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Archiver > IA-CIVIL-WAR > 2003-05 > 1053032884


From: "Richard McConnell" <>
Subject: Re: [IA-CIVIL-WAR] Civil War Letter
Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 16:08:33 -0500
References: <002301c31b16$4f366060$c88f0d44@om.cox.net> <003a01c31b1f$3809ac40$63dcf7a5@js>


How this letter came to light is very interesting.

In 1991 I was taking a class at the University of Nebraska at Omaha on
the Civil War. The instructor was Dr. Edward Longacre who, at that time,
worked for the HQ SAC's Historian Office at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
His Ph.D. was in American History, specifically the American Civil War.

In doing research for any number of articles and books he has written on
the subject, one day he happened to be in a history center in Chicago
looking for Civil War letters and came upon this particular one. Since it
was in Illinois, he thought Sullivan Ballou was from Illinois. In doing the
research on him, though, he found out he was from Rhode Island. Apparently
his wife and children moved to Illinois after the war. I have no idea
whether she remarried or not.

This letter is quoted in Ken Burn's series on the Civil War. It was a
great honor to Dr. Longacre to have done this research and then have someone
of Ken Burns' caliber use the results of his research in a program which has
become a classic in the study of this era of American history.

By the way, I doing genealogy research on a shirt-tail relative of mine
whose sister married into my mother's family after the Civil War. His name
is Michael Ratigan. From resources I have in Georgia, I have determined he
joined the 2nd U.S. Regular Army, Company A, on July 13, 1861 at Cleveland,
OH. He reinlisted three years later in Virginia and was mustered out of the
service on February 19, 1867 at the Presidio of San Francisco. His
headstone at St. Patrick's Cemetery, Neola, IA reads as follows:

RATIGAN, Michael, b Galway, Ireland 19 Sep 1829
d Council Bluffs, Iowa 24 Feb 1910 mm
GAR
(Came to America in 1849)
Private Michael Ratigan enlisted in the Federal Army in 1861 and served
continuously for a period of six years, during which time he received
several serious gun-shot wounds. The following is a list of the more
important engagements in which he took part. Siege of Yorktown, Apr 1862,
Williamsburg, 5 May 1862, Mechanicsville, 23-24 May 1862, Gaines Mill, 27
Jun 1862, Malvern Hills (should be "Hill"), 30 June - 1Jul 2862, Westover, 3
Jul 1862, Boonesboro, 14 Sep 1862, Antietem, 17 Sep 1862, Sharpesburg, 19
Sep 1862, Piedmont, 3 Nov 1862, Markham, 4 Nov 1862, Amsville, 10 Nov 1862,
Fredericksville (should be "Fredericksburg"), 13 Dec 1862, Rapidan, 30 Apr
1863, Upperville, 20 June 1863, Gettysburg, 1 Jul 1863, Williamsport, 6 Jul
1863, Boonesboro, 8-9 Jul 1863, Funkstown, 10 Jul 1863, Culpepper, 19 Sep
1863, Ragoon (should be "Raccoon") Ford, 15 Sep 1863, Robinson River, 23 Sep
1863, Cold Harbor, 31 May 1864, Cold Harbor, 1 Jul 1864, Trenton Station, 11
Jun 1864, St. Mary's Church, 24 Jun 1864, Deep Bottom, 28 Jul 1864, Lee's
Mill, 31 Jul 1864, Deep Run, 16 Aug 1864, Stony Creek, 16 Sep 1864, Vaughn's
Road, 29 Sep 1864, Boydtown, 27 Oct 1864, Hicksford, 7 Dec 1864, Dinwiddie,
31 Mar 1865, Lisbon Center, 3 Apr 1865, High Bridge, 7 Apr 1865, Farmville,
7 Apr 1865, Appomattox, 9 Apr 1865. He was mustered out of the service at
the Presidio of San Francisco on the 19th day of Feb 1867, A.D.
"May his soul rest in peace."

