Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army

by Adam D. Mendelsohn

Overview

Offers an engaging account of the experiences of Jewish soldiers in the Union Army during the Civil War

What was it like to be a Jew in Lincoln’s armies? The Union army was as diverse as the embattled nation it sought to preserve, a unique mixture of ethnicities, religions, and identities. Almost one Union soldier in four was born abroad, and natives and newcomers fought side-by-side, sometimes uneasily. Yet though scholars have parsed the trials and triumphs of Irish, Germans, African Americans, and others in the Union ranks, they have remained largely silent on the everyday experiences of the largest non-Christian minority to have served.

In ways visible and invisible to their fellow recruits and conscripts, the experience of Jews was distinct from that of other soldiers who served in Lincoln’s armies. Adam D. Mendelsohn draws for the first time upon the vast database of verified listings of Jewish soldiers serving in the Civil War collected by The Shapell Roster, as well as letters, diaries, and newspapers, to examine the collective experience of Jewish soldiers and to recover their voices and stories. The volume examines when and why they decided to enlist, explores their encounters with fellow soldiers, and describes their efforts to create community within the ranks. This monumental undertaking rewrites much of what we think we know about Jewish soldiers during the Civil War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479812233
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	498,895
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Adam D. Mendelsohn is Associate Professor of History and Director of the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Cape Town. He is the author of The Rag Race: How Jews Sewed Their Way to Success in America and the British Empire and co-editor of Jews and the Civil War: A Reader and Transnational Traditions: New Perspectives on American Jewish History.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Introduction 1

1 Mustering In 19

2 The Jewish Recruit 45

3 In the Company of Jews 71

4 Fighting Together 97

5 Sacred Duties 137

6 Lost and Found 139

Conclusion 221

Acknowledgments 225

Appendix 1 The Genesis of the Shapell Roster 229

Appendix 2 The Methodology of the Shapell Roster 233

Appendix 3 Data from the Shapell Roster 237

Notes 257

Index 313

About the Author 323

About the Shapell Manuscript Foundation 323

Editorial Reviews

"[T]here’s good stuff here, and the depth of [Mendelsohn’s] knowledge and his intellectual integrity cannot be questioned."

The Dayton Jewish Observer - Martin Gottlieb

"Readers will engage all sorts of particular stories, tracing the experiences of individuals or highlighting significant themes, often set aside with accompanying illustrations."

Keith Harris History

"More than answering just the question of how many [Jewish soldiers fought in the Civil War], Mendelsohn probes deeper to explore the personalities of Jewish recruits, both native-born and immigrant... [his] prose [is] both empathetic and compelling... NYU Press merits acknowledgement for the high production quality in its layout and design. They make Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War both pleasing to the eye and informative for the reader."

The Civil War Monitor

"The most significant reexamination of American Jewry and the Civil War in over seventy years, and the first to take advantage of the Shapell Roster, a new comprehensive data archive documenting the war's Jewish soldiers. Replete with fresh insights and surprising information, all carefully validated and brilliantly recounted. An instant classic!"

Jonathan D. Sarna

"Until his book, there has been no scholarly work on Jewish Union soldiers… Adam Mendelsohn has now brought Jewish Union soldiers back to life. Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War is essential reading for anyone interested in American Jewish history."

Southern Jewish History

"A probing and incisive account of Jewish participation in the Union Army during the Civil War. Drawing upon a decade’s worth of research to establish an accurate count of Jewish soldiers, Mendelsohn situates this new data within a broad historical canvas, gracefully debunking many established interpretations."

Deborah Dash Moore

"An indication of the depth and breadth, energy and inquisitiveness, which the author applied to the project. The result is an astonishingly complete treatment of a previously obscured facet of the history of the war that redefined America and its future. Mendelsohn reveals a human side that is common to all men under arms, a great gamut of emotion shared regardless of religious faith or political leanings."

Military History Now

"An innovative, astute, and beautifully crafted study of the Jewish experience in the Union Army during the Civil War. Mendelsohn offers original—and often surprising—observations about antisemitism in the army and Jewish attitudes towards military service, religious observance in the field, slavery, and Emancipation. Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War has a broad comparative sweep, employs meticulous scholarship, and is a pleasure to read."

Derek Penslar

"Any young historian eager to learn from the best in the business will gain from Mendelsohn’s description of research sources and methods."

NYMAS Review

"[T]his book makes an invaluable contribution to the understanding of the role that Jews played in mid-nineteenth century America and the important social history of their involvement in the Civil War. A forthcoming volume on Jewish soldiers in the Confederate army is much anticipated."

Journal of Military History

"Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War provides the first comprehensive, credible, and thoroughly fascinating account of the lives of Mr. Lincoln’s Jewish soldiers. Together with the planned companion volume for the Confederate forces, this lavishly illustrated book will allow us to grasp the full impact of the Civil War on American Jewish communities, while placing the Jewish dimension within the national context. With precise attention to individual stories as well as the social and economic factors that led men to enlist—or not to enlist—Mendelsohn’s empathetic yet unsparing approach honors the men in battle, revisits perennial themes of ethnicity, religion, and race, and sensitively weighs the awful dilemmas facing men and women in an hour of national crisis."

Eli Lederhendler

"Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War may be Mendelsohn’s masterpiece on Jewish soldiers in the War Between the States, or perhaps, one might say 'to date' — the author is still writing. But this finely detailed, handsomely illustrated work will be a hard history to beat... insightful and well-written. General readers of history will find it informative and readable. Civil War history buffs will love it."

The Detroit Jewish News

"The text serves as an essential installment in the canon of modern Black feminist thought that, as is clear from the power of the arguments therein, has in many ways served as the vanguard of the Black radical tradition."

Modern Philology

09/09/2022

The introduction of this work refers to flaws in the portrayal of Jewish soldiers of the Civil War. It notes that initial accounts of the Jewish Civil War experience consisted largely of sentimentalism and myths, such as the story of the exhausted Jewish soldier refusing water on the battlefield due to Yom Kippur. In this first of two guides (volume two pertains to Confederate Jewish soldiers), Mendelsohn (history, dir. Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies, Univ. of Cape Town; The Rag Race) avoids these types of narratives by telling the far more compelling and complex story of Jews in the Union army. Mendelsohn draws upon the Shapell Roster, the first comprehensive data archive documenting Jewish soldiers who served in the American Civil War. The author examines the overall Jewish experience, including why they enlisted and how they sought community during the war. He also illustrates how their experience was different from other ethnic groups. This guide is also augmented by 60 color images and several useful appendices. VERDICT Highly recommended as a work that will make a fine addition to a comprehensive Civil War collection.—Dave Pugl

Library Journal