Hiding in Plain Sight – Why Some Jewish American Soldiers Served Under an Alias

After years of reviewing Civil War pension records of Union soldiers at the US National Archives, our team has discovered that serving under an alias was not uncommon. Many who are knowledgeable about Jewish American history have assumed that the use of an alias was in response to antisemitism. Our research finds this true in a handful of cases, but the overwhelming majority of Jewish soldiers who served during the American Civil War under an alias did so to avoid recriminations by family and friends or simply to keep their families from worrying about their well-being.

4th NY Infantry, Company K 

“Bill Ritchie and I enlisted at the same time.  He enlisted under the name of Bill or Wm. Richards and I took the name of Joseph Reese.  I don’t know his object in changing his name.  I was influenced partly by Ritchie changing his name and partly by the desire to avoid ridicule as a jew.”

108th OH Infantry, Company I 

“The reason he said enlisted under the name of Schaeffer, was that he did not want them to think he was a Jew.”

17th NY Infantry, Company H (1861-1863)

“I enlisted at the city hall, and I saw Ralph Davis from this city who I was afraid would tell my father who was opposed to me going into the army and he would not have allowed me to go had he known I was going in the army, and to avaoid [sic] my father and keep him from finding me I took an assumed name as I was under 18 years old when I enlisted.” 

US Navy (1861-1865)

“Charles Clark was given by me to prevent and avoid any annoyance by my family, who at that time very much was opposed of taking the steps of my enlistment.”

39th NY Infantry, Company E (1864-1865)

“he assumed the name of Samuel Raphael because this family objected to his going into the service on account of his being too young.”

7th NY Veteran Infantry, Company B (1864-1865)

“My right name is, as I stated, John Glass but I served under the name Benjamin Cohen.  I did that so that my folks would not know about my enlistment.”

54th NY Infantry, Company G (1861-1864) 

“[He] enlisted under the name Joseph Bernstein because he did not want his parents in Prussia to know that he was in the army.”

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Thanks to the Union pension application process, in which soldiers who served under an alias must prove to the government that they are the same person as the soldier, though the names differ, we are able to record these stories. As we now commence our research on the Jewish Confederate soldiers, we look forward to updating you here with further tales of Jewish soldiers hiding in plain sight during the American Civil War.