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125 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

125

defended the city of Prague against the Swedes in the Thirty Years' War (Gratz, ib. x. 50; English ed., iv. 707) and in 1686, as loyal subjects of Turkey, they defended the city of Of en against

Germany

the victorious armies of Austria (Gratz, ib. x. 286). Under BoleslavIL, in the Austria, tenth century, the Jews fought side by side with their Bohemian fellow citizens against the pagan Slavs (see Lbw, in " Ben The Jews of Worms and Chananja," 1866, p. 348) of Prague were practised in bearing arms. On the other hand, the Jews of Angevin England were prohibited from possessing arms by the Assize of Arms, 1181 (Jacobs, "Jews of Angevin England," p. 75). Under Ferdinand II. and Maria Theresa, Jews served in the Austrian Army (Wolf, in " Ben Chananja," 1862, p. 61). In 1742-43 Rabbi Jonathan Eibenschlitz, in common with other rabbis of Prague, allowed the Jews to fight in defense of the fortifications of the city of Prague against the attacks of the French Army, he himself standing among them to cheer and encourage them. This is stated in a memorandum of the Austrian Jews, dated 1790, where many rabbinical arguments are given in favor of performing military service on the Sabbath in behalf of their country (Wolf, ib. 1862, pp. 62 et seg.). Dohm ("Blirgerliche Verbesserung der Juden," ii. 239) relates that in the naval battle between the British and the Dutch, Aug. 15, 1781, a Dutch Jew fought with such heroism that many other Jews were induced to follow his example and join the navy and the chief rabbi of Amsterdam not only gave them his permission and his blessing, but excused them from the observance of the Sabbath and the dietary laws as far as their military duties would Jewish soldiers in the Dutch navy interfere with it. excelled in courage and zeal in the conquest of Brazil (Kohut, in Simon Wolf's "The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier, and Citizen," p. 443; Graetz, "History of the Jews," iv. 693). Jews, encouraged by their rabbi, Isaac Aboab, defended the fort of Recife, near Pcrnambuco, against the Portuguese with such remarkable skill and heroism as to evoke the praise and gratitude of the government; for, without their dauntless resistance, the garrison would have been compelled to surrender (Graetz, I.e. pp. When the French fleet, under Admiral 693, 694). Cassard, made a sudden attack on the Jewish colony of Surinam in 1689, it was met with brave resistance and, despite the fact that it was a Sabbath day, the Jews fought valiantly for their colony (Kohut, Of this bravery they gave proof a secI.e. p. 460). ond time, in 1712, when Cassard again attacked Surinam, on which occasion one of the Pintos defended the fort single-handed, until, overwhelmed by superior force, he was compelled to surrender (Kohut, Especially did David Nasi distinI.e. pp. 454-61). guish himself by his heroic valor and skilful generalship. He died in 1743 on the battle-field, in his thirty-first campaign against the Maroons (Kohut,

against the rebels. Among those that fell at Ostrog and Zaslav, under Marshal Firley, there were many hundreds of Jewish soldiers. John III. Sobieski, by a decree of 1679, exempted the Jews from military service

and

.





I.e.

p. 466).

like their fellow citi-

do military service. In Lithuania and the Ukraine they fought alongside their Chriszens, enjoined to

(1648-1653) the



nevertheless, they fought in times of peril for their country. When, in 1794, the

Poland.

population of

Warsaw

Jews were among them

rose in arms,

and a whole Jewish regiment fought under Colonel Bbkko near Praga against Suwarow (Sternberg, "Gesch. der

Juden

in Polen," pp. 54, 55; Ph. Bloch, in "Oesterreichische Wochenschrift, " 1900, p. 280 (see Russian

Akmy, below). K.

G.

Modern

no record of Jews serving in the mercenary forces employed by the Continental monarchs after the decay of the feudal system and before the introduction of national armies and navies after the French Revolution. But they have always been found among their countrymen when the patriotic spirit has been roused. The record of the Dutch Jews in the colonial forces continues a high one to

There

is

the present day. In the Alt-Neu-Schule, the ancient synagogue of Prague, hangs a banner said to have been presented by Emperor Ferdinand III. to the Bohemian Jews for their gallant share in the defense of Prague against the Swedes in 1648, notably that of a special company formed to extinguish fires caused by the enemy's artillery. In Europe, prior to the Napoleonic campaigns, Jews were often in evidence in military affairs as Army contractors. Joseph Cortissos (1656-1742), to whom Marlborough owed much of his success, is perhaps the most prominent of these. The Jews of Hoi land, of Britain, and, later on, of America, did good service in the armies and navies of the free countries during the eighteenth century. An English officer, Aaron Hart, born in London in 1724, was among the Isaac Myers, of New first British settlers in Canada. York, organized a company of " bateau-men" during the French and Indian war in 1754. American Jews most readily took up arms in the Revolutionary war. Forty-six names are known, twenty-four of them being those of of-

American Jews in

fleers,

prominent among

whom

is

Col.

David Salisbury the Revolu- Franks, who was of English birth, was prominent in resistance to the British. tionary At that time there were scarcely 3,000 War. Jews in all North America. In the War of 1812, 44 Jews took part, from Brig. -Gen. Joseph Bloomfiold and 8 other officers, down to Private Judah Touro in the Mexican war of 1846, 60 Jews served, 12 of them officers, among whom was David de Leon (afterward surgeon-general of the ConfederIsaac Franks.

Col.



who

twice received the thanks of Conin the small regular Army of the United States (including Major Alfred Mordecai, attache during the Crimean war, and the author of works on ordnance and explosives and Col. Alfred Mordecai, Jr. recently chief of the National Armory, Springfield, Mass.). Three naval officers have been particularly distinguished namely,

ate armies), gress.

Over 100 Jews have served

,

The Jews of Poland were,

tian brethren.

Army

In the rebellion of the Cossacks Jews fought with the noblemen



(died 1862), who secured the abolition of corporal punishment and rose to the highest rank in his day; Capt. Levi Myers

Commodore Uriah

Phillips

Levy