Читать книгу The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen - Simon Wolf - Страница 43

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[Compiled from a paper read by the present author before the American Jewish Historical Society, Washington, D. C., December 26, 1894.]

One of the most remarkable facts developed by the records of our Civil War, and especially gratifying because unsurpassed, if equalled, is the spontaneous and cheerful alacrity with which our citizens of Hebrew faith entered their country's service in the hour of its need. In a number of families all the male members able to bear arms were enrolled in the army. My list of these may not be complete, and there may be other equally notable examples, but I here name only those which have been definitely reported to me.

North Carolina is to the fore with a host of six militant brothers, united in the cause which they held at heart as well as by the ties of blood. They bear the titular name of the priestly brother of Moses, and their devotion lends it new lustre. The list of these six brothers-in-arms is as follows:

Aaron Cohen,

Jacob H. Cohen,

Julius Cohen,

Edward Cohen,

Gustavus A. Cohen,

Henry M. Cohen.

Mississippi claims a set of five brothers in the field, but, remarkable enough, one of these was arrayed on the side of the Union against his four Confederate brothers, a fair example of the Jewish spirit of loyalty to conviction. The following is the list:

Edward Jonas, 50th Illinois Infantry.

S. A. Jonas,

Julian Jonas,

Major Charles H. Jonas,

Hon. Benjamin F. Jonas (of Louisiana).

South Carolina also had five brothers enrolled in the Confederate army. Their names are:

Percy Moses, Jr.,

Joshua L. Moses,

Horace Moses,

J. Harby Moses,

A. Jackson Moses.

Georgia mustered a family of four, a father and three sons, bearing the same historic name as their South Carolina comrades:

Raphael Moses, Sr.,

Raphael Moses, Jr.,

Israel N. Moses,

A. L. Moses.

Arkansas furnishes an instance of three brothers, namely:

Peter Cohen,

Jacob Cohen,

Po'el Cohen.

Another trio hail from the South, two from Georgia and one from South Carolina:

Isaac A. Goldsmith,

A. A. Goldsmith,

M. M. Goldsmith.

Virginia sent out another three:

Leopold Levy,

Samson Levy,

Solomon Levy.

Louisiana has also a list of three brothers on her muster rolls:

Eugene H. Levy,

Julius H. Levy,

Joseph C. Levy.

And yet another trio went forth from Alabama:

Mordecai Moses,

Henry C. Moses,

Alfred Moses.

This makes a total of nine families on the Southern side, embracing a membership numbering thirty-five, of whom one was enrolled in the Union army.

The preponderance of such instances in the ranks of the Confederates is due to the fact that the Jews of the Southern States were, in a much larger proportion than those of the North, natives of the soil or residents of long standing. While the Jews were doubtless more numerous at the North than at the South, they were, for the most part, immigrants of a comparatively recent date, and therefore less intensely imbued with the spirit of the conflict.

On the Union side, New York, the nucleus of the Jewish population of this country, naturally furnished the largest quota of Jewish soldiers, and among them were three bands of brothers; one of the families being reinforced by the presence of the father. The roll is as follows:

First, a family of five:

Leopold Wenk,

August Wenk,

Joseph Wenk,

Julius Wenk,

Aaron Wenk.

Second, a father and his three sons:

Simon Levy,

Benjamin C. Levy,

Albert Levy,

Hon. Ferdinand Levy, Ex-Coroner and present Register of New York City.

Third, a trio of brothers:

Abraham Feder,

Henry Feder,

Adolph Feder.

Pennsylvania also sent three Jewish brothers to the front:

Lyon L. Emanuel,

Louis M. Emanuel,

Jonathan M. Emanuel.

From Ohio we have another list of three brothers who together took part in the War for the Union:

Herman Koch,

Moses Koch,

Joseph Koch.

We have thus a list of five families on the Union side, containing eighteen men, a total for both the Confederate and Union sides of fourteen families sending fifty-three men to the war.