(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

Baker & Godwin

New York

1855

Memorial of Uriah P. Levy, late captain in the Navy, to the Congress of the United States: Complaining of the action of the Board of Naval Officers, appointed under the Act of February 28, 1855, by means whereof he has been illegally stricken from the rolls, and praying Congress to annul such action and to restore him to his place in the Navy.

Singerman 1389.

A veteran of the War of 1812, Uriah Phillips Levy (1792-1862) was instrumental in helping to end the US Navy’s practice of flogging. During the course of his long naval career, Levy faced considerable anti-Semitism. In 1855, after appealing for years for a commission, he received a letter from the Board of Naval Officers telling him of his removal from the Navy. Convinced he was a victim of intolerance, an enraged Levy wrote this memorial to petition Congress to restore his captaincy. Congress convened a Court of Inquiry and in 1858 Levy was restored to active duty. In 1860, President James Buchanan gave Levy command of the Mediterranean squadron and promoted him to Commodore, the highest naval rank ever reached by a Jew.