Letters from Jno. A. Rawlins

General Order No. 11 was a Union army order issued by Major General Ulysses S. Grant on December 17, 1862, during the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. The order expelled all Jews from Grant's military district, comprising areas of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. Grant issued the order in an effort to reduce corruption among Union soldiers and stop the illicit trade in Southern-produced cotton, which he perceived as being run "mostly by Jews and other unprincipled traders". During the war, the Lincoln administration had authorized licensed traders to do business with the Union army, which created a market for unlicensed ones. Union army commanders in the South were responsible for administering the trade licenses and trying to control the black market in Southern cotton, in addition to their regular military duties.