The History Lesson
This week back in 1862, Ulysses S. Grant, Major-General in the Union army… issued his infamous General Order number 11. The Union Army helped free the slaves. But for a while they persecuted another minority — Jews. And just like slavery, it was all because of cotton.
The North needed it. The South had it. So even though they were kind of at war? Abe Lincoln okayed *some cotton trading with the enemy. He put General Grant in charge of regulating trade with three Southern states.
Grant’s problem? Soon the area was crawling with cotton speculators. Always begging him for cotton licenses. If they didn’t get one, they’d just bribe union officials and trade without a license. Most of these black marketeers were Gentiles. But rumors abounded they were mostly Jews. And after Grant met some Jewish traders he thought seemed shady, he fired off General Order Number 11. It ordered every Jew in the area to pack up and leave.
Longtime Jewish residents got just 24 hours to hit the road. Some had to walk 40 miles to evacuate. And amazingly, American Jews didn’t seem to hold a grudge. Most of ‘em voted for Grant when he ran for President just 6 years later. He returned the favor, too: by appointing several Jews to Federal office.
The Booze
The Civil War
“The Civil War,” as liquefied by Edward Winfield, bartender at the Seelbach Hilton in Louisville, KY.
Ingredients:
In a mug, add:
* 1 oz. bourbon (from the South)
* 1 oz. apple brandy (aka “Apple Jack,” beloved in the North)
* 1/4 oz. of honey or dash of sugar
Instructions:
Add hot water and stir… until it finally, at long last, becomes a unified whole.
