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September 28: The Compassionate Commodore Levy

lawrencebush
September 28, 2010

h48113 On this date in 1850, Congress amended a naval appropriations bill to outlaw the flogging of sailors. This began a decade’s worth of legislative maneuvering that would yield a complete ban in 1862. The effort was led by Uriah Phillips Levy, the first Jewish commodore (highest-ranking officer) in the U.S. Navy, who in 1838 had developed his own system of discipline that involved no corporal punishment aboard his ship, the U.S.S. Vandalia. For refusing to flog a sailor, Levy was court-martialed, but President John Tyler overturned the decision. Levy, who was also a vigorous opponent of capital punishment, actually faced six court-martials in the course of his career (the Navy was not a philosemitic institution), but nevertheless rose to command the Mediterranean fleet. A great admirer of Thomas Jefferson, he saved Jefferson’s famous home, Monticello, from liquidation by purchasing it in 1836 with the intention of restoring it as a museum/shrine. Levy’s descendants maintained Monticello for eighty-four years before turning it over to a public trust.

“Do your duty, boatswain’s mate, or you’ll take his place.” —Standard flogging command