African Americana

Autograph letter signed ("William") to his uncle. "Army of the Mississippi / Opp. Vicksburg." 11 February 1863. 4pp, 7 1/2 X 9 3/4 in. (dampstaining, small losses, near complete separation along on center fold of page 1, a corner of each letter attached to glass with adhesive).

Written just over a month after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, Sadler's letter is an unvarnished missive in which the surgeon relays his sentiments about granting freedom to African Americans as well as the sentiments held by others in the Union army. He opens by saying, "I did not believe in anything more for the negro than stopping African slave trade, gradual emancipation, or Colonization." He continues, "I do not think that we are fighting now for the immediate benefit of the negro that is the great hue and cry of army officers who are tired of the war and (therefore) opposed to the proclamation! They say they will not fight any longer to make 'niggers' equal to themselves, & c." Sadler then goes on to explain how his view is different. He argues thart "sudden, unconditional freedom" will not benefit those formerly enslaved unless adequate "ways and means" were furnished for their benefit at the time of emancipation. Based on his experience during the war, he believes that the conditions "contraband" will find themselves in after the proclamation will render many of them paupers "without homes, and without available friends or funds." He indicates he has not heard any African Americans speak of insurrection, while lambasting the hypocracy of abolitionists. "I've seen red hot abolitionists sitting around red-hot stoves talking redhot emancipation & c while negroes were dying of exposure and want - not a care bestowed, medical or otherwise....That's the treatment they will get when they are all free." 

HDS indicates that William K. Sadler (sometimes "Saddler") enlisted on 12/12/1861 at Milliken's Bend, LA as an assistant surgeon and was commissioned on 1/2/1862 into Field & Staff Kentucky 19th Infantry. He was promoted to surgeon on 4/2/1863, and later killed on 12/2/1864 at Baton Rouge, the victim of a friendly fire incident. The Field & Staff Muster-out roll noted that Sadler was "killed by mistake by Federal soldier [at] Baton Rouge La." General Orders No. 27, Headquarters District of Baton Rouge and Port Hudson, described Sadler as "untiring in his profession" and "thorough and accurate as a Staff Officer." His thoughts on the Emancipation Proclamation and the abolition of slavery reflect a common sentiment, as many Union soldiers proclaimed their willingness to fight for the Union but not for the rights of the millions of African Americans forcefully held in bondage.