Opelousas Courier, August 30, 1862
Obituary

The late Benjamin Stagg, Color Sergeant of the 6th Regiment of La. Volunteers.

I am aware that the announcement of the death of the gallant young Louisianian, who fell on the 27th ult. while nobly bearing the colors of his Regiment in the thickest of the fight, will carry sorrow to many hearts yet, I feel it is my duty as his comrade and friend, to recall the past, by paying a just, though feeble tribute of respect to his memory.

Gifted with a vigorous intellect, endowed with those social qualities which bind man to his fellow, and possessing a moral character without reproach, the death of this estimable young man would have been, under any circumstances, painful in the extreme to his friends. But falling as he did, in one of the bloodiest conflicts of this malignant war, and almost in the moment of victory, this dispensation of Providence is rendered much more distressing.

‘Tis true, he fell in the discharge of his duty; he “died at his post,” nobly vindicating our right to be free, and in defending his land and home, and all he held dearest on earth, against the approach of our ruthless invaders!

Yet it is hard for a doting father, and fond brothers and sisters to witness the life of a loved son and brother, laid as a sacrifice on the altar of his country, even in a just cause. It ought, however, to afford a melancholy satisfaction to his relatives and friends to know that the cause in which he perished, is just, noble and glorious, and worthy of such a sacrifice. It ought to afford some alleviation to their sorrows to know he had done his duty in several engagements, and that he felt himself to be in the line of duty.

During the heat of the fight at Coal Harbor, the Color Sergeant fell, seriously wounded by a Minnie ball. Ben being near, immediately grasped the fallen colors and carried them onward in that scene of carnage. He was thirty paces in advance of the Regiment bearing our torn and faded, but never dishonored flag, to the only point from whence victory seemed to smile, when he was pierced through the heart by an unerring bullet from the relentless foe.

Thus fell Serg’t. Ben Stagg, one of the best soldiers, kindest ____ ____ purest patriots, I have ever known that military _____ not live to attain the ____ have had certain __ral and artificial qualifications but ____ to expect; yet his many virtues will cling to the memory of his comrades as long as their hearts retain a sufficiency of vitality to pulsate.

Thus farewell brave, young soldier! To the arms of the great Captain of Heaven, go! And may He in judging you, be as liberal as you were generous, in pouring out your life blood as a libation on your country’s altar.

“Why weep we, then, for him who, having run

The bound of God’s “appointed time, “ at last

Life’s sufferings all endured, life’s labors done,

From peril, to his final rest is passed.

While the soft memory of his virtues yet

Lingers like the twilight hues when the bright sun is set.”

He is gone, but will not soon be forgotten; for the subdued sorrow of friends, companions-in-arms, and superior officers, testify their love and recognize the worth of his character. B. F. Butler