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

- Abraham Lincoln.


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The Bixby Letter라고 불리는 이 편지글은 1864년에 남북 전쟁에 참전했다가
다섯 아들을 모두 잃은, 리디아 빅스비(Lydia Bixby) 부인에게 '링컨 대통령'이 보낸 편지.
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