OT - The Last Full Measure of Devotion
On this Memorial Day, as we honor the memories of those who gave their lives for our country, I thought I’d share what is quite possibly the most poignant speech ever given to pay tribute to our fallen:
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863
Yes, it is quite an emotional title - taken directly from the Gettysburg Address . . .
The peroration is perfection.
| With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. |
4 |
That's the Second Inaugural, not Gettysburg. Which is a remarkable speech in its own right, for a whole variety of reasons.
It didn't fundamentally remake the idea of America like Gettysburg though.
in the header.
The Second Inaugural fits Memorial Day better.
Whoops. I skip over headers. And I dunno, the Second Inaugural is a more nakedly political speech I think.
What an amazing life.
1837: rides into Springfield on a borrowed horse, with everything he owns in two saddlebags
1860: leaves Springfield as President elect
Talk about right guy at the right time...
from Sullivan Ballou, an Union soldier, to his wife Sarah.
July the 14th, 1861
Washington D.C.
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 you again, I feel impelled to write 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 battlefield for my country, I am ready. 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 upon 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 joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.
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 cares 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 to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.
The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And 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 sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small 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, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.
Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often 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 brightest day and in the darkest night—amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.
Sarah, do not mourn me dead; 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 his and hers I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.
-
- Sullivan
with our vapid, weak and whiney national tone, and can any of us wonder that this country has developed the problems it has? i sure hope that soldier made it home to see edgar, willie and sarah. man, that's what dedication looks like.
can you imagine how much better off our country would be if all husbands and fathers were so dedicated to their families as this brave man?
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
"i sure hope that soldier made it home to see edgar, willie and sarah."
He didn't. Sullivan Ballou died in the first Battle of Bull Run, two weeks after writing that letter.
Double post.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
So in July of 1861. He was 32. He didn't make it home which is what makes that poem that much more poetic. Ken Burns(or his researchers) did an incredible job of finding it.
I consider it a suitable riposte to Wilfred Owens "Dolce Decorum Este".
Lincoln really knew the right words to say. Nothing we can do or say can pay enough gratitude towards, nor accurately portray the sacrifice made by our soldiers.
War is a real Hell on earth. Knowing that there are men and women who volunteer to go so other sons and daughters and mothers don't have to gives great perspective on how lucky we all are sitting at home safely.
If given the opportunity, do something nice for a soldier or their family, and tomorrow remember the soldiers that will never see their families on this earth again.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
The last sentence of the Bixby letter is what I always think of on Memorial Day.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.
Dear Madam,
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
A. Lincoln
Interesting side note. Mrs. Bixby did not lose 5 of 5 sons during the war. Many in Boston considered her a fraud, prostitute, and a copperhead. However, she probably did lose 2 of 5 sons in the war. Some historians think Lincoln's personal secretary wrote the letter.
For the Bob Newhart fans on the board, you know exactly what I am talking about here...
I hadn't heard this in years. Like all the greats, Newhart was a master at the use of language - and his delivery was a thing of beauty.
From a long past time when comedians were honestly clever AND Funny.
Some interesting observations by the reporter. Accurate, at least in a small sample. I'm curious, if it is true there is a developing warrior class, how long will civilians continue to be grateful? How long before the warrior class holds the civilians in contempt? How long before civilians fear the military? At what point does it reach a head?
This is fun isn't it?
Just check it out: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-warrior-main-20150524-story.html#pa…
I think that is what we have most to fear from a class of warriors.
and thoughtful citizens should notice the conflicting naratives being pushed these days:
- The police are a systematically biased and harmful institution
- Only the police and government should have guns
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Semi-off topic, but if you are military history buffs, it is imperative that you read the following books (in this order):
Gods and Generals - Jeff Shaara
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara (Jeff's dad)
The Last Full Measure - Jeff Shaara
These are historical fiction books about the Civil War in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania (Grant, Lee, Jackson, Stuart, Hancock, etc.) - just outstanding books.
Jeff Shaara has written a lot of books covering WWII, WWI, the American Revolution, and some other conflicts.
The WWI book, To the Last Man, is possibly his best work - I recommend this as well.
Just finished Shaara's "Gone for Soldiers" about Winfield Scott's march to Mexico City, and the cast of military characters that were developed for a later, bigger stage in the American Civil War. I got hooked on Shaara (and his father) through a recommendation on this blog. I was leery before reading it...was worried these books would be superficial and trite. How wrong I was. I love this series of books. I anxiously await reading "To the Last Man" during the summer. It's the last Shaara book I have left to read, and I'm infinitely saddened by that prospect.