I retain an unalterable affection for you, which neither time or distance can change.

George Washington wrote this love letter to his wife Martha while in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Washington, who had recently been appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army was headed to the army camps outside of Boston, Massachusetts.  Martha Washington destroyed all of her correspondence with her husband when he died in 1799. After years spent in the crush of public notoriety, it was about only thing in her private life she could control. Only three letters escaped, two of which were found beneath a desk drawer after her death.

From George Washington to Martha Washington | 23 June 1775