THE AMERICAN JEW
AS
PATRIOT, SOLDIER AND CITIZEN.
[Illustration: STATUE OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, Fairmount Park,
Philadelphia.]
THE
AMERICAN JEW
AS
PATRIOT, SOLDIER AND CITIZEN
BY
SIMON WOLF
EDITED BY
LOUIS EDWARD LEVY
PHILADELPHIA
THE LEVYTYPE COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK--CHICAGO--WASHINGTON
BRENTANO'S
1895
"And Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you
free."--John, viii, 32.
To All
Who Love and Seek the Truth
This Work is Dedicated
BY
The Author.
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
It were an error to suppose that prejudice is always the offspring of
ignorance, inasmuch as the reverse is very frequently true. Not seldom
is ignorance the result of prejudice, through a willful refusal to
recognize such facts as run counter to the latter. A more accurate
simile would, therefore, be the likening of prejudice and ignorance to
twins, of whom either may be the precursor of the other, and either
one the stronger of the two. The prejudices which follow ordinary
ignorance give way readily before increasing knowledge of the truth,
but where prejudice is the elder of the twin vices, it is usually the
most obstinate as well. "None so blind as those who will not see" is an
old aphorism whose truth is universally recognized. This obstinate kind
of prejudice is usually but a form of self-conceit, as the latter, in
turn, is but another form of ignorance.
To combat one of the most obstinate of all obstinate prejudices, and
to promote enlightenment on a subject whereof ignorance has become
unpardonable, has been undertaken by Hon. Simon Wolf in the work before
us. His impelling motive has been to enforce a recognition of the
Jewish people as a militant factor in the upbuilding of the State, and
of Judaism as a primal force in the furtherance of civilization, and he
has chosen as his weapons the simple truth of history and the testimony
of leaders among men.
A notable French writer remarks that "La vérité historique devrait
être non moins sacrée que la religion."[1] His words are just; the
truth of history should, indeed, be no less sacred than that of
religion. If this is true, and few or none will be found to dispute the
proposition, then the records of historic truth may be regarded as part
of the gospel of humanity. Such they are, in fact; as the truths of
history become disentangled from the maze of sophistry and falsehood in
which the passions and follies of mankind envelop them, they teach us
first of all the lesson of charity and good-will to men.
The light of historic truth has been concentrated by Mr. Wolf on the
part taken by his co-religionists in the development of our great
republic. He shows us that the Jewish people of the New World, like
their ancestors and brethren of the Old, have been unfailing in their
devotion to their country's cause; that they have performed an ample
part in the conquest of our liberties and have fully shared in the
struggles for the preservation of our institutions. He proves beyond
cavil that from an early stage of our history down to the present day,
men of the Hebrew race and faith have been counted in the van of the
country's progress and in the forefront of its defense, and having
proved this fact by historic records and a demonstration of the truth,
his task is done.
That this task was self-imposed but adds to the debt which the American
Jewish community owes to Mr. Wolf for its accomplishment. It was
undertaken in the spirit which has animated him throughout a long
career of public usefulness, a spirit of loyalty to the faith that is
in him, to his fellow-Israelites and to the land of his adoption. It
has been done with all the thoroughness that an earnest purpose could
impart to it, with a comprehensiveness in keeping with that purpose,
and withal, in a spirit free from any shadow of sordidness or motive of
self-interest. Mr. Wolf seeks no pecuniary profit from the unstinted
labors he has given to this cause, not even the return of the sums
expended by him in the tedious and often costly collection of his data.
Whatever of monetary reward may inure to his work has been dedicated by
him to the orphaned wards of the B'nai B'rith, whose asylum in Atlanta
he helped to found, and of which he has long been the directing spirit
and official head.
The work of gathering the material for this book having been
accomplished by Mr. Wolf, the less onerous task of editing and
collating it has been entrusted by him to the present writer. In the
execution of the work thus outlined for me I have been guided by the
spirit with which the author had imbued it, and in my introductory
references to the successive subjects of the volume, I have sought
to briefly elucidate the author's theme. In common with him, I have
to express my regret that the army lists compiled herein remain
incomplete notwithstanding his unsparing efforts to perfect them. On
the other hand, the more general subject, the place of the Jewish
people in the history of mankind, their influence on the current
of affairs, their attitude before the world and towards it, are
demonstrated by a consensus of many-voiced opinion, gathered from
unquestionable sources, in such abundance and of such extent that only
its necessary curtailment afforded difficulty. This varied material has
been subjected to a careful reconsideration, and in eliminating some
portions and including others, I have sought to render the whole in
harmony with the key-note which Mr. Wolf had sounded.
LOUIS EDWARD LEVY.
