Letter from Capt. Bussard re: E. L. Shiff, 1863 Iberville Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Penelope Pierce Date: Jan. 2000 Source: This letter was found in the National Archives. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** To Captain Bussard, Superintendent of Plantation ,re: The petition of E. L. Shiff, residing in the parish of Iberville, a loyal citizen of the United States. "Respectfully represents, that she is the owner of the Belle Grove Plantation in said parish, and was in the peaceable enjoyment thereof, when on or about the fifth of May 1863, Lieutenant Hanks entered upon her said plantation and placed three hundred and sixty Negroes thereon; That said Negroes performed no work whatever of any use or benefit, but on the contrary introduced the upmost confusion among the working hands on the plantation belonging to your petitioner, and stripped the plantation of property to the amount of upwards of twenty thousand dollars as will more fully appear by reference to the statements hereto annexed; That said Negroes continued on said plantation in a perfect state of insubordination until five or six days ago; that fearing that the same wanton outrage will be repeated by said Hanks , she now respectfully asks that you will be pleased to afford her protection so as to enable her to carry on the work of her said plantation without further interruption: And she will even swear that she took the oath of allegiance on the 17th January 1863, as soon as she had any opportunity of doing so. The petitioner swears that the facts and allegations in the foregoing petition are correct and true. Mrs. E. L. Shiff List of Mrs. E. L. Shiff's property taken from her Belle Grove Plantation 250 loads of wood 23 barrels of cistern sugar 3 sets of carpenter tools 19 locks 18 corn baskets 5 horses 10 mules 2 saddles and bridles 18 hogs 13 sheep 9 cart loads of fodder 4 cart loads of pears 2 cart loads of corn 3000 barrels of corn 3000 barrels of corn consumed on the plantation by government Negroes 4 tounge carts 1 two horse cart 3 one horse cart harness fot eight carts 1iron block from sugar house 35 foot copper pipe and 4 floats from sugar house 150 feet fall rope from sugar house 1 copper pump belonging to steam train and damage to machinery at sugar house to them amount of $2000." Incoming correspondence of the Plantation Bureau, Box 5, Entry 414 Records of the Civil War, Special agencies of the Treasury Department..National Archives. Mrs. E. L. Shiff, Emilie Lynch Adams Andrews Shiff, was the widow of Edouard Shiff, who had returned to her father, John Andrews' Belle Grove Plantation in Iberville, Louisiana. As a matter of record, John Andrews had removed to Texas for the duration along with many possessions and slaves, leaving three of his daughters to oversee the plantation. The fourth daughter, Penelope Lynch Andrews was married to Paul Hebert then stationed in Texas. Just how loyal citizens of the United States they were, is questionable. Incoming correspondence of the Plantation Bureau, Box 5, Entry 414 Records of the Civil War, Special agencies of the Treasury Department..National Archives.