General Grant's Infamy (Lincoln to Grant: "kicking the Jews out is wrong.")

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[gobucks]

Ah, a "campaign official"....my bad....thanks.

[gobucks]

And so was Nixon...yep, I don't see them all in a glowing light.

[Ditto]

Grant's loss rate was so severe that his army was repeatedly replinished with hapless draftees. The new drafts caused riots in the North.

Little understood fact. Lee's loss rate was even higher than Grant's. Check it out.

[adam_az]

"But it was okay for Grant to slaughter white Christian southerners, though, right?"

Misleading question. They weren't targeted for their Christianity. The other folks were targeted for their Jewishness.

Funny though, last time I checked, the Confederates fired first. Ever hear of Fort Sumpter?

[XRdsRev]

This story leaves out some important information. the author seems to have neglected the very basic process of checking the primary documents and correspondence related to the incident in question.

A cursory look at the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion will reveal a short but illustrative chain of correspondence regarding the banning of "Jews" in the military zone mentioned. At the time there was evidence that a group of merchants were purchasing cotton with gold, directly from disloyal planters and low level Confederate authorities and bribing ship captains to transport this cotton to the north. This violated military security and it was putting gold into the enemy's hands. The merchants involved in the questionable dealings were believed to be Jews but their exact identity and location were unknown (like most smugglers, they moved around a lot). The ban on their movement south was an apparent attempt to keep them from going north, cashing in their illegal shipments and returning with more gold for future business deals with the enemy.

I am not saying the policy was right but there was a lot more to this story than the article mentions.

[gobucks]

As with most articles, true. However, I have not followed up on Grant's claims later he never even read the order he signed either.

But, I don't see the necessity....given his administration's rep, it would be consistent.

So, the article would have been more accurate, if I get your point, had it noted the perceived upside of Order 11: the sooner hard currency pathways to the South are dried up, the sooner the War is over.

However, I don't have a clue about the difference in currency mediums at the time for Black mkt/white mkt transactions. Now, of course, large scale white mkt transactions hardly ever use "hard" cash. For that matter, ditto for a goodly percentage of today's blk mkt.

But, back then, I don't have a frame of reference for how much "paper" substituted for gold for legal large scale commerce (but, I'm guessing it can't be that much different compared to today).

[XRdsRev]

I don't remember the exact details but I believe that all "approved" cotton transactions had to be made in a particular type of US Treasury Certificate with a fairly detailed set of receipts etc. I believe this was done to insure that the money going to planters only went to "Loyal" planters who could redeem the certificates with the proper paperwork.

Gold and any "cash" payment for cotton, I think was illegal in the eyes of the military authorities. Gold was in dire need in the Confederacy and US currency was widely accepted (and in many cases preferred) throughout the south, especially after 1862. The US Government/Military was doing all it could to keep gold and US money out of the Southern economy. Smugglers and profiteers caused them lots of problems throughout the war.

[colorado tanker]

The advent of the minnie ball meant any army taking the offensive against a determined foe was going to suffer high casualties.

I disagree that Grant "lost" most of his battles in Virginia. Although most were inconclusive, Grant kept pressing and Lee had to keep falling back to avoid being flanked. The result was the Army of Northern Virginia being bottled up in the seige of Richmond/Petersburg, depriving Lee of the freedom of maneuver he had used so brilliantly against his earlier foes. Then, it was only a matter of time for the ANV to collapse in light of the loss of the West and Sherman occupying the Southeast, steadily depriving Richmond of its sources of supply and manpower. McClellan could have done the same thing in 1862, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

[adam_az]

"The merchants involved in the questionable dealings were believed to be Jews but their exact identity and location were unknown (like most smugglers, they moved around a lot)."

How about the people who were ordered kicked out of their homes, who unlike most smugglers, didn't move around a lot.

[rmlew]

Grant was not slaughtering them over thier religion or heritage. The issue was one of politics. (Perhaps, you forgot who fired first?)

[Alouette]

Original documents and correspondence relating to Grant's expulsion order

[Alouette]

the Union wasnt occupying those three states already in 1862 were they? Especially Mississippi I would think.

The general order applied in those areas which had come under Union control. Memphis and Nashville were occupied early in 1862, and the Union controlled a large part of northern Mississippi. Kentucky was still officially a Union state.

[Alouette]

Did Grant, like Hillary, ever refer to anyone as a F*****g Jew B*****d?

Sherman probably did. The O.R.W.R. contains many of Sherman's nasty comments about Jews, Catholics and Blacks, and since he had a reputation for using salty language, the O.R. comments are the polite ones.

[Alouette]

Where is the largest only Jewish Military Cemetery outside of Israel?

[Alouette]

Jews in the Civil War

[Fledermaus]

I was saying Grant wasn't near as anti-semitic as Europe is today! Sorry if I worded that wrong.