_Philadelphia, October, 1895._
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Histoire de Jules César, par Napoleon III, Préface.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
DEDICATION v
EDITOR'S PREFACE vii
INTRODUCTION 1-11
JEWISH PATRIOTS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
(INTRODUCTORY) 12-13
A SKETCH OF HAYM SALOMON 14-26
OTHER JEWISH CONTRIBUTORS TO THE COLONIAL TREASURY 26
INCIDENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF AMERICAN JEWISH PATRIOTISM 27-43
JEWISH SOLDIERS IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMIES 44-52
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN GEORGE WASHINGTON
AND HEBREW CITIZENS, ETC. 53-61
"EXEGI MONUMENTUM AERE PERENNIUS" 62-66
JEWISH SOLDIERS IN THE WAR OF 1812 AND THE
MEXICAN WAR 67-75
UNITED STATES REGULAR ARMY 76-80
UNITED STATES NAVY 81-86
A PAGE FROM THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE CIVIL
WAR (INTRODUCTORY) 87-90
A REMARKABLE EPISODE 91-97
JEWISH SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR (INTRODUCTORY) 98-105
MEDALS OF HONOR 106-108
FAMILIES OF "BROTHERS-IN-ARMS" 109-111
JEWISH STAFF OFFICERS IN THE UNION ARMY 112-113
JEWISH STAFF OFFICERS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY 114-115
JEWISH OFFICERS IN THE CONFEDERATE NAVY 116
LISTS OF JEWISH SOLDIERS IN THE UNION AND
CONFEDERATE ARMIES DURING THE CIVIL
WAR, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO STATES AND
ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED 117-409
SOLDIERS OF THE CIVIL WAR, UNCLASSIFIED AS
TO COMMANDS 410-422
ADDENDA TO LISTS OF SOLDIERS 423
STATISTICAL DATA 424
JEWISH PATRIOTISM IN CIVIL LIFE 425-441
JEWS IN LATIN-AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS (INTRODUCTORY) 442
SKETCHES OF JEWISH LOYALTY, BRAVERY AND PATRIOTISM
IN THE SOUTH AMERICAN COLONIES
AND THE WEST INDIES 443-484
JEWS IN THE ARMIES OF EUROPE 485-487
THE JEWISH PEOPLE BEFORE THE WORLD 488-522
RUSSIA'S CRIME AGAINST THE JEWS AND CIVILIZATION
(INTRODUCTORY) 523-527
OFFICIAL REPORT OF AMBASSADOR WHITE TO SECRETARY
OF STATE GRESHAM, WITH NOTES 527-543
THE RUSSIAN JEWISH REFUGEES IN AMERICA, CONSIDERED
IN CONNECTION WITH THE GENERAL
SUBJECT OF IMMIGRATION IN ITS HISTORICAL
AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS 544-564
CONCLUSION 565-566
INDEX 567-576
ERRATA xv
ERRATA.
[_Of the various errors inevitably incident to a work of this
character, the following are noted as especially requiring
correction._]
Page 4, line 20, instead of "Charles RAUM," read "Charles BAUM."
Page 26, line 14 from bottom of page, instead of "Isaac MORRIS," read,
"Isaac MOSES."
Page 200, line 2, instead of "WASHINGTON," read "BALTIMORE."
Page 424, under "STATISTICAL," "Other Soldiers (indicated in Addenda),"
should be "13" instead of "12," making the total "8258," instead of
"8257."
Page 428, line 25, instead of "1872" read "1870."
[Illustration: B'NAI B'RITH ORPHANS' HOME, ATLANTA, GA.]
B'NAI B'RITH ORPHANS' HOME, ATLANTA, GA.
The Orphan Home of the Order of B'nai B'rith at Atlanta, Ga., for the
benefit of which Mr. Wolf has devoted the net income of the present
publication was instituted in 1876, under the auspices of District
Grand Lodge No. 5, comprising the States of Maryland, Virginia, North
and South Carolina and Georgia, and the District of Columbia. The
present building was dedicated in 1889. Its benefits are not restricted
to the membership of the Order which maintains it, children of all Jews
residing within the territory named being admitted to its shelter.
There are now sixty children cared for in the institution, and a large
number are waiting to be admitted when the new wing now in course
of erection is completed. This addition is calculated to cost some
$25,000, and when finished will enable this Home to adequately meet the
existing requirements and bring it to a foremost rank with institutions
of this character. It is managed by a Board of Control consisting of
thirteen members, of which Mr. Wolf, to whose efforts the existence of
the Home is primarily due, has been chairman since its foundation. The
administration of the Home is supervised by a local Board of Managers,
of which Hon. Joseph Hirsch is Chairman.
INTRODUCTION.
In December, 1891, there was printed in the _North American Review_ a
letter in reply to certain statements of a contributor to a previous
number of the same magazine regarding the services of American Jewish
citizens as soldiers in the Civil War. Under the caption "Jewish
Soldiers in the Union Army," the writer, after denying the statement
that Generals Rosecrans and Lyon were of Jewish birth, proceeds as
follows: --
"I had served in the field about eighteen months before being
permanently disabled in action, and was quite familiar with several
regiments; was then transferred to two different recruiting
stations, but I cannot remember meeting one Jew in uniform, or
hearing of any Jewish soldier. After the war, for twenty-five
years, I was constantly engaged in traveling, always among old
soldiers, but never found any who remembered serving with Jews. I
learned of no place, where they stood, shoulder to shoulder, except
in General Sherman's department, and he promptly ordered them out
of it for speculating in cotton and carrying information to the
Confederates. If so many Jews fought so bravely for their adopted
country, surely their champion ought to be able to give the names
of the regiments they condescended to accept service in," etc., etc.
