The article below appeared as
part of the New York Tribune Illustrated Supplement on
September 18, 1898.
JEWS IN THE ARMY.
MANY EXPERIENCED THE
HARDSHIPS OF THE SANTIAGO CAMPAIGN.
FIVE THOUSAND VOLUNTEERS WERE
OFFERED FROM NEW YORK CITY ALONE –
A GALLANT RECORD IN BOTH ARMY AND NAVY.
The order which was issued by
Adjutant-General Corbin granting furloughs to soldiers of the Jewish
faith who wish to attend religious services during the holidays
which began on Friday evening caused some comment and a little
criticism from those people who thought the order uncalled for,
because they believed that there were no Jews in the United States
Army.
The records have
not been compiled, and cannot be perfected for some time to come,
but the men who have given the matter attention estimate the number
of Jews in the Army and the Navy at about four thousand. They have
been recruited from all parts of the country and from all walks of
life, and include many officers. In the inquiry into the Maine
disaster, which precipitated the conflict with Spain, a Jew,
Lieutenant-Commander Marix, acted as Judge Advocate, and Jews were
among the soldiers who saluted the flag as it was hoisted over the
municipal building at Santiago. There was not an engagement during
the war in which Jews did not take part, and many Jewish names
appear on the lists of killed and wounded and of those who died in
hospitals. When the war broke out the Jews showed much interest in
the pending contest, and one of the East Side jargon papers said:
"We do not only
remember the Maine, but we remember also the horrible persecutions
of our people by Spain, the rack, the torture chamber, and the
synagogues converted into slaughter–pens by the Spaniards. We
remember that our brother Jews were driven away from their homes,
and that through the tyranny of Spain they became poor wanderers,
although they left fortunes behind to be confiscated by the
persecutors. We love the country where we have found freedom, and we
can show it by taking up arms with it against our old enemy."
THOUSANDS READY TO VOLUNTEER.
It was then
proposed to recruit volunteer organizations in the Ghetto, and have
Jewish companies, and possibly battalions or regiments. A prominent
Jewish citizen went so far as to telegraph to President McKinley
that 5,000 Jews were ready at his call in New York City alone. But
the movement was not encouraged by the leaders in the Jewish
community, who said that a Jewish regiment would be un-American, and
as much out of place as a Catholic, a Methodist or a Presbyterian
military body. But they encouraged men to enlist, "not as Jews, but
as American citizens." And in that way they joined the Army, and
every regiment which left New York had Jews either in its ranks or
among its officers.
Among those who
enlisted were many who belonged to the ultra-orthodox class. Some
people wondered how they would manage to exist on rations composed
in part of pork, which is considered unclean according to the
ancient dietary laws. One of the rabbis who was instrumental in
securing the furlough order said on this point:
"There are no
laws in the Jewish faith which outweigh the laws of the land, and no
matter where the Jew may live, it is his duty to conform to the laws
of the land, and, being in the Army, it is his duty to subsist as
the orders proscribe. Even the observance of the Sabbath is not
compulsory when its observance conflicts with the Jew's duties as a
citizen, and this point was decided in the time of the Maccabeans."
Although there
are no Jewish chaplains in the Army, there have been Jewish
religious services at several of the camps on occasions when
soldiers wished to celebrate a death anniversary or when the last
rites for the dead were read.
JEWS IN MODERN WARFARE
Max
Cohen, the secretary of the Orthodox Jewish Congregational Union of
America, said:
"The Jews had a
large representation in the volunteer army which is now being
disbanded, and the history of modern wars shows that wherever the
Jews have the rights of citizens they become soldiers. During the
Franco-German War services were held on an important holiday in the
field, at which hundreds of Jewish soldiers worshipped, and the
records show that similar services were held in the South during the
War of the Rebellion. Many of the Jews who were members of the
present volunteer army have been discharged, but it is believed that
the names will be reported, so that the fact may be established that
the Jew did his share of the fighting."
It was the
assertion on the part of a well-known writer that the Jews took no
part in the Civil War that caused Simon Wolf to gather statistics on
the subject, which were published in book form and read with great
interest. In this work it was shown that the Jews were identified
with the first steps which led toward independence. The author says:
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 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 the 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 the 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 and Moses Mordecai.
A direct
descendant of the last-named signer is Colonel Mordecai, who is now
the commandant of the Watervliet Arsenal, at Watervliet, N.Y.
THEY FOUGHT UNDER WASHINGTON
The number of
Jews in this country at the time of the Revolutionary War was small,
but even from the scant congregation there was a liberal
representation in the Continental Army, and the statistics prepared
by Mr. Wolf show that there were many Jewish officers of high rank
under Washington. Among these were Colonel Solomon Bush, Captain
Joseph Bloomfield, Surgeon Moses Bloomfield, Major Lewis Bush,
Colonel Isaac Franks, Colonel David S. Franks, Quartermaster
Benjamin Hart, Colonel Isaacs, Captain Jacob de la Motta, Major
Benjamin Nones and many others, besides a large number of enlisted
men.
When the war was
over the Jewish congregations of Savannah, Ga., and Newport, R.I.,
sent addresses to General Washington, who said in one of his
answers:
"May the children
of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and
enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants, while every one shall
sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be
none to make him afraid."
When the War of
1812 began the Jewish population of the United States was estimated
at 6,000. The muster rolls of that period show the names of many
Jews, one of whom was Brigadier-General Bloomfield. The officer in
command of the Port of New York was a Jew, Colonel Nathan Myers, and
there were Jews in nearly every organization. Among the many Jews
who fought on the American side in the Mexican War were General
David De Leon, Colonel Leon Dyer, Colonel S. M. Hyams,
Surgeon-General Moses Albert Levy, Lieutenant-Colonel Israel Moses
and Surgeon Henry H. Steiner.
On the roster of
the Regular Army there were up to 1895 the names of ninety-six Jews.
The list includes the names of men in every branch of the service,
many with a distinguished and all of them with an honorable record.
THE JEW IN THE NAVY
The record of the
Jews in the United States Navy is also an honorable one and shows
that they were represented in all grades, from the man before the
mast to flag officer, and it is due to a Jew, Captain Uriah Phillips
Levy, that corporal punishment was abolished in the United States
Navy, and of the five names inscribed on the Tripoli Monument, in
the Naval Academy grounds, one, Midshipman Israel, is that of a Jew.
The following
list gives the number of Jews who served in the various wars:
In the
Continental Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
In the War of
1812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
In the Mexican
War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
In the United
States Regular Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . ..96
In the United
States Navy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .......73
In the Civil War:
Staff officers in the Union Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . ….... 16
In the
Confederate Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....24
Officers in the
Confederate Navy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . ..... 11
Soldiers in the
Union and the Confederate armies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. ............7,984
The largest
number of Jews enlisted from New York, where 1,996 were enrolled and
went to the front. Ohio came next, with 1,004 men, and Illinois
next, with 702. Louisiana furnished the Confederacy with 224 Jewish
soldiers, which was more than balanced by little New Jersey's list
of 277 in the Union Army.
The proposition
to have a parade of the Jewish soldiers has been spoken of, but men
of standing in the Jewish community laugh at the idea and say that
they will not encourage the scheme.
"We are proud to
have the men come to our places of worship," said a member of the
Orthodox Society, "and the field uniform of a United States soldier
looks well in a synagogue, and there he may be a Jew, but on parade
he can be only a soldier, and no one should question his religion,
nor should he make a show of it."
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