"It has ever been my study and ever shall be, to render you as happy as possible. But I have been obliged in many instances to sacrifice the present pleasures to our future hopes."

February 14, 2005 11:26 AM

"It has ever been my study and ever shall be, to render you as happy as possible. But I have been obliged in many instances to sacrifice the present pleasures to our future hopes." From a Camp Croton bivouac of 1778 to a bunker in Afghanistan, a collection of wartime love letters in their original hands, movingly read aloud. Chapter 3 in The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's online exhibit Battle Lines: Letters from America's Wars. [Flash, but quite worth it]
posted by Tufa (6 comments total)

This reminds of the Sullivan Ballou Letter from ken Burns' The Civil War. It has been reproduced thousands of times since then. Apparently, it has inspired a short film. Quite a letter.
posted by Cassford at 11:55 AM on February 14, 2005

Very Awesome. I love the interactiveness of moving the "transcription window" to follow along with the oration. Nicely done. And how eloquent those early Americans were with the language.
posted by pmbuko at 12:04 PM on February 14, 2005

that is really, really good. the interface is amazingly good, too.
posted by blendor at 2:19 PM on February 14, 2005

This is very compelling, and extremely moving. The interface is really exceptional in its simplicity, I appreciate being able to see the original document. The narration I could take or leave since the voice acting ranges from wholly believably to zealously overdramatic.

Either way, I'm sending this on to my dad, he's a real Civil War buff and will enjoy these exchanges. Personally, I got the most from the feeling and humanness of this particular letter and reading.
posted by nelleish at 5:36 PM on February 14, 2005

I like the "but worth it" part of the flash caveat in this post. I wasn't aware that Flash was some horror we are sometimes forced to endure for the sake of teh intarnets.

Oh, and that was awesome, too.
posted by shmegegge at 4:48 AM on February 15, 2005

Fantastic post. Thanks, Tufa.
posted by languagehat at 6:04 AM on February 15, 2005