History of Arguable Consequence: The Undertold Stories of the American Civil War
Shiggity for Sullivan Ballou
Sullivan Ballou ($25): Male/Young Adult to Late-Middle-Aged. North American/American with a Northern/Yankee/Rhode Island accent. Ballou was from a prominent Rhode Island family, highly educated, a lawyer and a member of the House of Representatives. He volunteered to join the war efforts immediately after the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April, 1861, and was killed three months later, at the Battle of Bull Run in July, 1861. The letter her wrote to his wife, Sarah, just one week before the battle, is considered one of the most romantic pieces of writing from the Civil War. The letter was never actually sent to Sarah, rather was found in his belongings after he was killed. Read this for more on Sullivan Ballou. For this role, we need a Northern/Yankee/Rhode Island accent -- highly educated, proper, refined. We need the voice actor to be able to convey a depth of sadness, regret, emotion when reading some of the more romantic parts of the poem (really let loose!)
ABOUT THE ROLE: Ballou is narrating the famous letter to his wife Sarah. The full transcript of the letter can be read here.
Along with Ballou, voice actor awarded this part will also be asked to perform lines for several other very minor characters (Narrator and voice in a crowd).
I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans on the triumph of the Government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and sufferings of the Revolution. And I am willing — perfectly willing — to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt …
Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me unresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.
But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights … always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again …
