dearest sarah i m compelled to write with aching fearful hands just in case i never make it back i left our family weeks ago for battle stricken lands and i fear i won t survive the next attack i fled rhode island willingly to join the union force understanding i may never know my boys but this country s strength of government is in a great divorce and for this i risk my life and all its joys oh sarah i do understand within my sacrifice goes nearly every joy for you as well but i hope you sense within my words i thought about it twice but our nation casts a thick momentous spell oh sarah start a life without me raise our boys to gentlemen thrive until the day you pass away and we can meet again understand my inner fight i didn t choose the war i sided with democracy yes that is what i m dying for oh sarah my love for you is deathless oh sarah my love for you is deathless growing up without my father weighed heavy on my brain and i dread this makes my children dance that waltz and i m sure at times your trust was breached and your love for me did wane but i ask you to forgive me for these faults and i can t express the irony of the peaceful summer breeze dusting my battalion as they rest cause within this evening s warmness lies a dark and icy freeze that whispered me to send you this request oh sarah start a life without me raise our boys to gentlemen thrive until the day you pass away and we can meet again understand my inner fight i didn t choose the war i sided with democracy yes that is what i m dying for oh sarah but my love for you is deathless oh sarah it s deathless i am one of hundred thousand paying all that we can pay standing for an object we can t see now raise our children proudly to be gracious for each day and remind them of the reasons they are free if it s true the dead can drift unseen around the loves they had then i will be the wind upon your cheek and the darkest moments in your life will never be so bad cause i will be your strength when you are weak oh sarah start a life without me raise our boys to gentlemen thrive until the day you pass away and we can meet again understand my inner fight i didn t choose the war i sided with democracy yes that is what i m dying for oh sarah but my love for you is deathless oh sarah my love for you is deathless oh sarah my love for you is deathless oh sarah my love for you is deathless1