Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray; Running time: 86 minutes.
By Norman Manson
SAN DIEGO –A noticeably neglected aspect of American Jewish history is the role of Jews in the Civil War. Not only in general Civil War histories but in the overall history of the American Jewish community is Jewish participation in the devastating internecine conflict given anything but scant mention.
In a way, this omission is understandable. The Civil War (1861-65) took place well before the huge Jewish immigration of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The country had about 150,000 Jews, of a total population of about 31 million. But of that number, about 10,000 served in the armed forces – 7,000 for the Union, 3,000 for the Confederacy. And no less than five Jews were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Jewish participation level exceeded that of the general population.
This film intersperses general accounts of the war with specific stories of Jewish troops on both sides. Several noted historians give their interpretations of both the political and military issues involved. And perhaps the most noteworthy feature of the narrative is the inclusion of a number of letters from soldiers during key junctures of the lengthy conflict, saved by their families and discussed by their descendants. A few other artifacts, including one of the Congressional Medals of Honor, also are displayed.
A few Jews were slaveholders, even in rare cases slave traders, and they rationalized and justified the institution of slavery, even quoting the Torah. On the other hand, some northern Jews were staunch abolitionists – the famed Touro Synagogue in Newport, RI, was a way-station on the Underground Railroad that carried escaped slaves to freedom in Canada. As one historian points out, American Jews were a microcosm of American society in the mid-19th century.
And anti-semitism was by no means absent. The film discusses the most notorious instance of this view during the war. That would be General Ulysses S. Grant’s General Order No. 11, which would have expelled all Jews from the Department of the Tennessee – consisting of Kentucky, Tennessee and a small part of Mississippi – which Grant commanded in 1862. Jews were accused of trading with the enemy. But a delegation of rabbis and other Jewish leaders succeeded in getting President Lincoln to rescind the order within a few weeks. Later, when running for president, Grant expressed pro-Jewish views and said the wartime order had been written “in haste.”
Mark Twain expressed anti-Semitic sentiments in his writing, but retracted them after being shown a book by one Simon Wolf, written after the war, that detailed Jewish contributions to the war effort.
As with most film accounts of the war, the scenes of battle and devastation are all stills, some drawn or painted, others early examples of photography. The story of the Jews’ role is skillfully woven into a general account of the war, starting with the crisis that led up to it. A few key events are omitted (the battle of Antietam, perhaps the bloodiest of all, is not mentioned). Also, there is no listing of total Jewish casualties, and only rare mentions of soldiers who were killed. A cemetery in Richmond, Va., called the only Jewish military cemetery in the world (before the founding of the sate of Israel) is portrayed..
The film is quite informative, and fills a good-sized gap in the history of American Jewry. It is a must-see for all Jewish and American history buffs.
Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray will be shown as part of the Jewish Film Festival on Saturday, February 19, at 6:20
p.m. at the Edwards San Marcos Stadium 18 theater, 1110 West San Marcos Blvd.
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Manson is a freelance writer based in San Diego
Will this be shown any where in South Florida in the near future?