A statement of this nature, logically inconclusive and practically
absurd as it is, might well, under ordinary conditions have been left
unnoticed. Under ordinary conditions a reply of any kind to such a
tissue of misstatements, would but have dignified it beyond reason,
and but helped, perhaps, to save it and its author from oblivion. But
the conditions were not ordinary, but most unfortunately, otherwise.
It was at a time when the public mind throughout the civilized world
was wrought to a high pitch of excitement by the flaunting villainy
of the Russian government in the outrageous persecution of its Jewish
subjects, when the wave of anti-Semitism was at floodtide in Germany,
and was flowing high in France, and when bigots like Stoecker, fools
like Ahlwardt, and knaves like Drumont, were finding imitators on
both sides of the Atlantic. Here in our country, public attention was
being centered on the Jewish refugees from Russia, and the Jewish
people throughout the land were massing their strength to cope with
the problems which Muscovite tyranny had set before them. In the midst
of this agitation, the magazine article referred to, slurring the
Jewish people as it did, attracted unusual attention, and being widely
quoted and commented on by the newspaper press, it attained a degree of
publicity out of all proportion to its merits or its authorship.
Under these circumstances I felt myself impelled to reply to the writer
in the _North American Review_, and at once sent to that magazine a
letter embodying a statement of a few indisputable facts bearing on
the subject. This statement the publishers of the magazine declined
to print on the ground that they had received so many articles on the
subject that they could not undertake to discriminate in favor of any
one of them, and that they would therefore publish none. My cursorily
compiled citations were, however, published at the time in the
Washington _Post_, and as germane to my present subject I reprint them
in the main, as follows:--
"Has this much-traveled and keen observer, Mr. Rogers, ever heard
of General Edward S. Salomon, who enlisted as Lieutenant-Colonel of
the 82d Illinois? He became Colonel of the regiment after Colonel
Frederick Hecker's retirement, was made Brigadier-General, was
subsequently appointed by General Grant governor of Washington
Territory, and, at present residing in San Francisco, has been
Department Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is
recognized as one of the bravest and most gallant officers that
ever sat in saddle. This encomium I have from the lips of General
Grant himself, and it will be cheerfully endorsed by General O.
O. Howard, or by any of the officers yet living who served with
him. In the same regiment, as I have learned from General Salomon,
were more than one hundred private soldiers and subalterns of
Jewish faith. General L. C. Newman, of the city of New York, who
was fatally wounded in the first battle of the Rebellion, died in
the city of Washington, while President Lincoln, who had brought
Newman's commission as Brevet Brigadier-General, was with him
at his bedside. General Leopold Blumenberg, of Baltimore, who,
as Major of his regiment, was severely wounded at the battle of
Antietam, and crippled for life and who was subsequently brevetted
for his meritorious services, was one of the most loyal and brave
of officers. Colonel M. M. Spiegel, of the 120th Ohio, who was
severely wounded before Vicksburg, was entreated to retire from the
army, but continued in the service and was killed in the campaign
of General Banks, in Louisiana. Lieutenant Sachs, of the 32d
Indiana, in command of a company of his regiment at Green River,
in 1862, stood single-handed and alone against a company of Texas
Rangers, and after killing and wounding eight of his assailants,
fell riddled to death. His heroism and bravery had meanwhile given
the command time to rally, and they thereupon dispersed the enemy.
Captain A. Hart, of the 73d Pennsylvania, now of this city, who was
Adjutant of his regiment, was severely wounded in the early part of
the war, and is now a pensioner of the United States. Lieutenant
Henry Franc, of the Kansas Volunteers, living in this city to-day,
did splendid service. Judge. P. J. Joachimson, Lieutenant-Colonel
of the 59th New York; Isidore Pinkson, Henry Pinkson and Moses
Landauer, of the 110th New York; Captain Lyon and Lieutenant
Ababot, of the 5th New York Cavalry; Theodore Wise, of the same
regiment; Herman White, and A. T. Gross, of the 2d Maryland, and
I. Feldstein, now a member of Koltes Post, New York, acquitted
themselves with ample credit in their respective spheres. The 11th
New York was more than half composed of men of Jewish faith. In the
2d Pennsylvania Artillery, serving under Captain R. M. Goundy, who
lives in this city, there were three Jewish soldiers; Lieutenant
Liebschutz, who served throughout the war and was promoted for
gallantry on the field, now living in this city to-day; Leo
Karpeles, who is now a clerk in the Post Office Department, to whom
a special medal was awarded by Congress for bravery and for the
capture with his own hands of rebel flags on the field of battle,
and Simon Stern, who died lately in this city and whose widow
has been granted a pension. George Stern, who died from disease
contracted in the service, also left a widow, now pensioned. Dr. A.
