One-hundred-and-fifty-eight years ago today—over two months after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox—the Union general overseeing the military occupation of Texas issued an order emancipating that state’s slaves. Adam Mendelsohn, in conversation with Nachi Weinstein, discusses his efforts to learn about the Jews who served in the bloody fight that led to this result, how they differed from their Gentile fellows in arms, what factors motivated them to enlist, and how they reacted to such anti-Semitic incidents as Ulysses S. Grant’s expulsion of the Jews from Tennessee.
Read more on Seforim Chatter: https://seforimchatter.com/2023/05/28/with-prof-adam-mendelsohn-discussing-jewish-soldiers-in-the-union-army-during-the-civil-war/