The Holly Springs Raid Delayed Grant's General Order No. 11 That Expelled Jews from His Department

From Wikipedia.

Van Dorn's raid nearly coincided with U.S. Grant's General Orders No. 11 issued on December 17, 1862.  Thus expelled the Jews as a class from his military district within 24 houirs.  (Van Dorn's raid occurred on December 20.)

Grant believed that Jewish traders violated U.S. Treasury Department cotton trade regulations  which was the reason for the General Order.

Van Dorn's raid disrupted Union communications for weeks.  Additionally, Nathan Bedford Forrest's West Tennessee Raids, starting December 10, destroyed communications along 50 miles of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad behind Grant's front line.

The raid delayed implementation of Grant's orders, saving many Jews from possible expulsion.  It took 11 days for the orders to reach Paducah, Kentucky.  After which, many Jewish leaders appealed to President Lincoln.

At Lincoln's insistence, General-in-Chief of Union armies Henry Halleck ordered Grant to revoke General Order 11.  When Grant ran for president in 1868, this order  proved such an embarrassment that he disavowed it.

--Old Secesh

Robert Cogdill Gilchrist's Proposal for a Confederate Flag in 1861

Since I have been writing about this man's construction of the first suspension bridge over the Hudson River in the state of New York, I also found this interesting tidbit.

From Confederate Flags.org.

The proposal of Robert C. Gilchrist of Charleston, South Carolina,  was sent by express courier to Christopher G. Memminger on 4 February 1861, the day the Montgomery Convention which created the Confederacy opened.

Retaining the idea of the Stars and Stripes, Gilchrist removed the canton and placed the stars on a blue cross which spread across the red and white stripes.

This early design by a prominent citizen who had been Commissioner of the United States District Court and the U.S. Court of Claims for the District of South Carolina received wide  publicity.

However, in a letter  to the South Carolina delegation dated 7 February 1861, signed by Charles H. Moise, the Jewish congregations of South Carolina objected to the adoption of a sectarian symbol as the flag of the new country.

Interesting flag design.  I'd never seen it before or heard of Robert C. Gilchrist before I made the blog entries about Gilchrist's bridge across the Hudson River in 1871.

--Old Secesh

Jews Don the Gray, Fight for the South

From the Nov. 26, 2009, Washington Times.

There are 30 names: including Adler, Cohen, Hessberg, Wolf and Seldner.  They are from various states, but they all have the fact that they died in Virginia and all are Jews.  The lie together in the Soldier's Section of the old Hebrew Cemetery at Shockoe Hill in Richmond, Virginia.

During the war, there were three synagogues in Richmond.  There were also large Jewish populations at other cities, including Atlanta and Charleston with the largest concentration in New Orleans.

No entirely Jewish regiments were formed to fight for the Confederacy, and it is estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 donned the Confederate gray.

More than 100 Richmond Jews enlisted, fifteen of whom joined the Richmond Blues who later became part of the 46th Virginia Infantry.  Myer Angle, president of the Beth Ahabah, had six sons in the Army of Northern Virginia.

Organized June 5, 1866, the Hebrew Ladies' Memorial Association (HLMA) began reburying Confederate dead and memorializing their memory with monuments and a memorial day celebration.  The Soldiers' Section at the cemetery was dedicated that same day in June.

Fighting For the Cause.  --Old Secesh