Behrend, of this city, who served in our army with great ability,
not only as a hospital steward, but as an officer in the field,
tells me that in 1863 a general order was issued permitting Jews to
be furloughed over their Holy Days, and that at Fairfax Seminary
he furloughed eleven on that occasion. Dr. Herman Bendall, of
Albany, a prominent citizen of that city, was promoted to the grade
of Lieutenant-Colonel in recognition of his meritorious services
and was subsequently appointed by General Grant superintendent of
Indian affairs of Arizona. Jacob Hirsch, of this city, died from
disease contracted in the service and his orphan children are now
receiving a pension for their father's sacrifice; Captain Cohn, of
New York City, now connected with the Baron de Hirsch Trust Fund,
was as brave an officer as ever did duty. M. L. Peixotto, of the
103 Ohio (a brother of the well-known Benjamin F. Peixotto), died
last year in consequence of wounds received and disease contracted
in the service. Mr. Bruckheimer, now a practicing physician in
this city, Charles Raum, one of our leading merchants, Mr. Hoffa,
Sol Livingston, M. Erdman, M. Augenstein, and S. Goodman, all of
this city, Edward S. Woog, a clerk in the Interior Department;
Morris Cohen, clerk in the War Department; Henry Blondheim, of
Alexandria, Va., were soldiers in the late war. Captain Morris
Lewis, of the 18th New York Cavalry, now living in this city,
served on General Kearney's staff; he receives a special pension,
having been shot through the body and paralyzed in his lower limbs.
August Bruckner was killed at the second battle of Bull Run.
Colonel M. Einstein and Colonel M. Friedman, both of Philadelphia,
commanded regiments; Uriah P. Levy was Commodore of the United
States Navy. Jacob Hayes, of the city of New York, Mr. Phillips,
son of the sexton of the Portuguese congregation of that city, E.
J. Russell, of the 19th Indiana, a resident of this city, and so
severely wounded as to render him almost incapable of work; L.
Myers, of the same regiment, and Julius Steinmeyer, of the 7th
United States Infantry "stood shoulder to shoulder" at the front.
General William Meyer, editor of several New York papers, served
with credit and distinction during the draft riots in the city
of New York, and has in his possession an autograph letter from
President Lincoln thanking him for his eminent services during
those hours of darkness. William Durst, of Philadelphia, is one of
the few survivors of the memorable fight between the Monitor and
the Merrimac; when volunteers were called for he went to his duty
with death staring him in the face, and Admiral Worden himself told
me some months ago that Durst was a man of distinguished bravery,
whose services should be specially recognized by Congress. Major
Joseph G. Rosengarten, of Philadelphia, is a soldier of national
reputation and an author of ability, whose brother Adolph G.
Rosengarten was killed at Stone River while acting as staff
officer. Quartermaster Rosenfield, of the 13th Kansas, not only
discharged the duties of that office with ability, but served also
in the ranks. Lieutenant Rosenberg, of this city, is now dead, and
his widow is pensioned. Colonel H. A. Seligson, who died some two
months ago, led a Vermont regiment during the war, and achieved a
high reputation as a soldier. Captain Frederick Leavy, of the 1st
New York Infantry; Captain Max Conheim, of New York, and now of San
Francisco, and Major H. Koenigsberger, of Cincinnati, were officers
of distinction, and so, too, were David Ezekiel and Lieutenant
Louis Blumenthal, of New Hampshire. Sergeant Elias Leon Hyneman,
of the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry, was one of the heroes of the war,
in which he served from the beginning. In June, 1864, during a
cavalry sortie about Petersburg, while his command was retreating
before the main body of the enemy, he hurried to the relief of a
dismounted and wounded comrade. He lifted him into his own saddle
and enabled him to escape, and started to make his own way on foot.
On his way he met another comrade, barefooted and bleeding; he took
off his own boots and gave them to the sufferer. But he himself was
captured, and after months of agony in Andersonville, he died.
Frederick Kneffler, a resident of Indianapolis, attained the
rank of Major General; he commanded the 79th Indiana, and was
conspicuous for bravery at the battle of Chickamauga. As a further
list of officers and privates in the various commands, I may
yet add the names of Lieutenant Suldman, 44th New York; Captain
Gremitz, 62d Pennsylvania; Corporal Gisner, 142d Pennsylvania;
Lieutenant Evan Davis, 115th Pennsylvania; Sergeant Myers, 62d
Pennsylvania; Captain A. Goldman, 17th Maine; Lieutenant A. A.
Rinehard, 148th Pennsylvania; Lieutenant Nieman, 103d New York;
M. S. Asher, 103d New York; Lieutenant George Perdinger, 39th New
York; Lieutenant Philip Truffinger, 57th New York; Lieutenant
Herman Musschel, 68th New York; Lieutenant Herman Krauth, 103d
New York; Lieutenant Julius Frank, 103d New York; Captain H. P.
Schwerin, 119th New York; Julius Niebergall, Levi Kuehne and Henry
Luterman, all of the New York 3d Artillery, and Lehman Israels,
Lieutenant in the 58th New York.
It must be taken into account that when the War of the Rebellion
broke out the number of Jews in the United States was quite
limited; according to the census taken in 1876 by Mr. William B.
Hackenburg, of Philadelphia, and myself, in behalf of the Union
of American Hebrew Congregations, there were then in the United
States, fifteen years after the war commenced, only 250,000 Jews.
It is altogether doubtful whether there were more than 150,000, if
that many, when hostilities commenced. The proportion of Jewish
soldiers is, therefore, only large, but is perhaps larger than that
of any other faith in the United States. I have been told by one of
the Jewish soldiers in this city, one who bears the scars of the
war, that there were at least, as far as he could judge--and he had
experience during the whole conflict--from 6,000 to 8,000 soldiers
of the Jewish faith in the Union Army alone. I am not prepared to
assert this number, but would not be surprised if it were found to
be correct.