I have not been able to find a military record or pension record on him,
perhaps because his name was mis-spelled. On February 24, 1910, there was
an article in the Council Bluffs Nonpareil, the local newspaper, stating
that a sister of his had requested court protection for him because of
advancing old age and to protect his financial resources in a local bank.
In the article, his name is spelled correctly. However, the same day there
is a death notice for a Michael "Roddigan," who happens to be Michael
"Ratigan." I have not been able to get anywhere yet with NARA. I was
hoping there might be a website that would list all the members of the 2nd
U.S. Army, Company A, so I could perhaps compare names to see if anything
rings a bell, but no such list for this unit has been found.

Any ideas on where to look would be greatly appreciated.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeanne Surber" <>
To: <>
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 3:18 PM
Subject: Re: [IA-CIVIL-WAR] Civil War Letter


> Thank you for posting that very poignant letter from Major Ballou. I
looked
> him up in a Civil War on-line source and learned that he was a 32 year-old
> Lawyer from Woonsocket RI, and was listed as wounded 7/21/1861 at Bull
Run,
> VA. He died of wounds on 7/28/1861. There was also a photograph of him
> showing a rather serious and determined-looking but handsome man in his
new
> Union uniform. I wonder what happened to Sarah. Or if Sullivan Ballou
had
> any idea his letter would still bring tears to the eyes of people such as
> myself nearly 150 years later.
>
> Jeanne Surber
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Richard McConnell" <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 12:15 PM
> Subject: [IA-CIVIL-WAR] Civil War Letter
>
>
> > I thought the group might be interested in this letter.
> >
> > Camp Clark [Washington, D.C.]
> > July 14, 1861
> >
> > My Very Dear Sarah,
> >
> > The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few
days—perhaps
> tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to
> write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more. I
> cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer Sabbath night, with
> 2,000 men sleeping around me, many of them enjoying perhaps the last sleep
> before that of death—while I am suspicious that death is creeping around
me
> with his fatal dart as I sit communing with God, my country, and thee. I
> have searched most closely and diligently and often in my breast for a
wrong
> motive in thus hazarding the happiness of those I love, and I can find
none.
> A pure love of my country, which I love more than I fear death, has called
> upon me and I have obeyed.
> >
> > I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in
which
> I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly
> American civilization now leans on the triumph of the Government, and how
> great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and
> suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing—perfectly willing—to lay
down
> all my joy in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that
> debt…
> >
> > Sarah, my love for you is deathless—it seems to bind me with mighty
> cables. 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
> blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel
> most grateful to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And
hard
> it is for me to give them up and to burn to ashes the hopes of future
years
> when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen
our
> sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. How careless and foolish I
> have oftentimes been, how gladly would I wash out with my tears ever
little
> stain upon your happiness.
> >
> > But, oh, Sarah, if the dead can come back to this life and float unseen
> around those they have loved I shall always be near you—in your brightest
> days and your darkest nights, amid your happiest scenes and gloomiest
> hours—always, always! And if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek it
> shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple it shall be
> my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead—think I have gone
> somewhere to wait for you, for we shall meet again.
> >
> > As for my little boys, they will grow up as I have done and never know
a
> father’s love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me, but my
> blue-eyed Edward will keep my face with him among the dim memories of
> childhood. I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and the
> development of their character and feel that God will bless you in your
bold
> work…Oh, Sarah, I go somewhere to wait for you. Come to me, and lead
> thither my children.
> >
> > Sullivan
> >
> > [Major Sullivan Ballou, 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, killed in action 21
> July 1861]
> >
> > Richard L. McConnell
> > 2235 St. Marys Ave., Apt. 421
> > Omaha, NE 68102-2438
> > (402)342-6896
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> > ==============================
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> go to:
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> >
>
>
>
> ==== IA-CIVIL-WAR Mailing List ====
> For more information on Iowa in the Civil War, check out the Iowa History
Project at http://iagenweb.org/history/
>
> ==============================
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go to:
> http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237
>

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