I3770: Martha DUDLEY (ca 1750/1770

Notes

"General Longstreet's chief commissary officer, who carried out the last order of the Confederate government) his three sons (one of whom, Albert Moses Luria was the first Confederate Jew to be killed), and many others, several more of whom fell in battle."

"Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION

#529 RAPHAEL JACOB MOSES AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Summary

NOTE: A more complete finding aid for this collection is available at the Southern Historical Collection. Contact staff at: (919)962-1345 (telephone); (919)962-4452 (FAX); [email protected].

Moses, Raphael Jacob, 1812-1893.
Autobiography, 1892. 1 volume (148 p.).
Typescript. Original privately owned.

Autobiography of Raphael J. Moses, written in 1892 at the request of his children. Reminiscences focus on his early education, family life, business failures and successes, courtship and marriage to Miss Eliza Moses (about 1834), legal and political careers before and after the Civil War, and his role as Chief Commissary for Toombs, Longstreet, and finally, the state of Georgia. Accounts of personal experiences include his analyses of legal and business conditions in St. Joseph, Fla., 1840s, Columbus, Ga., 1849 through Reconstruction, and Atlanta, Ga., 1870s. There are also numerous anecdotes and character sketches of important Confederate
officials, including Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, Robert Toombs, Alexander Stephens, Benjamin Hill, and short paragraphs on Jeb Stuart, John Hood, George Pickett, and W. H. T. Walker. In addition are scattered references to his pride in being Jewish and a letter, 29 August 1878, to Honorable W. O. Tuggle of Lagrange, Ga., commenting on the use of "Jew" as a derogatory epithet.

Gift, 1938.
Partially published in Jacob R. Marcus, Memoirs of American Jews, v. 1.
Microfilm copy available.

SEE ALSO: Albert Moses Luria books (#428) in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill."
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/m/Moses,Raphael_Jacob.html

"The Moses brothers’ distinguished uncle, Major Raphael J. Moses, from Columbus, Georgia, was General James Longstreet's chief commissary officer, and was responsible for supplying and feeding some 40,000 men. Their commander, General Robert E. Lee, had forbidden Moses from entering private homes in search of supplies in raids into Union territory, even when food and other provisions were in painfully short supply. And he always paid for what he did take from farms and businesses, albeit in Confederate tender, often enduring, in good humor, harsh verbal abuse from the local women.

Interestingly, he ended up carrying out the last order of the Confederacy, which was to deliver the last of the Confederate treasury, $40,000 in gold & silver bullion, to help feed and supply the defeated Confederate soldiers straggling home after the War – weary, hungry, often sick, shoeless and in tattered uniforms. With the help of a small group of determined armed guards, Moses successfully carried out the order from President Jefferson Davis, despite repeated attempts by mobs to forcibly take the bullion.

Major Moses' three sons also served the Confederacy, one of whom, Albert Moses Luria, was killed at 19 after courageously throwing a live Union artillery shell out of his fortification before it exploded, thereby saving the lives of many of his compatriots."

The South's Jews did much more than "tend" to support the South -- we are proud of our ancestors' dedicated service and painful sacrifices in support of our country and the Cause of independence."

From: [email protected] 4 May 2004
May 5 is the anniversary of the last meeting & order of the Confederate government

Dear Compatriots:

May 5th is the anniversary of the last meeting held, & the last order given, by the Confederate government, which by then consisted of President Jefferson Davis & some of his cabinet officers and soldiers fleeing pursuing Yankee troops after the end of the War Between the States in 1865.

General Robert E. Lee had surrendered about 3 weeks earlier, & the Confederate government's last official meeting was held in Washington , GA (Wilkes county), with the final order of the government being given to my great great uncle, Major Raphael Moses, from Columbus, GA, who was General James Longstreet's chief commissary officer.

Moses was given possession of the Confederacy's last supply of gold & silver bullion, & was ordered to deliver it to help the thousands of defeated rebel soldiers straggling home, many of them shoeless, hungry, sick, exhausted, in tattered uniforms, in desperate need of help.

Moses gathered some armed men to help protect the bullion from mobs of armed men who were trying to seize it, and succeeded in carrying out his orders. He got receipts for everything, of course. The complete story is told in Mel Young's "Last Order of the Lost Cause," and in less detail in several other publications, including Robert Rosen's authoritative, "The Jewish Confederates.".

Moses is an interesting but little remembered historical figure, who pioneered the commercial growing of peaches in Georgia, so it could be said that he is a major reason Georgia is called The Peach State.

He knew well and wrote in his memoirs about General Robert E. Lee ( whom he was with at Gettysburg) and other major Confederate figures. He is mentioned very favorably in several important books on the Civil War, including the authoritative "Lee's Lieutenants" by Douglas Southall Freeman, who called Moses "...the best commissary officer of like rank in the Confederate service.".

As Longstreet's commissary, he was responsible for supplying and feeding up to 54,000 troops. General Lee had forbidden him from entering private homes in search of supplies in raids into Union territory (such as the incursions into Pennsylvania), even when food and other provisions were in painfully short supply. And he always paid for what he did take from farms and businesses, albeit in Confederate tender. This often caused him to be the target of harsh verbal abuse from the local women (who, in the end, were always careful to make sure they received the exact amount owed). This he endured in good humor, including the teasing he received from his men on returning to camp.

(The contrast is striking between the humane Confederate policies and those of the North, wherein Union generals Sherman, Grant and Sheridan regularly burned and looted homes, farms, courthouses, churches, libraries, and entire cities full of civilians, such as Atlanta and Columbia. )

Moses' three sons also fought for the South, & one was killed at Seven Pines in May, 1862 after performing acts of amazing valor -- Lt. Albert Moses Luria, at age 19, the first Jewish Confederate to fall in battle. (The last Confederate Jew to be killed was Major Moses' nephew, Joshua Lazarus Moses,of Sumter, S.C., the brother of my great grandfather, killed in the battle of Fort Blakeley, Alabama a few hours after Lee surrendered.)

I thank all of you who are working to keep alive the memory of the brave and beleaguered Confederate soldiers who served their country, against overwhelming odds, with such valor and honor, in whom we rightly take great pride.

It is called The Lost Cause, but it was an honorable one, which should never be forgotten.

Sincerely yours,

Lewis Regenstein
Atlanta

^[S3476] ^[S3476]

My Southern Family

Martha DUDLEY

ca 1750/1770 - ____

ID Number: I3770

Sources

John Smith Magruder EWELL

2 Aug 1828 - ____

ID Number: I46443

Notes

Sources

Mary Margaret Laborn FLOYD

1832 - ____

ID Number: I96792

Sources

Caleb HODGES

BEF 1716 - ____

ID Number: I23668

Sources

NICHOLAS MEINILL Lord of Meinhill

____ - 1341

ID Number: I59047

Sources

Maj. Raphael Jacob MOSES C.S.A.

20 Jan 1812 - 13 Oct 1893

ID Number: I94422

Notes

Sources

John RANDOLPH of Matoax

29 Jun 1742 - 28 Oct 1775

ID Number: I71647

Notes

Sources