The animus of the writer in the _North American Review_ is
indicated by the words, "_Except in General Sherman's Department,
and he promptly ordered them out of it for speculating in cotton
and conveying information to the Confederates_." This statement
is made with the same disregard of facts as are others in the
article referred to, for while a few Jews may have violated the
laws of war by running the blockade or furnishing information to
the enemy, it was no more than others of other races and religious
faiths did under like circumstances, even to a larger degree: and
why the Jews as a class should be held up to the contempt and
scorn of the world in consequence of the want of patriotism of a
few of their number, is to me a profound mystery, and can only be
explained upon the theory that inculcated prejudice is stronger
than the desire for fair play or the regard for justice. No one for
a moment would charge a particular class of Christians with want of
honesty because one or more of their number had violated law. The
War Department records and the Treasury files will furnish ample
evidence of the fact that many of the sins that were committed
by others were heaped upon the shoulders of the Jews. It has
always been an easy thing to strike at the minority and from time
immemorial the prejudice against the Jew has been made a convenient
vehicle for furthering malignant purposes and selfish ends.
Having enjoyed the friendship of President Grant and of General
Sherman (I was for eight years officially connected with the
former, and for a time on intimate social terms with the latter),
I can state that I had repeated conversations with them regarding
"Order No. 11," which was issued over the signature of General
Grant, but of which he, at the time, had absolutely no knowledge.
This fact I proved conclusively during the presidential campaign
of 1888, when political capital was being made against General
Grant among the Jews. By both generals I was assured that there
had been a great deal of misinformation on the subject, and, that
if they could permit themselves to speak of the facts as they were
known to them it would not be the Jews who would be shown to have
been derelict but a large number of Christians, many of whom had
come highly recommended. It was the latter who were abusing the
privilege accorded to them by the authorities at Washington and who
had given both generals a great amount of trouble and annoyance.
I admit that it is unfortunate that the writer of the earlier
article in the _North American Review_, whose statements otherwise
deserve the fullest consideration, should have been led into so
glaring an error as to name Generals Lyon and Rosecrans as Jewish
soldiers. While we would have no objection to classing them among
our American citizens of Jewish faith, we can substantiate our case
very well without doing so, as the cursory list which I have cited
will abundantly show. But while admitting the error of the earlier
writer I cannot allow the statement of the latter one, with its
implication that there was no one of Jewish faith who battled for
the Union, to go unchallenged. The Jewish cemeteries of this city,
and of every other large city in the land, contain the remains of
brave men of Jewish birth who are not forgotten on Decoration Day
by their surviving comrades of Christian faith; and what these men
recognize the American people will not ignore.
The armies of every country afford ample proof of Jewish patriotism
and valor. Even in benighted and tyrannical Russia, where, to a
large extent they are soldiers by compulsion--50,000 or 60,000
of them--their officers have uniformly admitted that in battle
there were no braver men than the Jews. The late Franco-German war
afforded instances of distinguished heroism on the part of Jewish
officers and soldiers in both armies. The Italian army and the
French army to-day contain a large contingent of Jewish officers
and privates who are not only respected, but honored by their
compatriots. In the Turkish army some of the leading officers are
of Jewish faith. Patriotism, however, is not confined to the field
of battle; in private life, from time immemorial, acts have been
performed of greater service, possibly, than any in the field,
showing greater powers of endurance and evincing higher virtues
than were ever recorded in the annals of war. During our late
conflict many who remained at home made sacrifices of the most
heroic character, and did their duty cheerfully and with alacrity,
and I know of none who did their part more fully than the citizens
of the United States of Jewish faith. In fact, the history of
the Jewish people is one long tragedy of personal sacrifice and
heroism. But as I wish to trespass no longer on the columns
of your valuable paper, I beg leave to close with this simple
statement; that it seems to me high time for Americans of all
faiths to frown down all attempts that have for their object the
lowering and humiliation of any class of our citizens."
SIMON WOLF.
Finding that my letter had been copied extensively, not only by the
Jewish press, but by leading newspapers in the country, and favorably
commented on generally, I determined to give to the world, as complete
as I might find possible, a list of American citizens of Jewish faith
who had "stood shoulder to shoulder" on the field of battle, and to add
thereto the record of some typical instances of exceptional energy and
public spirit in the civil walks of life.
What I had anticipated and supposed would be an easy task, requiring
probably no more than six months at the utmost, has taken more than
four years of continuous work, notwithstanding the assistance I
received from many quarters, and I am even now compelled to give this
work to the public in an inadequate form, with the feeling that it is
incomplete and that much more should have been made of it.
The difficulties in the way of completing fully and accurately such
a compilation as I have here attempted will scarcely be realized by
those who have not undertaken a similar task. The work was begun
nearly thirty years after the close of the war, when many of those
whose names were to be gathered were dead, and many others dispersed
throughout our vast domain and beyond our borders. In response to three
successive calls made through the leading newspapers of the country, I
received, indeed, a large number of replies, but after all, the great
majority even of the survivors failed to respond, and of the data that
reached me much could not be classified. Nearly a thousand names are
accordingly placed in the unclassified list.
