Author Bud Livingston gave a presentation entitled “American Jewry & the Civil War” in the VIP Room of the Country Club on Monday, February 9.
When Livingston was 50 years old, he returned to school to get a master’s degree in history. While doing his thesis, he said he married his two great loves – his hometown of Brooklyn and the Civil War. He later made his thesis into the book “President Lincoln’s Third Largest City: Brooklyn and the Civil War.”
“Because I learned a lot about Brooklyn, I learned about the Jews of Brooklyn,” said Livingston, who formerly was a tour guide in New York City.
Livingston began his presentation by saying that Judah Benjamin was “not only a Civil War Jew, but the Civil War Jew.” He said Benjamin was the most prominent and has been written about many times.
“He was the first Jewish cabinet member in American history,” Livingston said. “Unfortunately, Judah Benjamin was on the wrong side.”
Benjamin was the Attorney General for the Confederate States of America. He later held positions such as Secretary of War and Secretary of State. Livingston also said that Benjamin was the best friend of President Jefferson Davis.
Livingston listed many other notable achievements made by Jewish Americans during the Civil War. There were generals, a West Point graduated who wrote “the” manual on ordinance for the United States Army, the assistant surgeon of the third South Carolina battalion, and a matron of a large hospital in Richmond. He also said several Jewish individuals won Medals of Honor.
Also, Livingston said that there were Jewish slave owners and traders, store owners and labor leaders. He added that there are two Civil War synagogues in New York that remain in existence on Clinton Street and on Norfolk Street.
“You cannot tell the Jews by their name,” Livingston said. “That’s why it’s impossible to determine how many Jews lived in America during the Civil War.”
He said that before the Civil War, around 1850, it was estimated that about 50,000 Jews lived in the United States. However, by 1860, that number had grown to 150,000 and New York City had the largest Jewish population.
Of the states that seceded during the Civil War, the largest Jewish population was in Louisiana in New Orleans.
Livingston also spoke about an important meeting that took place back in March of 1863. Henry Wentworth Monk, a Jew from Canada who Livingston described as an early Zionist, met with President Abraham Lincoln “to urge the restoration of Jews to Palestine.”
