Abraham Lincoln: Letter to Mrs. Lydia Bixby

November 21, 1864

Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts.

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 words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to 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 alter of freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

This letter was written by the President at the request of the Governor of Massachusetts to a Boston mother who had lost five sons in combat. The letter was delivered on 25 November 1864. Later research revealed that she had not lost that many offspring, but the message remains, nonetheless a valued expression of love of country. The letter reflects Lincolns unique ability to pin down the emotions of the moment.

The authorship of this letter is much debated and many scholars believe it was actually written by John Hay, one of President Lincoln's secretaries. After the letter was written it was later learned that only two of Mrs. Bixby's sons (Charles and Oliver) had actually died in battle. In fact, one of her sons had deserted the army, one was honorably discharged and another deserted or died a prisoner of war.

Mrs. Bixby was believed to be a Confederate sympathizer and destroyed the original letter. A reprint of the letter appeared in the Boston Evening Transcript. Copies of an early forgery have been circulating for many years, causing many people to believe they have the original letter.

The letter was used in the great film 'Saving Pvt. Ryan.'