Lincoln on the cost of freedom

Oxford University prominently displays a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to a mother who lost five sons in the Civil War.

Scholars in England claim that Lincoln’s letter provides a “model of the purest English, rarely, if ever, surpassed.”

For Americans preparing for Fourth of July celebrations, Lincoln’s words and this mother’s sacrifice mean so much more. On Nov. 21, 1864, President Lincoln wrote to the widow Lydia Bixby:

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

History revisited
At the time Lincoln wrote Mrs. Bixby at the request of Massachusetts’ governor John A. Andrews, Mrs. Bixby and the governor believed all five of her sons had perished in the war. Indeed two had paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Oliver was killed at Petersburg, and Charles died on the fields of Fredericksburg.

However, some good news came to this grieving mother. Although her son, Henry, was reported killed at Gettysburg, he was actually taken as a prisoner of war. A fourth son, George, was thought to have been killed with his brother, Oliver, in Petersburg. However, in order to keep his wife from knowing he had joined the army, George enlisted under a different last name and survived the war. Mrs. Bixby’s youngest son, Edward, was reported killed in South Carolina but was not. He later returned to Boston with an honorable discharge (www.Angelfire).

Mrs. Bixby lost two of her sons in the war. One loss is unimaginable for those of us with children. We can only shudder to think of the devastation this widow felt believing she had lost all five of her sons. It was at this time when her grief was greatest that President Lincoln’s letter arrived to console her. Lincoln’s letter remains a touching tribute to all mothers and fathers whose sons and daughters have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our nation united and free.

Revisiting history here
In Central Virginia, we cherish nationally recognized reminders of the sacrifices made to keep the Fourth of July one of our country’s most important celebrations. From the D-Day memorial to Patrick Henry’s home at Red Hill to the Hill City’s Civil War sites, we all can marvel at how much has been sacrificed for us to celebrate this Independence Day.