When Cesar Kaskel first saw the notice, he likely rubbed his
eyes. In a daze, he probably ran home to his family. One
look at him and his wife would have realized that there was
something dreadfully wrong.
"Why, what is it? What happened?" she surely asked.
And then he told her about the order for every Jew to leave
his home within twenty-four hours.
"Leave? Why? What have we done?" she may have asked,
bewildered.
And he may have answered: "Do they ever say why when they
throw Jews out of their homes? I just never thought it would
happen in America."
Whatever the precise words of their conversation, Kaskel
informed his spouse about General Ulysses S. Grant's General
Order 11, signed on December 17, 1862. As Military Governor
of newly conquered Civil War territory, he had issued the
order in Holly Springs, Mississippi, mandating the total
expulsion of "the Jews, as a class" from an area
corresponding to what is today Northern Mississippi,
Kentucky and Western Tennessee within "twenty-four hours,"
without trial or hearing
In Paducah, Kentucky, many families were expelled. They
could not believe they were being forced from their homes in
so abrupt a manner.
A certain Mr. Silverman from Chicago, visiting the town,
unfortunately came to share the fate of his local brethren,
who on December 17, denied even rail transportation for
their exodus, were forced to go all the way to Memphis by
foot. For his efforts to use some contacts to get a
desperate telegram through to General Grant, Mr. Silverman
was promptly thrown into a Holly Springs prison.
For his part, Cesar Kaskel tried to contact the President of
the United States, Abraham Lincoln. He wrote an urgent
telegram to the White House, protesting "this inhuman order,
the carrying out of which would be the grossest violation of
the Constitution and our rights as citizens under it, which
will place us . . . as outlaws before the whole world."
As it happened, his letter was the second to find its way to
Lincoln's desk concerning the Jewish people. A few days
earlier, a missive had arrived from one B. Behrend, the
father of a religious Jewish soldier in the Union army.
Behrend wrote to request Lincoln's assistance in allowing
his son to observe the Jewish Sabbath. He asked Lincoln, "as
your namesake Abraham," for his help in this matter. "This
will be exactly lawful, as the Constitution of the United
States ordains it, and at the same time be exactly according
of the teachings of the Bible, as recorded in Leviticus XIX,
18: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Kaskel realized, due to the desperation of the situation,
that he had to make a trip to Washington. With the help of
Congressman Gurley of Ohio, he secured an appointment to see
President Lincoln. Together, they were quickly admitted to
Lincoln's office on the second floor of the White House.
It quickly became apparent that Lincoln knew little or
nothing about the Jewish expulsion. Kaskel, however, had
brought documentation along and provided a first-person
account of Jews being evicted from their homes. After
carefully listening, Lincoln asked, "And so the children of
Israel were driven from the happy land of Canaan?"
Kaskel said, "Yes, and that is why we have come unto Father
Abraham's bosom, asking for protection."
Lincoln replied "And this protection they shall have at
once." He then ordered that General Order 11 immediately be
revoked.
Historians debate whether Ulysses S. Grant was the one
responsible for the expulsion, or whether he had merely
carried out the wishes of an antisemitic higher government
official. What is clear, however, is that Lincoln was very
sympathetic to the plight of the Jewish Americans affected
by the order.
Perhaps, in part, because of a letter from a Sabbath-
observant soldier's father.
AM ECHAD RESOURCES
Zev Roth is an author living in Israel. His most recent
book is "The Monsey-Kiryat Sefer Express: True Tales from
Two Cities" (Targum Press, 200).