By far the majority of the names herein included were furnished by
the soldiers themselves or their relatives, but a large number of
them were sent to me by army comrades of the men referred to. Some
of these may be incorrectly quoted both as to their names and the
commands with which they were connected, but these errors may scarcely
be considered as affecting the general result, so far at least as
numbers are concerned. It was naturally impossible to verify all the
notices sent to me, and this compilation must therefore, in the very
nature of the case, be more or less imperfect and incomplete, but I
may say without hesitation that the work is free from all errors which
could be eliminated through a patient and cautious scrutiny. Several
hundred names of soldiers from Indiana alone were finally excluded from
my present lists, notwithstanding their pronounced Jewish character,
such as Marks, Abrahams, Isaacs and others of a similar strain, whose
owners were ascertained by my correspondents to be non-Jews, while on
the other hand many soldiers bearing names of decidedly non-Jewish
derivation were authenticated as Jews. If many whose names should be
included fail to see them on this "roll of honor" the fault is at all
events not mine, and the earnest effort which I have given to this
work, wholly a "labor of love" on my part, leaves me free from the
necessity of offering apology for whatever errors of omission or of
commission may remain in it. The public records could not be utilized,
because our army lists, unlike those of foreign powers, make no
registry of the religious faith of the enrolled soldiers. I should, in
this connection, urge upon my readers to aid me with such corrections
of these army lists as they may be able to furnish, with the view to
the record being perfected as far as may be, in a future edition of
this book.
Unsatisfactory and at times discouraging as has been my task and
its outcome, I have yet had at times the pleasure of obtaining and
recording data of a most gratifying character. One of the most pleasing
results of my labors is the fact that I am able to present a list of
fourteen Jewish families that contributed to the Union and Confederate
armies no less than fifty-one soldiers. Three, four, five brothers; a
father and three sons, a father and four sons, volunteers in a deadly
strife, leaving their homes and kindred, breaking their family ties to
face privation, disease, wounds and death, sacrificing all to fight
with their compatriots for the cause which they deemed right.
My primary purpose has been to show that the Jewish people throughout
the land not only took a share in the struggle which has ended so
beneficently as to have brought prosperity to both antagonists and
dispelled the cause of discord, but that they took their full share,
and it is now conclusively shown that the enlistment of Jewish
soldiers, north and south, reached proportions considerably in excess
of their ratio to the general population. This fact had become apparent
before my present work had been systematically begun, as I indicated
in my letter to the Washington _Post_, quoted above, but the lists
obtained by me, incomplete as they must inevitably be, make up a number
that leaves no reasonable doubt on this subject. This fact, in view
of statements minimizing the numbers of Jewish soldiers of the late
war, or denying the existence of any at all, cannot be too strongly
emphasized. To complete, however, my ultimate purpose of presenting
a consideration of the Jew as citizen and philanthropist as well as
patriot and soldier, I have herein collated a symposium of expressions
on this comprehensive subject from sources at once authoritative and
unbiased. I have included in this collection of views and reviews,
the carefully considered statements of many of the foremost men of
modern times, statesmen and soldiers, philosophers, divines, writers
and other leaders of public opinion, as widely divergent in locality
as they are unanimous in sentiment. Among these I have included only
such as are entirely non-Jewish in their origin, men whose thoughts are
the expressions of well-disciplined minds, and whose opinions are the
deliverances of an impartial judgment.
I gladly record my obligations to the Grand Army of the Republic for
the aid afforded me in obtaining information through the machinery
of its organization, and to General J. B. Gordon, of the Confederate
Memorial Association, for a like co-operation. To the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations, to the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, and
to the Jewish Publication Society of America, I am indebted for
contributions to the cost of publication and for other aid in the
prosecution of my work.
I owe my thanks to Captain Eugene H. Levy, Mr. George Alexander Kohut
and Mr. Max J. Kohler, of New York, to Messrs. Lewis Abraham and L.
Lichtenstein, of Washington, for their assistance, and especially
to Colonel F. C. Ainsworth, of the War Department, for the loan of
Records. To Mr. Henry S. Morais' recent historical work on "The
Jews of Philadelphia," I am much indebted for valuable data, and
other important materials have been gleaned from Mr. Isaac Markens'
compendious work on "The Hebrews in America." To the Jewish press I owe
acknowledgement for many welcome items of information and for repeated
expressions of encouragement.
Finally, among my obligations to numerous correspondents in different
parts of the country are those which I owe to many soldiers of
Christian faith, some of them officers of distinguished rank, who
afforded me much valuable information and who added, in almost every
case, some warm expression of their sympathy and good-will.
[Illustration: Signature of Simon Wolf]
_Washington, D. C., June, 1895._
JEWISH PATRIOTS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
The keen and responsive sense of duty with which, through Torah and
Talmud, the Jewish character is so deeply imbued, has never failed to
become manifest when occasion has called it forth. Jews have never
been wanting in patriotism and though a peace-loving people, (the
very mission of Israel being peace, and good-will towards neighbors a
cardinal teaching of Judaism) they have always espoused, eagerly and
earnestly, the cause of their countrymen. The heroism and self-devotion
which marks the course of Jewish history from the earliest Biblical
records, emblazoning the era of the Maccabees, signalizing the Roman
period and illuminating the Dark Ages, has found many a worthy example
in these modern days. We have here to deal with the records of but
one country, yet these records are replete with instances of bravery
and undaunted courage, of earnest devotion and of faithful service
performed by men of Israel in behalf of this land of their adoption.
