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Gratz Cohen – Confederate Killed at Battle of Bentonville
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on October 19, 2018
Gratz Cohen was born in Georgia, 3 November 1844, the son of Solomon Cohen (1802-1875) and Miriam Gratz [Moses] Cohen (1808-1891). The mother Miriam, was a daughter of Solomon Moses and Rachel [Gratz] Moses. Gratz Cohen‘s maternal grandmother, Rachel [Gratz] Moses (1783-1823) was a younger sister of Simon Gratz (1773-1839), who is considered the founder and namesake of Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
While fighting for the Confederacy, Gratz Cohen was killed in action at Bentonville, North Carolina, 19 March 1865,
As previously mentioned on this blog, Simon Gratz‘s son Theodore Gratz (1811-1863) was the first mayor (or burgess) of Gratz, Pennsylvania. Theodore’s son, John Carson Gratz, while serving with the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company G, as a Private, died of disease.
Therefore, Gratz Cohen, the subject of this blog entry, and a Confederate, was a second cousin of John Carson Gratz, a member of the Union Army. Several examples of members of the Gratz family serving on opposite sides of the war exist. The following was briefly mentioned here back on 9 August 2010:
Cary Gratz, also a cousin of the local Gratz family, was born in Lexington, Kennedy, and fought in the 1st Missouri Regiment (Union) as a Captain. He was killed in the battle at Wilson’s Creek, Missouri. Ironically, his step brother Joseph O. Shelby was a Confederate General who fought in the same battle! At the time, neither knew of the involvement of the other.
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The following information is from The University Memorial: Biographical Sketches of Alumni of the University of Virginia Who Fell in the Confederate War, by John Lipscomb Johnson, published in Baltimore, 1871, pages 704-708.
Gratz Cohen was the son of the Hon. Solomon Cohen and Miriam [Gratz] Cohen. In June 1861, at age 16, he enlisted in the Savannah Artillery. Three months later he “was appointed Aide, with the rank of Captain, on the staff of General George P. Harrison, commanding a brigade of [Georgia] state troops.” After eight months, he was incapacitated and returned home. In Oct. 1862 he entered the University of Virginia, but in 1864 he was again incapacitated and returned to Savannah. There, he studied law and wrote a novel.
Near the end of 1864, Cohen became determined to return to the front, despite his disability. He “left Savannah as volunteer Aide – without pay – on the staff of Colonel P. G. Harrison Jr., acting Brigadier-General.” Traveling “from the Savannah River to North Carolina,” he fought in the battle of Averysboro, for which he was commended “for his gallantry and cool bravery.” Then, on 19 March 1865, he participated in the battle of Bentonville [North Carolina], despite his surgeon’s advice. He had just brought a report to his General when he was killed instantly by a bullet through his head. He was buried near the battlefield, but in February 1866 his remains were re-interred at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, and his parents erected a beautiful monument “To our only and beloved son.”
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The following information is edited from the Jewish Genealogy Burial Register, available on Ancestry.com:
Name: Gratz Cohen.
Birth Date: about 1844.
Death Date: 19 Mar 1865.
Death Place: Bentonville, North Carolina.
Age at Death: 20 years, 4 months.
Burial Date: 13 Feb 1866.
Comments: Confederate States of America, Savannah Staff Officer; killed in Battle at Bentonville, North Carolina.
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The following is from Jews in the Confederacy, by John C. Whatley IV:
Gratz Cohen was a student at the University of Virginia when The War broke out and urged his fellow students to enlist with the following stanza: “Go, for your soldier brothers need you at their side; “Go, fight as we have fought and die as we have died. “If need there be, a thousand deaths were better than disgrace; “Better that every man should die than live a conquered race.” Cohen later died in battle, fighting for the Confederacy.
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Additional information is welcome about this Confederate soldier.
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