For Love and Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter [Hardcover]

Robin Young (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 2006

If you were among the millions who fell in love with Ken Burns's documentary The Civil War back in 1990, today there's probably only one moment you remember from it: "The Letter." Read as the music soared at the end of the first episode, the letter from unsung Rhode Island soldier Sullivan Ballou to his wife on the eve of battle—and likely death—brought a nation of viewers to tears for its eloquence and passion.

This is Ballou's story. At the age of thirty-four, less than ten years after meeting the love of his life, Sarah Shumway, Ballou left his law practice and budding political career, his wife and two young sons, and took a commission as a major in the Union Army. He served in the army for almost two months but was struck down at the First Battle of Manassas-Bull Run. Civil War enthusiasts will devour the detailed depiction of the battle in which Ballou participated, and romantics will be absorbed in Sarah and Sullivan's love story.

For Love and Liberty brings the war to life with startling detail, depicting not only the heroism of its soldiers, but also the courage of the families they left behind.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

If you watched Ken Burns's Civil War documentary, you probably remember the touching narration of a letter Sullivan Ballou, an officer in a Rhode Island regiment, wrote to his wife on the eve of the war's first major conflict. Young tries to tell this couple's story, but is only fitfully successful. Although early sections do shed some light on Sullivan's life before the war, there simply isn't enough information about the Ballous to sustain an 800-plus-page book. Young winds up quoting the famous letter twice in its entirety, and the narrative thread is frequently overwhelmed by her rehashing of the slavery debate and early days of the Civil War. She also buries the Ballous under pages of historical minutiae detailing everything from rifle-loading techniques to contemporary household advice. A huge chunk in the middle does actually provide an exhaustive account of the Battle of Bull Run, but again, Young so often pulls back for the big picture that it becomes difficult to keep track of Sullivan and his ultimately fatal injuries on the battlefield. There's a moving story about families torn apart by war in here, but finding it is an exercise in frustration. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Civil War buffs and fans of filmmaker Ken Burns' popular Civil War documentary will welcome this heartfelt biography of the heretofore--anonymous soldier who penned one of history's most poignant love letters. Who was Major Sullivan Ballou, and who was the woman who inspired his eloquent missive? Young answers these and other questions in astonishing detail. Utilizing a variety of primary sources, including letters, diaries, speeches, and military reports, she reconstructs the brief life and times of the Rhode Island major who lost his life at the First Battle of Manassas-Bull Run. Prefacing Ballou's story with his famous letter, she manages to do justice to the man, the family he adored, and the cause he willingly sacrificed his life to promote. This absorbing Civil War biography will appeal to both scholars and casual readers. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 830 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press (December 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560257245
• ISBN-13: 978-1560257240
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,382,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much information, April 6, 2007

By 

Ronayne (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Love and Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter (Paperback)

Let me start by saying I'm not new to the civil war...so maybe this book would be better for newbies. It is definitely "exhaustively" researched. The author is obviously very good at genealogy. Unfortunately, that's what this book is...genealogy. There is sooo much information about Sullivan Ballou's relatives and neighbors that it just drags on. I don't need to know about these distant relatives and where they worked. That said, if you don't already know much about the civil war or living in that era, it is worth the buy. Even if you are like me and own hundreds of civil war books, this one could be worth the purchase for the Manassas section...once you finally reach those chapters.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kirkus Review,, December 15, 2005

By 

Robin Young - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: For Love and Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter (Hardcover)

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]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this!, September 17, 2006

By 

B. Childs (MISSISSIPPI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: For Love and Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter (Hardcover)

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.