These records begin at a time before the Revolutionary epoch, when the
Jewish settlers in America were very few indeed. At the date of the
first census, in 1790, just after the close of the Revolution, when the
total population of the country was figured at almost 4,000,000, the
number of Jewish inhabitants could scarcely be estimated at 3,000, or
only one to 1,330 of the population.[2]
The dearth of accessible records of a detailed character rendered it
practically impossible to present more than a very imperfect list
of the Jewish participants in the Revolutionary struggle. However,
sufficient data are at hand to prove conclusively that the Jewish
colonists of that period, comparatively recent settlers and few in
number as they were, furnished, as usual in all struggles for liberty
and freedom, more than their proportion of supporters to the colonial
cause. They not only risked their lives in the war for independence,
but aided materially with their money to equip and maintain the armies
of the Revolution. That they took their part in the earliest stages of
resistance to the encroachments of the mother country is proved by the
signatures to the Non-Importation Resolutions of 1765. Nine Jews were
among the signers of these resolutions, the adoption of which was the
first organized movement in the agitation which eventually led to the
independence of the colonies. The original document is still preserved
in Carpenter's Hall, in Philadelphia, and following are the names of
the Jews on that early roll of patriots:
Benjamin Levy, Samson Levy, Joseph Jacobs, Hyman Levy, Jr., David
Franks, Mathias Bush, Michael Gratz, Barnard Gratz, Moses Mordecai.
With these as worthy precursors of the Jewish patriots of the
Revolution we may proceed to note the list of Jews whose names have
come to us from the Revolutionary period, through various published
sources, as men of special distinction among their fellows. One of the
most notable of these was Haym Salomon, a man who, while not the only
Jewish patriot that lavished his ample fortune in behalf of liberty
and independence, yet stands out as so unique a figure in the history
of the American Revolution that the record of his part in the making
of that history may well take precedence. Fragmentary presentations
of this subject have been made in public documents and in historic
essays at various times since the submission by Salomon himself of his
memorial to the Continental Congress in August, 1778.[3] However, as
embracing a succinct statement and detailed review of the whole matter
to the present time, the following paper from the "Publications of the
American Jewish Historical Society" (No. 2, 1894) may be quoted in
full:--
FOOTNOTES:
[2] According to a careful estimate by Mr. Isaac Harby, in 1826, there
were then, nearly forty years after the Revolution, not over 6,000 Jews
in the United States.
[3] See Markens, "The Hebrews in America" (New York, 1888), and Morais,
"Jews of Philadelphia" (Philadelphia, 1894).
A SKETCH OF HAYM SALOMON.
FROM AN UNPUBLISHED MS. IN THE PAPERS OF JARED SPARKS.
[Contributed by HERBERT B. ADAMS, PH. D., Professor in the Johns
Hopkins University. With Notes by J. H. HOLLANDER.]
In the fall of 1841, Jared Sparks, while professor of history in
Harvard College, was delivering a course of lyceum lectures in New
York City upon the American Revolution. His remarks upon the services
of certain public men of the period excited deep interest in the mind
of a Jewish hearer, Mr. Haym M. Salomon, who wrote to and afterwards
called upon Mr. Sparks in reference to the patriotic activity of Haym
Salomon, a contemporary and associate of Robert Morris, James Madison,
Edmund Randolph and other distinguished publicists of the Revolutionary
period. At the request of Mr. Sparks, Mr. Salomon prepared certain
memoranda of the eminent services of his father, Haym Salomon, and this
manuscript passed into the possession of Mr. Sparks.
The interview and the information thus obtained seem to have made a
profound impression upon Mr. Sparks. He mentioned something of the
above matter to Mr. Joshua I. Cohen, of Baltimore, and almost a quarter
of a century after the original interview, under date of October 29,
1865, Mr. Cohen wrote to Mr. Sparks as follows:
"You may probably recollect a conversation I had with you many years
ago during a visit to Cambridge, in which I mentioned that Judge Noah,
of New York, was then engaged in gathering together the facts and
memorials of the part which our people, the Israelites, took in our
Revolutionary struggle, and you kindly offered to him through me the
use of your biographical series for any memoirs he might prepare on
the subject. The death of Judge Noah, not long after, put an end to
the project. I mentioned to you a military company that was formed
in Charleston, S. C., composed almost exclusively of Israelites, of
which my uncle was a member, and which behaved well during the war.
