History’s most famous letter of condolence was the inspiration behind a famous scene in Steven Spielberg’s multiple Oscar-winning movie Saving Private Ryan.
As War Department secretaries stumble on evidence that all but one of four brothers called Ryan has been killed in action, the actor playing General George C. Marshall (Harve Presnell) prefixes his order to save the remaining Ryan by quoting word-for-word a letter reputedly sent by Abraham Lincoln to Lydia Bixby, the widowed mother of five sons all killed in the Civil War.
Separating Fact from Fiction
It is a scene with real dramatic power, although in time-honoured fashion Hollywood has taken a few liberties with the truth. Scholars and historians who doubt the provenance of Lincoln’s so-called ‘Letter to Mrs Bixby’ say it was most likely written by John Hay, one of the White House secretaries. The use of the words “beguile” and “assuage” appear to give the game away because meticulous study of Lincoln’s numerous letters and writings fail to suggest he ever used these words in any other context. Hay, on the other hand, did use these exact words several times in his correspondence.
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