Unique Service Occupations: Jewish Union Soldiers In The American Civil War

December 4, 2022
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When enlisting in the army or navy during the Civil War, every recruit was assigned a job. Most of these jobs were not unique, and went unspecified on muster rolls, because if a soldier served in an infantry regiment, there was no need to denote that he was an “Infantryman.” Soldiers and sailors who came to the service with specialized skills and training were often singled out and their knowledge put to use to best serve their regiment and the U.S. military as a whole. This list records the specialized occupations that Jews filled in the Union army and navy, reflecting the particular needs these men could fill and the vaired demands created by this conflict.