Cesar Kaskel
Cesar J. Kaskel | |
|---|---|
 Kaskel's signed oath of allegiance, submitted with a passport application in 1862 | |
| Born | 1833 |
| Died | Unknown |
| Nationality | Prussia until 1858 United States after 1858 |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1861–1865 |
| Known for | Victim of General Order No. 11 (1862) and successful lobbying to reprimand the order |
Cesar J. Kaskel (1833 – ?) was a Prussian-born Southern Unionist during the American Civil War.[1][2]
Kaskel was a staunch supporter of the Union, serving as vice-president of the unionist Paducah Union League Club.[1] Despite his outspoken loyalty to the United States, Kaskel and thirty Jewish families were forcibly expelled from Paducah, Kentucky in 1862 under General Order No. 11.[3][4][5]
Deported from Paducah, Kaskel embarked on a press campaign against the order.[6] Described as a "Paul Revere-like ride to Washington" by historian Jonathan Sarna,[3] the deportation was widely condemned.[7] Kaskel successfully met with President Abraham Lincoln to protest the order, which Lincoln reprimanded on January 4, 1863.
Civil War
[edit]Arriving in Kentucky
[edit]Kaskel immigrated to Paducah, Kentucky, in 1858. Kaskel opened a business in partnership with one Solomon Greenbaum, which struggled due to the Union blockade of Southern industry throughout the war.[1] Despite his floundering business, Kaskel sided with the Union, and his brother Julius served in the Union Army.[1]
General Order No. 11
[edit]Enraged by wartime cotton smuggling,[8] Major-General Ulysses S. Grant scapegoated Jewish merchants for the cotton black market.[1] Grant ordered the mass deportation of Jews on December 17, 1862, from the Department of Tennessee, which included Paducah.[9][10][4]
Captain L. J. Waddell sent Kaskel personal notice of Grant's orders and demanded Kaskel leave the city.[1][11]
OFFICE OF PROVOST MARSHAL
Paducah, Ky., December 28, 1862
C.J. Kaskel— Sir: In pursuance of General Order No 11, issued from General Grant's headquarters, you are hereby ordered to leave the city of Paducah, Kentucky, within twenty-four hours after receiving this order. By order,
L.J. WADDELL,
Captain and Provost Marshal
Meeting with Lincoln
[edit]Kaskel fled Kentucky on the steamship Charley Bowen, making stops in Cairo, Illinois and Cincinnati, Ohio, while his story was picked up by the Associated Press.[1] With support from the local Jewish community, Kaskel met with Ohio congressman John A. Gurley, who took Kaskel to meet with President Lincoln.[1][6][3]
After their meeting, Lincoln ordered General-in-Chief of the Armies Henry Halleck to reprimand the order. Halleck wrote to Grant, "If such an order has been issued, it will be immediately revoked."[12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h Cashon, John Philip. 2016. Paducah and the Civil War. Arcadia Publishing Inc. http://www.myilibrary.com?id=964896.
- ^ Robertson, John E. L., and Ann E. Robertson. 2014. Paducah, Kentucky: A History. Charleston, SC: The History Press. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1189864.
- ^ a b c Maslin, Janet (April 4, 2012). "The Exodus From Paducah, 1862". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ a b "Ulysses S. Grant and General Orders No. 11 (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
- ^ "General Orders No. 11". www.libertymagazine.org. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
- ^ a b Kaskel, Dan (December 25, 2018). "Cesar Kaskel, the Jews and President Lincoln". The Times of Israel. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ "Gen. Grant and Jews". The New York Times. January 18, 1863. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ Chernow, Ron (10 October 2017). Grant. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-525-52195-2.
- ^ Grant, Ulysses Simpson (1967). The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 7. SIU Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-0880-4.
- ^ "CONTENTdm". Archived from the original on 2020-03-26.
- ^ Ash, Stephen V., 'Civil War Exodus: The Jews and Grant's General Order No. 11', in Jonathan D. Sarna, and Adam D. Mendelsohn (eds), Jews and the Civil War: A Reader (New York, NY, 2010; online edn, NYU Press Scholarship Online, 24 Mar. 2016), https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814740910.003.0017, accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
- ^ Sarna, Jonathan D. (2012-03-23). "When General Grant Expelled the Jews". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2024-03-22.