way for the spread of the Gospel after his death.

David Livingstone (1813-1873)

Image Credits: 1 Stanley meets Livingstone (wikipedia.org) 2 Livingstone Center (wikipedia.org) 3 Livingstone preaching (wikipedia.org) 4 Map of Livingstone’s explorations (wikipedia.org) 5 Livingstone’s birthplace (wikipedia.org) 6 Livingstone’s death account (wikipedia.org) 7 Slave traders and captives (wikipedia.org) 8 David Livingstone (wikipedia.org)

Legacy of the Venerable Bede, May 26, 735

his summer, Landmark Events will be embarking on a tour of the old kingdom of Northumbria, a land once encompassing northern England and southern Scotland, with strategic strongholds and centers of culture in York and Edinburgh. There is a rich history to be explored in these less-frequented haunts and a powerful aspect of Christendom to be rediscovered. Key to this great story of gospel triumph is the legacy of the venerable Bede.

The Kingdom of Northumbria around 700

Bede, Saint Bede or “the venerable” as he is often referred to, died on the 26th of May, 735, already acknowledged as the most learned man of his time. He was born in Northumbria on the grounds of a monastery, and from the age of seven, spent his life as a monk and in service to the church.

Bede (672/3-735) on his deathbed, translating the Gospel of John

Bede grew to become a great scholar, a theologian and a brilliant linguist, and his copious writings reflect his passion for each. The latter skill he used to translate much of the Latin Bible into the common languages of the British Isles—Briton and Anglo-Saxon chiefly; the former he exerted to settle the dating of time, and is generally credited for his role in our counting years from the time of Christ’s Birth—Anno Domine.

The title page of a 1563 copy of Opera Bedae Venerabilis

But the great work of his life was his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, a meticulous and inspiring chronicle that pretended no other goal but to note the progression of the gospel in post-Roman England. Due to his indefatigable efforts to compile and create a linear narrative of Christianity at home, in his own time and that preceding it, we now have access to remnants of many ancient accounts otherwise lost in their entirety. Through him we can witness the mysterious ways a land can fall into paganism and rise out of it again by the liberating power of faith in Christ, while the tradition of God’s Word being accessible to the common man in his common tongue ultimately paved the way for the bastion of religious freedom that Great Britain became.

A page from one of Bede’s works

Bede writing his Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Bede’s allegiance to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church gave him some bias in recounting the deeds of kings, many of whom held to a Celtic tradition of church rule. He typed many of them as unconverted until they were brought into the Catholic faith, despite their previous professions of faith in Jesus Christ and their observance of worship and Biblical sacraments. Still, while accused of being overburdened with the seemingly miraculous, his chronicle is nothing short of an exultation in the civilizing influence of Christian ethics and industry upon his native land.

“If history records good things of good men, the thoughtful hearer is encouraged to imitate what is good: or if it records evil of wicked men, the devout, religious listener or reader is encouraged to avoid all that is sinful and perverse and to follow what he knows to be good and pleasing to God.”—the Venerable Bede

Bede’s tomb in Durham Cathedral, Durham, England

Image Credits: 1 Kingdom of Northumbria (wikipedia.org) 2 Bede on his deathbed (wikipedia.org) 3 Frontispiece (wikipedia.org) 4 Illuminated Page (wikipedia.org) 5 Bede writing (wikipedia.org) 6 Bede’s Tomb (wikipedia.org)