Major Frank, one of Arnold's aids, was spoken of, and also Haym Salomon
and others. In connection with Mr. Salomon you expressed yourself
very fully, and, in substance (if I recollect correctly), that his
association with Robert Morris was very close and intimate, and that
a great part of the success that Mr. Morris attained in his financial
schemes was due to the skill and ability of Haym Salomon. I do not
pretend to quote your language, but only the idea. The matter was
brought up to my mind recently by the marriage of a great-grandson
of Mr. Salomon to a niece of mine, one of the young ladies of our
household."[4]
The original sketch of Haym Salomon thus prepared by his son was found
in a somewhat mutilated condition by Professor Herbert B. Adams, of
the Johns Hopkins University, among the Sparks Papers, which had been
entrusted to his care during the preparation of "The Life and Writings
of Jared Sparks," published in 1893 by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. The
manuscript was stitched to other papers and had been apparently cut
down somewhat in order to make it more uniform in size with the smaller
sheets. This fact will explain certain tantalizing, but apparently
brief omissions in the text. The appended copy of the manuscript is
furnished by Professor Adams with the full consent of the Sparks family.
* * * * *
Haym Salomon, who died in Philadelphia, then the metropolis of the
United States, January, 1785, was the fellow-countryman and intimate
associate of the Polish Generals Pulaski and Kosciuszko, and was first
publicly known in 1778, when he was taken by the British General Sir
H. Clinton in New York on charges that he had received orders from
General Washington to burn their fleets and destroy their store-houses,
which he had attempted to execute to their great injury and damage. He
was accordingly imprisoned, treated inhumanly, and ordered to suffer
military death. From the sacrifice of his life, with which he was
threatened in consequence of the sentence, he escaped by means of a
considerable bribe in gold. This is corroborated from his letter to
his brother-in-law, Major Franks, dated soon after in Philadelphia, in
which his intimacy is stated with the brave General McDougall, who then
commanded the American army in the neighborhood of New York, and with
whom it appears he must have been in co-operation in order to drive ...
away from the comfortable quarters, which the maritime and military
positions of that city so happily promised them after its abandonment
by the friends of the Revolution.[5]
A few days after his escape from the merciless enemy he safely arrived
in Philadelphia, where he was welcomed and esteemed as one devoted to
the principle ... [_MS. cut off._]
We then find him meriting the well-placed confidence and affection of
the patriots who had been distinguished in the Revolutionary Congress
of 1776; also the great men who were famous in those succeeding
sessions, 1780, '81, '82, '83 and '84, as furnished us by such
circumstantial testimony as yet remains of that immortal body of
devoted patriots.
It is seen as soon as the generous monarch of France agreed to furnish
the expiring government of that day with means to reanimate their
exertions in the glorious cause. It was he who was charged with
the negotiation of the entire amount of those munificent grants of
pecuniary supplies from the government of France and Holland.[6]
In 1783-4, after the satisfactory close of these truly confidential
services, he is found to have made considerable advances, moneys,
loans, &c., to Robert Morris, of the Congress of the Declaration of
'76. To General Miflin, to General St. Clair, to General Steuben, to
Colonel Shee, to Colonel Morgan, Major McPherson, Major Franks, and
many other officers such sums as they required. And as it regarded the
deputies to the Continental Congress, [_to_] the amiable Judge Wilson
(another member of the session of '76) considerable loans.[7]
To the immortal delegation from Virginia, namely, Arthur Lee, Theodore
Bland, Joseph Jones, John F. Mercer and Edmund Randolph, liberal
supplies of timely and pecuniary aid, and we find it declared by one
of the most accomplished, most learned and patriotic members of the
succeeding sessions of the Revolutionary legislature, James Madison,
that when by the ... [_MS. cut off_] pecuniary resources of the members
of Congress, both public and private, were cut off, recourse was had
to Mr. Salomon for means to answer their current expenses, and he was
always found extending his friendly hand.[8]
The exalted and surviving delegate of the Revolutionary Congress above
alluded to, who has since that period been promoted for two successive
terms to the chief magistracy of these States, in his letter on the
subject of the character of Mr. Haym Salomon, testifies fully as to
the unquestionable uprightness of his transactions, as well as the
disinterestedness of his "friendship," and also his "intelligence,"
and which no doubt from his confidential intercourse with the foreign
ambassadors made his communications serviceable to the public
safety.[9] That conferences were sought with him by the great men of
the time is proved from the existence of a note in the handwriting
of another member of the Congress of Declaration, the incorruptible
President Reed.
His services to the cause of his country were not confined to
aiding the native agents of our own government, but he was the most
confidential friend and timely adviser to the agents, consuls, and
ambassadors representing the interests of the kings of those countries
then in our alliance, as it appears from the amount of specie granted
for the service of the army and hospital of Rochambaud, and large sums
appear to have been received from him by Chevalier De La Luzerne,
Marbois, consul-general, De La Forest, John ... [_MS, cut off_],
recollected by the elders of the nation as the active agents of the
good French king.[10]
As to the minister of the King of Spain, then the richest of the
European monarchs. The amount granted him was expressly to relieve the
wants, conveniences and necessities of this ambassador, whose king
was then countenancing the Revolution in this country, but with whose
European dominions all intercourse was stopped, and in regard to the
monies so furnished, whether Mr. S. was ever repaid by Spain is a
matter of as much uncertainty as that regarding the considerable sums
advanced to other Revolutionary agents.[11]
It appears that the death of Mr. S. after a short and severe illness
was quite as unexpected as calamitous to his family, leaving no will
nor relatives in this country competent to take charge of his estate,
at this difficult period of the unsettled state of the jurisprudence
of the country, being four years prior to the formation of the
Constitution of the United States.