Alexander Hart (October 1, 1839 – September 21, 1911) was a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

American Civil War

Hart hailed from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and commanded soldiers from the Fifth Louisiana Regiment during the war.Hart's journal (which chronicles, albeit briefly Hart's military service from July 4, 1864, through the end of the spring of 1865)
/ref> A veteran of many battles, Hart led troops in the Confederate victories at the

Second Battle of Winchester The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign during the American Civil War. As Confederate Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell moved ...

(see Winchester II Confederate order of battle), and

Second Battle of Kernstown The Second Battle of Kernstown was fought on July 24, 1864, at Kernstown, Virginia, outside Winchester, Virginia, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War. The Confederate Army of the Valley under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Ear ...

(which Hart noted in his journal). Hart recorded in his journal that his regiment also participated in pushing back Union troops at the

Battle of Smithfield Crossing The Battle of Smithfield Crossing was a small battle during the American Civil War fought August 25 through August 29, 1864, in Jefferson and Berkeley counties in West Virginia. Battle On August 29, two Confederate infantry divisions under ...

. During the

Battle of Strasburg The Battle of Strasburg was a relatively minor engagement in the American Civil War when a small Union force of New Jersey infantry delayed three Confederate divisions from the army of Jubal A. Early at Strasburg, Virginia Strasburg is a to ...

, Hart's regiment captured numerous Union troops. Hart noted in his journal that his regiment "Captured a Lt. Col. And some dirty non-coms. Officers and men." Some sources claim that Hart fought at the

Battle of Monocacy The Battle of Monocacy (also known as Monocacy Junction) was fought on July 9, 1864, about from Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early def ...

(see Monocacy Confederate order of battle), bu
his journal
makes no mention of this battle. Rather, Hart records traveling with his troops across

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

on the date of the battle. Hart also led his regiment at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

. On the second day of the battle, Hart led the 5th Louisiana in a charge up East Cemetery Hill. Wounded in his left hand by the fire of the 107th Ohio Infantry, Hart was replaced in command of the regiment by Captain Thomas Briscoe of Company K. He spent the rest of the summer of 1863 recovering from his wound and was certified as permanently disabled in November. Hart mentions in his journal that he was injured in battle upon at least two occasions—first at

Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union ...

and at the

Battle of Opequon The Third Battle of Winchester, also known as the Battle of Opequon or Battle of Opequon Creek, was an American Civil War battle fought near Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864. Union Army Major General Philip Sheridan defeated Confederate ...

. Simon Wolf's 1895 book
''The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen''
notes that Hart first held the rank of a non-commissioned colonel before being commissioned as a major in 1863. After returning to Confederate territory as part of a prisoner exchange, Hart later was assigned to the general staff of a

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

-based General Williams.

Religious/Personal life

Hart was born in New Orleans, the oldest of Isaac and Julia Hart's twelve children. He married his fiancée, Leonora Levy, (mentioned in his journal entry dated November 30, 1864, as "Leonna") in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, August 15, 1866, and had four children. (Se
the Hart family genealogy).
Two of Leonora's brothers also fought for the Confederacy, including Captain Ezekiel "Zeke" Levy and Isaac J. Levy, both of the 46th Virginia Infantry. The latter was killed in action on Sunday, August 21, 1864, just shy of his twenty-second birthday
Isaac J. Levy's tombstone
contains descriptions of his valor and commitment to his faith. One such example of his adherence to the strictures of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

observance are contained in
letter
to his sister, Leonora, in which he describes the observance of his last

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

in 1864. Captain Ezekiel Levy is mentioned i
Hart's diary's
April 2, 1865, entry. Hart's sister-in-law (Leonora's sister), Sarah Levy, marrie

a soldier in the Louisiana

Washington Artillery Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

. Many

soldiers are listed as having fought under Hart i
''The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen''.
Among the Jewish officers who fought in the Louisiana Fifth were Lieutenant L.S. Lipman, who died in battle May 9, 1863, and is buried in the

Cemetery for Hebrew Confederate Soldiers The Hebrew Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, also known as Hebrew Burying Ground, dates from 1816. This Jewish cemetery, one of the oldest in the United States, was founded in 1816 as successor to the Franklin Street Burial Grounds of 1789. Among t ...

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, and Captain David Cohen Labatt. About Labatt, the book notes that "...in consequence of severe illness, contracted in the service, resulting in chronic asthma, Captain Labat was compelled to resign his commission, J. Bankhead Magruder, the General commanding, endorsed the Captain's letter of resignation with the words: 'Captain Labat's resignation is a loss to the public service.'" It is probable that, while in New Orleans, Hart worshiped at the

Shangarai Chasset Shangarai Chasset (Shaarei Chesed) was a nineteenth-century New Orleans Orthodox (and later Reform) synagogue. History Shangarai Chasset was founded in New Orleans on December 20, 1827,Emily Ford, Barry Stiefel (2012. ''The Jews of New Orleans an ...

(Gates of Mercy) congregation. (In 1873 this congregation merged with another New Orleans Jewish congregation to form the present-day New Orleans Touro Synagogue.) In his journal, while leaving Richmond by train on April 2, 1865, Hart mentions that "Be. Florance was...there." A Benjamin Florance (as well as an Isaac Hart, likely his father) are listed among the founding trustees of that New Orleans synagogue in the December 1843 issue of the ''Occident and American Jewish Advocate'

Hart briefly writes in his journal about his observance of the

holiday during 1865 en route to serve General Williams. Hart settled after the war in

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

, where, in 1876, he continued the family's commitment to Jewish community by organizing and becoming the founding president of the

Temple House of Israel Temple House of Israel is a Jewish congregation in Staunton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1876 by Major Alexander Hart, it originally held services in members' homes, then moved to a building on Kalorama street in 1885, the year it joine ...

synagogue, a position he held for eighteen years. The building which housed Hart's original congregation still stands in central Staunton. As the Jewish community in nearby

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. At the 2 ...

, became more organized and established a Sunday school for the young, Hart provided guidance. John Wayland, in his ''History of Rockingham County (c. 1912)'' writes that in 1890 "Major Hart of Staunton..." confirmed the first class in the congregation's "...new place of worship." Robert Rosen, in '' The Jewish Confederates'', notes that after living in Staunton, Hart moved to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. He was active in the Confederate War Veterans, serving as a commander in the Pickett-Buchanan Camp in Norfolk. Hart was reported to have led services in the Ohef Sholom Templ

when the rabbi was absent. Hart died in ten days shy of his seventy-second birthday, and was buried in Norfolk. His tombstone reads "Major Alexander Hart, 5th La. Inf. C.S.A."

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
Alexander Hart's Civil War Sword and Scabbard
Shapell Manuscript Foundation *
Alexander Hart (1839-1911) Find A Grave memorial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Alexander 1839 births 1911 deaths People from New Orleans Confederate States Army officers Jewish-American history Jewish Confederates Jewish American military personnel Louisiana Tigers American Civil War prisoners of war People of Louisiana in the American Civil War