Letter written by Union occupation soldier John Stagenwalt

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A letter (a) with envelope (b) written by John Stagenwalt, a 1st U.S. Infantry soldier stationed at New Orleans during its occupation by the Union Army. Written in blue ink on one sheet of wove paper folded to form four pages, the letter is addressed to John Sheaffer, of Bareville, Leacock Township, Pennsylvania, with the salutation [My Dear Father]. At top right is [Greenville Barracks / August the 16, A.D., 1868]. In the letter, Stagenwalt asks after the family and their crops, updates them on his own health, and relates that there is no work in the city of New Orleans and that "there is a great many folks starving in this city...it is the Negroes fault as they want to work for nothing and they whites can't make anything]. The last page of the letter has Stagenwalt's return address and a sketch of a bird.

Explore Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ↗