Simon Wolf, Esq.,
Washington, D. C.
Further testimony of a like character with reference to the Jews in the Union Army might be adduced from numerous sources if space limits would permit, but the following citations regarding the Jewish soldiers in the Southern Armies are not only warranted by the occasion but by the exceptionally interesting data which they contain.
[From the Nashville American, May 25, 1894.]
"Among the delegates to the recent Convention of the B'nai B'rith there were thirty who were old enough to take up arms during the late war. Of this number twenty-five had shouldered their muskets in defence of their country, twenty-four belonging to the Confederate and one to the Federal Army. This shows that the Israelite is as much of a patriot as any other man when the liberties of his country are endangered. In this connection the following letter will be read with interest."
"Galveston, Texas, May 17, 1894.
Leo N. Levi, Esq., Galveston.
Dear Sir:—
"My attention having been called by you to the published remarks of a writer in disparagement of the patriotism and gallantry of the Jew as a soldier, and having had the honor to command a force composed to a considerable extent of Israelites, I feel impelled by this attempted injustice to the race to give my experience with them as soldiers.
"Under a commission from the Government I organized 'Waul's Texas Legion,' upon the express terms that they were to leave the State, cross the Mississippi River and join in the fray where the blows fell heaviest and thickest. The Legion consisted of ten companies of infantry, five companies of cavalry and two companies of artillery. Two of the infantry companies had a large number of Jews in their ranks, and the largest company in the command—120 men—was officered by Jews, and three-fourths of the rank and file were of that faith. There were also a number of Jews scattered through the command in the other companies.