Jewish Confederates

by Gary Ayres
4 February 2006

The Jewish people want their history told as accurately as possible. It amazes
me why they want to distance themselves from a past that was honorable.
A past that was good to them and one in which they were accepted
as equals. Most Jewish Confederate descendants now join with the
politically correct in denouncing their forefathers of the Southland
of America, the Confederate States of America.

I believe that one of the largest ethnic groups to serve the
confederate States of America were, 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation
Jews.

Jews had lived in Charleston, SC, since 1695 and by 1800 the
largest Jewish community in America lived in Charleston, SC. In
fact the oldest synagogue in America, K. K. Beth Elohim, was founded
in Charleston. By 1861 a third of all Jews in America lived in
Louisiana.

Some say that more than 10,000 Jews fought for the Confederacy,
with 2,000 of them being officers or in the Confederate Government.
Others say that only 6,000 Jews served in the Union Army and as
few as 2,000 Jews in the Confederacy.
I believe the number of Jews in the Confederacy was more likely
to have been between 6,000 and 10,000. I believe that to be more
likely because the Jewish population prospered more in the South,
and the South was more tolerant to their religion than in the
North.

Take today—no one knows how many of the South’s Jews have
Confederate ancestors, probably 10,000 of just Atlanta’s 100,000
Jews.

Here is an account we should look to from Joseph Goldsmith in
reference to numbers in the Confederate Army. He was connected
to the war from start to finish. He was close to the War and Navy
Departments and the Confederate Government as a contractor for
side arms and accoutrements.

Joseph Goldsmith was known as the Jewish Confederate "Chaplain."
Before the Fall Festivals of their Jewish observances in 1864,
he went to Richmond and met with an old friend, Mr. M. J. Michelbacher.

Joseph Goldsmith writes in a letter, 1864:

There are right around here and in our other armies many Jewish
soldiers who would like to keep Rosh Hashanah, but especially
Yom Kippur according to our law and ritual. I am trying to get
a furlough for these soldiers over these Holy Days, but do not
know how to go about it. Here is a petition to the Secretary of
War; you know him well; will you present it, or will you go with
me to introduce me, or will you get Mr. Benjamin to recommend
it?

I informed Mr. Michelbacher that as far as Mr. Benjamin was concerned
it did not come within the scope of his special office; that if
his recommendation was needed I could pledge it, and that the
whole matter was for Mr. Seddon to decide.

The next morning Mr. Michelbacher and Mr. Goldsmith met with
Mr. Seddon. His reply to the petition of Mr. Goldsmith:

Well, gentlemen, as far as I am concerned I will give my consent,
but must refer the matter to the Adjutant and Inspector-General.
Whatever he does, I will sanction. He thereupon wrote his endorsement
on the petition, and Mr. Michelbacher and I took it up to General
Cooper, who, like Mr. Seddon, received us kindly, and with great
interest discussed the proposition with us. He would gladly, he
said, grant the furloughs, but, "gentlemen," he added,
"look, we have here a roster of all our soldiers, and we
know, as far as possible from their names, how many of them belong
to your religious denomination, and astonishing as it is that
we count about 10,000 to 12,000 Jews who are serving in our Army.
Now, should I grant the furloughs you request, you will readily
see, that for the time being it would perhaps disintegrate entire
commands in the field and might work to a bad effect; besides,
the commanders of the different army corps should certainly be
consulted. On the whole it would be impractible, as you, Goldsmith
will readily acknowledge. In fact, he pleasantly added, you will
admit that if your forefathers had fought Titus on the Sabbath
Day during the siege of Jerusalem, they most certainly would have
beaten him. You see, therefore, I cannot conscientiously grant
your request.

Later in 1895, Goldsmith wrote:

I am still a living witness and can, from my own memory, give
you many names of gallant Jewish soldiers of the confederate Army.
I had ample opportunity to see and to know. Many a wounded Jew
have I met in the hospitals of Richmond and administered to his
wants, and many a Jewish soldier have I seen walking on his crutch
or having his arm in a sling, traveling to and from his command
during the war. And I know further that it was simply a sense
of loyalty to their homes and their neighbors that prompted them
to fight for the South. If not, they could readily have left this
country at any time as I myself could have done, had I so chosen.
But love for our adopted country kept us here and we offered all
we had in its behalf.

In November 1862, General Grant was convinced that the black
market of cotton was organized by "Jews." Grant ordered
that "no Jews are to be permitted to travel on the railroad
southward from any point." Nor were they to be granted trade
licenses.

Now all wars have "contraband," black market,"
"illegal traders." This will include all people and
there were just a handful of Jews that were "illegal traders."
The majority of Jews were not. The terms "Jew," "profiteer,"
"speculator," "trader," were employed interchangeably.

