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Look Out for "Jew Pedlars" and Confiscate Their Property, Louisiana Civil War Marshal Directs Deputy,
Look Out for "Jew Pedlars" and Confiscate Their Property, Louisiana Civil War Marshal Directs Deputy,
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Description:

Louisiana Provost Marshal Directs Deputy to Look for "Jew Pedlars" and Confiscate Their Property

"these jew pedlars want looking after very much...."

In this fascinating letter, Louisiana Provost Marshal Henry J. Foster, writing from LaFourche Parish southwest of New Orleans instructs a deputy in Assumption Parish, due west of New Orleans, to administer the oath and issue hunting permits to paroled prisoners, exercising "some discretion." He also tells the deputy to look for "jew pedlars," and if he finds one, to "confiscate his property or stock."

[CIVIL WAR.] Henry J. Foster, Autograph Letter Signed, to Russell, January 13, 1864, Thibodeaux, Louisiana. 2 pp. Expected folds; trimmed tightly on right side affecting a few words.

Complete Transcript
Provost Marshal's Office,
Parish of LaFourche, La.
Thibodeaux, Jan 13th 1864
Lieut Russell.
Sir,
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 11th ins. And in reply would state that the Oath will be administered by you, as per order of the Proclamation. Paroled prisoners who take the oath, may receive hunting permits, but some discretion will be used in giving such as you are sure are in no danger of making improper use of them.
Provost Marshal's have power to act in cases only where the punishment may be limited to a fine of $50 – or thirty days imprisonment. I am of the opinion that the case now on hand will have to go before Judge Atocha, and you will send any witnesses that you may have, under guard to this office.
The duties of a Provost Marshal are all found in the several orders that I have sent. These jew pedlars want looking after very much, and should you get hold of one, confiscate his property or stock.
Very Respectfully your &c
Henry J. Foster, Lt & Provost Marshal
Lieut Russell
Deputy Provost Marshal
Assumption

Historical Background
[Amnesty Oath:]
On December 8, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction. It offered a pardon and amnesty for any person who "participated in the existing rebellion" who take an oath of future loyalty to the Constitution, the Union, and the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation excluded civil and diplomatic officers of the Confederacy, military officers above the rank of colonel in the army or lieutenant in the navy, all former Congressmen, and any who resigned commissions in the United States army or navy to join the Confederacy.

The required oath declared, "I, ———, do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the union of the States thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified or held void by Congress, or by decision of the Supreme Court; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the Supreme Court. So help me God."

Lincoln's proclamation also allowed a state to petition to reenter the Union, when the equivalent of at least 10 percent of the population voting in 1860 swore the oath of loyalty to the United States and reestablished a state government. By 1864, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas had established functioning Unionist governments.

Lincoln announced this oath and plan for reconstruction in his annual message to Congress, also delivered on December 8, 1863.

[Jews in the Civil War:]
In December 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant issued General Order No. 11 from his headquarters in Oxford, Mississippi, expelling all Jews within the Department of the Tennessee within twenty-four hours. Jewish leaders immediately protested the order, and President Abraham Lincoln swiftly directed General-in-Chief Henry Halleck to have Grant revoke the order, which Grant did on January 6, 1863.

Despite the revocation of Grant's offensive order, antisemitism remained in the Union Army, as this order from Louisiana a year later demonstrates. The Jewish population in the United States had grown substantially during the 1850s. Thus, the vast majority of Jews were not native-born, and their religion did not meet popular standards of acceptability. Therefore, nativism and antisemitism combined to portray Jewish merchants as "avaricious" and "exploitative." The term "shoddy," describing goods of an inferior quality supplied to the army, was soon applied to Jewish merchants and traders in general.

In Louisiana, German Jews who immigrated to New Orleans fanned out from that city to more rural areas, where they became peddlers, artisans, and country merchants in small Louisiana towns before the Civil War. Several hundred Louisiana Jews served in the Confederate forces, and the most prominent, U.S. Senator Judah P. Benjamin, held several positions in the Confederate cabinet of Jefferson Davis, including Confederate Secretary of State from 1862 to 1865. Other Louisiana Jews tried to remain apolitical during the secession crisis and Civil War.

The "Judge Atocha" referenced in this letter was Provost Judge Alce Aloysius Atocha (1835-1875), who was born in New Orleans. In 1863, General Nathaniel P. Banks appointed Atocha as judge advocate of the Provost Court of the Department of the Gulf.

Henry J. Foster (b. 1837) entered the 133rd New York Volunteer Infantry as a first lieutenant and adjutant in September 1862 and served in the Bayou Teche and Port Hudson campaigns. He was wounded before Port Hudson on May 27, 1863. He served on the staffs of General Nathaniel P. Banks and General John S. Bowen. General Banks appointed Foster as Provost-Marshal of the Parish of La Fourche, the largest and wealthiest parish after Orleans. Foster was later promoted to captain and discharged from the service in July 1864. After the war, he was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. He served as the cashier of the National City Bank of Brooklyn.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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