Read Abraham Lincoln's Letter To A Mother Who Lost 5 Sons In The Civil War

WASHINGTON, DC — As the White House defends President Trump's recent remarks about his and his predecessors' efforts to reach out to and console the families of fallen soldiers, many observers have noted that the commander in chief's duty to those who sacrifice most for the country is one of the office's sacred responsibilities.

President Abraham Lincoln, widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents and still lauded for his expert use of language, once wrote a brief but moving letter to Mrs. Lydia Bixby, who had lost five of her sons in the American Civil War. This entry into the long history of presidents honoring fallen soldiers and their families shows the care and deep thought that has accompanied these messages.

Read the letter below, excerpted from the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln from the University of Michigan:

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 altar of Freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully

A. LINCOLN.

Lead image: Union soldiers at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Fredericksburg, Virginia. By: A. J. Russell