Love for wife and country closely mingle together in Sullivan Ballou's famous last letter to his wife Sarah. In it, Ballou expresses the deep love he has for Sarah, not to mention the immense joy that their marriage has brought him. Indeed, Ballou expresses his humble gratitude to God for all the blissful moments he has spent with his beloved wife. Ballou loves Sarah so much that he says that in the last breath that escapes him on the battlefield he will whisper her name.

At the same time, Ballou takes his military service very seriously indeed. He knows just what is at stake in the Civil War, and he's determined to play his full part in this titanic struggle between North and South. American civilization is at stake in this conflict; its continuance depends upon the maintenance of the government.

And Ballou is not just willing to fight for that government. He is prepared to lay down his life for it, to make the supreme sacrifice as payment of debt for the sacrifices made by the men who fought in the American War of Independence.

Ballou doesn't want to die, of course. He desperately wants to be reunited with his wife and family once more. But he's prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the continuation of the Union.