Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-06-25

The following letter, written by Gen.
Rawlins in reply to an inquiry from q
gentleman at Louisville, explains the
grounds upon which General Grant is
sued an order .expelling Jews from the
lines of the arniys For this lettor we
are indebted to Mr.. Dembits airlf.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES.
lm wAsHINeToN. May Q, 1868.
SIR: Your letter relating to the order
of Gen. Grant, dated Oxford, Miss,
December IL, 1852, expelling Jews as o
class, from his department, is before me.
You are doubtless aware that General
Grant has never, either by himself or
through the aid Of friends, attempted to
defend any military order which the
emergencies af the service seemed at the
time to require. However. os my name
lie attached to 10 as Assistant Adjutant
General, IL may not be improper to
state that at and previous to its date,
our military affairs were In o most criti-
cal condition, and important movements
were transpiring. General Sherman
was collecting forces at Memphis and
Helena. General Grant was moving
steadily against PembertOn, at Grenada,
keeping up appearances of immediate
attack, to divert his attention from Shcr-
man; and in cooperation with Grant,
Dodge was movingsouth from Corinth.
The success ofGrant's plans depended in
keeping the enemy in ignorance ofhisreal
purpose, namely the surprise and capture
of Vicksburg by Sherman and 1t was
therefore of the utmost Importance that
every avenue eofinformation 10 the eenemy
should be closed. f.uH s
The most stringent orders had previ.
ously been published, forbidding persons
going or coming through our lines, limit.
ing, traders to certain boundaries, and
prohibiting the passage OF coin South
or the payment of it for Southern pro
ducts. Persistent violations of these
orders by GEOGRAPHICALLY ofthe j JewisE
race, were the subjects of fconstantreports
by many of General Grants subordi
mates, some of whom had even Issued
orders expelling them from thes lines
but Gen. Grant had promptly revoked
Reports of the same character were also
received from.other than military sourc
es. AT length, on the evening of De
cember 17th 1852 (the date of the order
the mail brought from Washington Q
large number of complaints, officially
referred to him by the General-in-C Chief
Of the army against this class of persons
for violations of the above orders. The
General felt, on reading them, that some
immediate action was demanded of him
1 He realized to its full extent the criticls
condition ofmilitary affairs, and judged
whether wisely or unwisely, that to NEE,
the eXigency action must be immediate
thorough and in form not to be evadcd
The order you refer to was the result
1t was written, and telegraphed to hi'
subordinates, without revision, leaving
all persons not justly anenable to 1T,
terms to be relieved OIL their individual
application.
The ieea tia II was issued on account
of tho rellgian of the Jews can not b,
seriously entertained by any one who
know the Generals steadfast adherence
to the principles of American liberty
and religious tolcration.
Very respectfully, your obedlent servant
JOHN A. KAwLINs.
To LEWIS N. DEMBITs Esl., Louisville
J. XIV,