Major Sullivan Ballou (1829–61) served in the Second Rhode Island regiment of the Union army before dying from wounds sustained at the First Battle of Manassas. Ballou was born in Rhode Island and graduated from Brown University before becoming a lawyer. A strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln, Ballou was elected as a Republican to the Rhode Island House of Representatives in 1854 and later served as its Speaker. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Ballou immediately resigned his seat and volunteered for the Rhode Island Infantry. Today, he is best remembered for the eloquent letter he wrote to his wife, Sarah, shortly before entering battle at Manassas, in which he declared, “If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready.”