Letters Exhibit
Private John Ross Wallar, Dying from Wounds Sustained in the Civil War, Pens a Final Letter to His Loved Ones
Personal commentary: One of my editorial policies was not to correct any mistakes in the war letters I included in the book, and I did this because I wanted readers to experience the letters just as they were written. Sometimes the spelling or punctuation errors accentuate the difficult circumstances under which the letters were drafted, and this is especially true with John Wallar’s letter to his family. Wallar, a private fighting in the Civil War, had volunteered for the Union Army at the age of fifteen, and he began his service as a drummer boy. He was shot in battle and languished in a military hospital in Tennessee for weeks in the early fall of 1864 before succumbing to his injuries. He sent the letter, which would be his last, from his hospital bed. (The ellipses indicate the cuts I have made, and the original is featured in Grace Under Fire in its entirety.)
Dear Sister father Mother and friends,
I don’t think I will Live to See Morning But My Kind friends I am a Soldier of Christ I will Meet you all in Heven My Leg Has Bin taking of above My nee I am Dying at this time so don’t Morn after Me fore I Have Bleed and died fore My Country… so good By My friends May God be with you all good by God Bless My poor Soul…
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