In 1865, Eugene Philip Jacobson stood among the ranks of the nation’s decorated soldiers when he received the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Now, more than 150 years later, his name is being added to our materials on Jewish Medal of Honor recipients — the result of continuing historical research, including the work of the Shapell Manuscript Foundation’s Roster Project, which has documented Jacobson’s Jewish identity and military service in detail.
Born in Poland on May 3, 1841, Jacobson immigrated to the United States and settled in New York City. When the Civil War erupted, he volunteered for service, enlisting on July 10, 1861, as a private in Company B of the 74th New York Infantry. Over the next three years, his exemplary service propelled him rapidly through the ranks — corporal, sergeant major, second lieutenant, and finally first lieutenant.
At the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, in early May 1863, Jacobson distinguished himself in the act of valor for which he would receive the Medal of Honor. On the night of May 2, while Confederate General Stonewall Jackson launched his famous flank attack, Jacobson led a scouting party in front of enemy lines. His commanding officer described the mission in his Medal of Honor recommendation letter:
“…particularly on Saturday night, May 2nd 1863 when he with several others advanced to the enemy’s lines under a heavy fire and brought back valuable information. It is my opinion that the above mentioned men are truly deserving of medals of honor for their unwavering gallant conduct while in camp & in the field…”
The mission provided vital intelligence and, according to a letter written later by Jacobson himself, placed him as an eyewitness to the accidental shooting of Stonewall Jackson by his own men.
For these actions, Jacobson was awarded the Medal of Honor on March 29, 1865, and brevetted to the rank of captain for “brave and gallant services” at Chancellorsville. His official citation honored his “extraordinary heroism… for bravery in conducting a scouting party in front of the enemy.”
In his resignation letter in May 1864, Jacobson noted that he was “convalescent from a wound received in the field,” although the details of his injury remain unclear. That resignation marked the end of his wartime service.
Following the war, Jacobson entered government service, working at the State Department until 1867. That same year, he passed the bar and began practicing law in Washington, D.C. In 1870, he moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi after he was appointed United States District Attorney for the Southern District. His tenure in Vicksburg made him a prominent figure in Reconstruction-era politics. In one of the newspaper accounts that identify Jacobson as Jewish, The Vicksburg Daily Herald noted pointedly, “He is the only Jew in our whole knowledge that could be induced to work in the filth of Radicalism,” a reflection of the hostility many Southern newspapers directed toward Reconstruction officials.
In 1872, Jacobson married Anna W. Goldsborough of Baltimore in a ceremony performed by a Christian minister.
Jacobson eventually moved to Denver, Colorado, where he opened a law practice and became active in civic life. In 1880, voters elected him to the Colorado State Senate where he championed legislation to regulate the state’s railroads in a fight against private monopolies.
His recognition in Denver’s Jewish community is noted in The Jewish Tribune on April 2, 1881, which recorded him as a member of a newly formed social club. The Lotos club in described as the “crème de la crème of Denver society.” The Jewish newspaper lists Jacobson first among the “several of our citizens” who were members.
Jacobson’s Civil War service was not forgotten in the years after his death. In 1895, he was included in Simon Wolf’s landmark work The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen, listed among Jewish soldiers of the Civil War. Though, he was absent from Wolf’s list of Medal of Honor recipients. Wolf’s identification of who was Jewish is not reliable on its own, but it is further evidence that Jacobson belongs on our list of acknowledged Jewish recipients.
Jacobson’s career was cut short when he died in Denver on April 12, 1881, at just 39 years old, from what contemporary reports called “congestion of the brain.” His body was transported by train to his wife’s hometown of Baltimore, where he was buried in Green Mount Cemetery.
Jacobson’s life reflects the arc of opportunity and struggle for 19th-century Jewish-American immigrants. From Prussian origins to Civil War heroism, from Reconstruction politics to Western state leadership, he navigated eras of conflict, transformation, and expansion. His Medal of Honor recognized a single night’s bravery under fire, but his story is one of continuing service to his country.
The decision to add Eugene Philip Jacobson to our list of Jewish Medal of Honor recipients is not just a matter of historical housekeeping. It is an acknowledgment that the Jewish American military story is still being written, and the full scope of past military service continues to come into sharper focus.
See Eugene Philip Jacobson on our Hall of Heroes: Jewish American Recipients of the Medal of Honor site.