Union General Henry W. Hallack linked "traitors and Jew
peddlers" as one. General Grant shared Hallack’s mentality,
describing "the Israelites" as "an intolerable
nuisance."

This order of Gen. Grant’s in November 1862 was immediately and
with enthusiasm carried out by the Northern Army. In Holly Springs,
Mississippi, Jewish traders had to walk 40 miles to evacuate the
area. In Paducah, Kentucky, the Union military gave 30 Jewish
families, all long term residents, with two of the Jewish inhabitants
being Union Army Veterans, 24 hours to leave.

The exodus of the Jews was not happening fast enough for Gen.
Grant. He wanted more and he did show exactly the type of man
Lincoln wanted for his Commander of the Armies of the United States.

In December of 1862, General Grant initiated an official order
of anti-Semitism. It was one of the worst in 19th century America
and possibly of world magnitude One could argue this was a test
to be used on the Indians in the future. We know that tactics
used in the burning of Missouri and of Atlanta were later employed
on the Indians. This will never be taught in the schools to your
children. It is another part of US history to be swept under the
rug. This is no better than a lie to dupe people into believing
that Lincoln and the US was correct in its invasion of the Southern
States and its lies about a war it raged upon the Southern people,
Jewish people included.

Of course it is hard to believe this, but if you just study a
little about the advisors of Lincoln and the connection he had
with the German Marxists, it will become clear and the truth will
come out.

General Grant issued his "General Order Number 11."
This order expelled all Jews from Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.

The order read:

The Jews, as a class violating every regulation of trade established
by the Treasury Department and also department orders, are hereby
expelled from the department (‘Department of the Tennessee,’ an
administrative district of the Union Army of occupation composed
of Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi) within twenty-four hours
from the receipt of this order.

Post commanders will see to it that all of this class of people
be furnished passes and required to leave, and any on returning
after such notification will be arrested and held in confinement
until an opportunity occurs of sending them out as prisoners,
unless furnished with permit from headquarters. No passes will
be given these people to visit headquarters for the purpose of
making personal application of trade permits."

There was enough backlash from residents for Lincoln to make
a decision to have General Grant to revoke the "Order.

Here are just a few notable Confederates of the Jewish faith:

Abraham Myers was a West Point graduate and classmate of Robert
E. Lee. Myers served as Quartermaster General and before the war,
fought Indians in Florida. The city of Fort Myers was named after
him.
Major Adolph Proskauer of Mobile, Alabama was wounded several
times. A subordinate officer wrote "I can see him now as
he nobly carried himself at Gettysburg, standing coolly and calmly
with a cigar in his mouth at the head of the 12th Alabama amid
a perfect rain of bullets, shot and shell. He was the personification
of intrepid gallantry and imperturbable courage."
In North Carolina, 6 Cohen brothers fought in the 40th Infantry.

The 1st Confederate of Jewish faith was killed in the war was
Albert Lurie Moses of Charlotte, NC.
All-Jewish companies reported to the fray from Macon and Savannah,
Georgia.
In Louisiana, 3 Jews reached the rank of Colonel. They were S.
M. Hymans, Edwin Kuncheedt and Ira Moses.
Simon Baruch, a Prussian immigrant, settled in Camden, SC. He
received his degree from Medical College of Virginia and entered
the war as a physician in the 3rd SC Battalion. He was at the
Battle of Second Manassas. He became the Surgeon General of the
Confederacy.
The most famous Southern Jew of that era was Judah Benjamin. He
was educated in law at Yale. He was the first Jewish US Senator
and declined a seat on the Supreme Court. He also declined an
offer to be Ambassador to Spain. Judah Benjamin served President
Davis and the Confederacy in 3 positions, Attorney General, Secretary
of War and Secretary of State. After the war, he was unable to
resettle in America. He settled in England, where he became a
notable lawyer. He also wrote legal text while a lawyer in England.

Moses Jacob Ezekiel of Richmond, fought in New Market with his
fellow cadets from VMI. He became a noted sculpture. His mother,
Catherine Ezekiel was to have said, "she would not tolerate
a son who declined to fight for the Confederacy". Ezekiel
wrote in his memoirs "we were not fighting for the perpetuation
of slavery, but for the principles of States Rights and Free Trade,
and in defense of our homes which were being ruthlessly invaded."

In tribute to Ezekiel it was written, "The eye that saw
is closed, the hand that executed is still, the soldier lad who
fought so well was knighted and landed in foreign land, but dying,
his last request was that he might rest amoung his old Comrades
in Arlington Cemetery."

Why do the politically correct (PC) want to destroy the history
of a people just because they wanted to save their homeland from
an invading army and a government gone wrong?

Not only the Scottish people have been fighting many lifetimes
for freedom, but people of the Jewish faith have done the same,
and on American soil too.

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