British Officer Quotes From Lincoln's Getteysburg Speech In Letter to St. Louis Cousin - September 12, 1915

Transcript

British Officer Quotes From Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech In Letter to St. Louis Cousin ST. LOUIS REPUBLIC [September 12-15] Capt. Joseph Boyce Received Descriptive Letter from Capt. Ward, British Officer With Medical Corps in France. One of the most interesting letters from the front received in St. Louis since the European war began was written to Capt. Joseph Boyce of 3814 Clemens avenue, former member of the City Council, by his cousin, Capt. Hubert Ward of the Royal Army Medical Corps, with the British expeditionary force in France. The letter was written August 3 and related at the start a touching incident. After six months' desperate fighting, in which most of his near friends had been killed or wounded, Capt. Ward says, he obtained at 72-hour leave for the purpose of visiting his home in Ireland. He did not notify his parents of the visit, hoping to give them a pleasant surprise, but on arriving in Dundalk he found that he father had died only two hours previous. Relating some of his experiences in the trenches, Capt. Ward writes: [For additional content, see Joseph Boyce Collection, letter dated August 3, 1915.]