Among the Jewish community leaders in the United States, there was some discussion as to advocating the raising of all-Jewish units in the Union Army. The feeling was that Jewish soldiers would be more effective if they served in units which paid attention to the needs of Jewish soldiers for distinct food and Jewish religious services. Such was the custom of the European armies during the Napoleonic Wars and Dutch Jewish units fought with some distinction at the Battle of Waterloo. However, it was felt that such organization would be impracticable in the Union Army, given the vast expanse of the country and the practice of raising regiments from local populations. Moreover, most Jewish soldiers did not want to bring too much attention to their religious background or segregate themselves from Christian soldiers.
Jewish-owned firms also played an important part in the war effort. In particular, the Cincinnati firm of Mack, Stadler & Glazer became one of the prime contractors for supplying the Union Army with clothing. During a four-month period in 1861, this firm manufactured nearly 200,000 articles of clothing. These contracts became the basis for the eventual fortunes of the firms' owners. However, they also led to one of the more infamous episodes in the war involving General Ulysses Grant.
At the same time the Civil War created a huge market for uniforms, it threatened to cut off the raw material for these uniforms, cotton. The federal had prohibited commerce in Southern cotton, since the cotton trade helped finance the Confederate war. One unintended consequence was to drive up cotton prices, from 10 cents per pound in 1860 to 68 cents per pound just two years later. Speculators manipulated legal loopholes and the black market to maintain some cotton flow to the North; among such speculators were Jesse Grant (father of Ulysses) and Henry Mack. Most of this illicit cotton trade took place in the Department of Tenn...