Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment: The Military Career of Charles Young

by Brian G. Shellum

Overview

An unheralded military hero, Charles Young (1864-1922) was the third black graduate of West Point, the first African American national park superintendent, the first black U.S. military attaché, the first African American officer to command a Regular Army regiment, and the highest-ranking black officer in the Regular Army until his death. Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment tells the story of the man who-willingly or not-served as a standard-bearer for his race in the officer corps for nearly thirty years, and who, if not for racial prejudice, would have become the first African American general.

Brian G. Shellum describes how, during his remarkable army career, Young was shuffled among the few assignments deemed suitable for a black officer in a white man's army-the Buffalo Soldier regiments, an African American college, and diplomatic posts in black republics such as Liberia. Nonetheless, he used his experience to establish himself as an exceptional cavalry officer. He was a colonel on the eve of the United States' entry into World War I, when serious medical problems and racial intolerance denied him command and ended his career. Shellum's book seeks to restore a hero to the ranks of military history; at the same time, it informs our understanding of the role of race in the history of the American military.

Brian G. Shellum is a senior intelligence analyst with the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization with the U.S. Department of Defense. He is the author of Black Cadet in a White Bastion: Charles Young at West Point, available in a Bison Books edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803213852
Publisher:	Bison Original
Publication date:	02/01/2010
Pages:	412
Sales rank:	295,972
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Brian G. Shellum is a senior intelligence analyst with the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization with the U.S. Department of Defense. He is the author of Black Cadet in a White Bastion: Charles Young at West Point, available in a Bison Books edition.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations  

Preface    

Acknowledgments  

Chronology 

Chapter 1: Awaiting Orders   

Chapter 2: First Posting to Fort Robinson

Chapter 3: New Start at Fort Duchesne    

Chapter 4: Military Instructor at Wilberforce  

Chapter 5: Volunteer Officer in the Spanish-American War   

Chapter 6: Return to Fort Duchesne 

Chapter 7: Fighting Guerillas in the Philippines     

Chapter 8: Troop Commander in San Francisco and Sequoia    

Chapter 9: Military Attaché in Hispaniola

Chapter 10: Garrison Duty in the Philippines and Wyoming   

Chapter 11: Military Assistance Mission in Liberia   

Chapter 12: Chasing Villa in Mexico

Chapter 13: Retirement to Ohio     

Chapter 14: Final Post in Liberia  

Epilogue: Coming Home  

Notes

Bibliography     

Index

 

Editorial Reviews

"Brian Shellum is to be congratulated for providing a first rate biography of a proud and competent officer serving during a difficult period of his country's history. "—Thomas R. Buecker, Nebraska History

Nebraska History - Thomas R. Buecker

"Shellum's book is a welcome addition to recent studies of the black military experience. . . . This is an enjoyable, commanding, and well researched work." —Bruce A. Glasrud, Journal of American History

Journal of American History - Bruce A. Glasrud

"This is a solid study of an important figure in American history. It is easy to recommend to those with an interest in military affairs, biography, and the African American experience."—Claude Clegg, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

Register of the Kentucky Historical Society - Claude Clegg

“During a long and distinguished career—from being the first African-American captain in the regular army and first to be in charge of a national park, to serving in the Phillipines, chasing Pancho Villa in Mexico, and representing the United States in Liberia—Charles Young succeeded in spite of the Jim Crow prejudices permeating the American military of his time. His is a remarkable and inspiring story, though often overlooked. In this well-researched book, Brian Shellum finally gives Young the historical attention he deserves.”—Dayton Duncan, author of The National Parks: America’s Best Idea

Dayton Duncan

" A valuable read for anyone with an interest in the final years of the frontier Army, American imperialism, African-Americans in military service, and American military history in general."—A.A. Nofi, Strategypage.com

Strategypage.com - A.A. Nofi

"Brian Shellum has filled an important void in African American biography and American military history."—Ronald G. Coleman, Utah Historical Quarterly

Utah Historical Quarterly - Ronald G. Coleman

"This is a solid study of an important figure in American history. It is easy to recommend to those with an interest in military affairs, biography, and the African American experience."—Claude Clegg, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

— Claude Clegg

Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

" A valuable read for anyone with an interest in the final years of the frontier Army, American imperialism, African-Americans in military service, and American military history in general."—A.A. Nofi, Strategypage.com

Strategypage.com

"Brian Shellum has filled an important void in African American biography and American military history."—Ronald G. Coleman, Utah Historical Quarterly

— Ronald G. Coleman

Utah Historical Quarterly

"Brian Shellum is to be congratulated for providing a first rate biography of a proud and competent officer serving during a difficult period of his country’s history. "—Thomas R. Buecker, Nebraska History

— Thomas R. Buecker

Nebraska History

"Shellum’s book is a welcome addition to recent studies of the black military experience. . . . This is an enjoyable, commanding, and well researched work." —Bruce A. Glasrud, Journal of American History

— Bruce A. Glasrud

Journal of American History

“Brian Shellum traces the development, experiences, and extraordinary accomplishments of a pioneering black officer who broke through one racial barrier after another in the decades straddling the turn of the twentieth century. The author follows Charles Young on his far-flung adventures with the Buffalo Soldiers on the Great Plains and in Sequoia National Park, leading his troopers in combat in the Philippines and Mexico, and his service in Haiti and Liberia as the first African American military attaché. Shellum places in the context of his times a leader who came to epitomize African American manhood. In so doing the author reveals a true hero to his country and his race.”—Floyd Thomas, curator at the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center

Floyd Thomas

“Shellum has written a careful, concise, thoughtful, and easily read volume on the life story of Colonel Charles Young. . . . Using solid research and little-used documentary sources, Shellum brings into sharp focus a man and officer of whom too little is known, and not near enough is remembered. There is enough in Young’s life to fuel a dozen shows on the History Channel and be the subject of a decade of African American Heritage Months.”—William W. Gwaltney, former president of the Association of African American Museums

William W. Gwaltney

“Extensively researched and clearly written, Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment places Charles Young back where he belongs, among the important figures of African Americans during the Progressive Era. Shellum’s account should be read by anybody interested in understanding how a black Army officer could not only survive, but prosper in the Jim Crow–era military.”—Mark Benbow, former resident historian of the Woodrow Wilson House

Mark Benbow

“Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment is more than just another military biography. As only the third African American to graduate from West Point, Charles Young belonged to an army that did not want him. Every day of his professional life brought challenges, slights, and hardships that never confronted the white officers who served beside him. With quiet dignity and determination, Young skillfully negotiated incredible obstacles to reach the rank of colonel. Brian G. Shellum has succeeded in capturing Young’s courage and the shameful milieu of America’s Jim Crow army.”—Gregory J. W. Urwin, editor of Black Flag over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War

Gregory J. W. Urwin