General Orders of the War Department. No. 332.

AUCTION 58 | Thursday, May 02nd, 2013 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts and Autograph Letters

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Lot 21
(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

General Orders of the War Department. No. 332.

pp. 6. Unbound. 12mo.

(Washington): 1863

Est: $400 - $600
PRICE REALIZED $1,000
Concerns the court-martial of Capt. Cheme M. Levy (son-in-law of Rabbi Morris J. Raphall) the Assistant Quartermaster of Volunteers, who was convicted of signing a false certificate relating to pay of men under his command. According to a letter written by Rabbi Raphall of New York to President Abraham Lincoln and produced by Prof. Karp in his “From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures from the Library of Congress” (1991) p. 252 it is possible that Cheme Levy was in fact exonerated. His father-in-law thanks the President for “the generosity and justice with which you have treated my son-in-law.” See also B.W. Korn, American Jewry and the Civil War (1951) p. 108 who notes that Capt. Levy took the time to visit Jewish soldiers hospitalized in Washington and distribute clothing and food to them.