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nearly unbelievable
group and individual
bravery.
But Jewish Civil
War soldiers faced
antisemitic tropes, or
as the author blunt-
ly states: “ignorant,
baseless stereotypes”
that other soldiers did
not encounter. Such
antisemitic sentiments
were stronger amongst
Americans on the
home front, manifest-
ing in such conclusions
that Jews would not
fight or that Jews were
profiting from the war
while not enlisting. While
in camp, there were inci-
dents of antisemitic remarks
and sometimes abusive acts
against Jewish soldiers. It was
also hard to celebrate Jewish
holidays and Shabbat; Jewish
chaplains were rare, indeed.
Jews who did join the
Union Army rarely served
alongside other Jews. A
regiment, the basic organi-
zational unit of armies of the
era, rarely had more than one
or two Jews in the ranks, or
even rarer, a larger group of
Jewish soldiers.
In some ways, whether a
soldier was Jewish or not was
not an issue. When a battle
began, all that mattered was
one’s conduct under fire, not
one’s heritage.
WELL-RESEARCHED
Mendelsohn does a superb
job of discussing the various
nuances of soldiering in the
Union Army as Jews. He does
so through extensive empir-
ical research, especially into
the resources of the Shapell
Manuscript Foundation.
Indeed, Mendelsohn is one of
the first to explore the Shapell
Roster, a massive collection
of thousands of letters, diaries
and other documents specif-
ically from Jewish Civil War
soldiers. This research allows
the author to present numer-
ous stories of individual Jewish
soldiers. He also includes some
letters and illustrations in the
book, which makes the work
a cut above the usual scholarly
treatment. These sidebars, so
to speak, ranging from stories
about Mark Twain to Rabbi
Morris J. Raphall, are not only
pertinent, but also provide
great insight into the main
narrative.
Most of all, Mendelsohn
writes about people, Jews who
were soldiers, along with their
families and communities.
If a reader is looking for a
Civil War battlefield tactical
narrative, then this book will
fall short. It is not about the
battles of the war. It is focused
on the lives of Jewish soldiers
themselves in the Civil War —
as Jews and Americans.
I highly recommend this
outstanding work of history: It
is insightful and well-written.
General readers of history will
find it informative and read-
able. Civil War history buffs
will love it.
Adam
Mendelsohn
Advance America
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