Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War: The Undaunted 369th Regiment and the African American Quest for Equality

by Jeffrey T. Sammons, John H. Morrow Jr.

Overview

When on May 15, 1918 a French lieutenant warned Henry Johnson of the 369th to move back because of a possible enemy raid, Johnson reportedly replied: "I'm an American, and I never retreat." The story, even if apocryphal, captures the mythic status of the Harlem Rattlers, the African-American combat unit that grew out of the 15th New York National Guard, who were said to have never lost a man to capture or a foot of ground that had been taken. It also, in its insistence on American identity, points to a truth at the heart of this book—more than fighting to make the world safe for democracy, the black men of the 369th fought to convince America to live up to its democratic promise. It is this aspect of the storied regiment's history—its place within the larger movement of African Americans for full citizenship in the face of virulent racism—that Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War brings to the fore.

With sweeping vision, historical precision, and unparalleled research, this book will stand as the definitive study of the 369th. Though discussed in numerous histories and featured in popular culture (most famously the film Stormy Weather and the novel Jazz), the 369th has become more a matter of mythology than grounded, factually accurate history—a situation that authors Jeffrey T. Sammons and John H. Morrow, Jr. set out to right. Their book—which eschews the regiment's famous nickname, the "Harlem Hellfighters," a name never embraced by the unit itself—tells the full story of the self-proclaimed Harlem Rattlers. Combining the "fighting focus" of military history with the insights of social commentary, Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War reveals the centrality of military service and war to the quest for equality as it details the origins, evolution, combat exploits, and postwar struggles of the 369th.

The authors take up the internal dynamics of the regiment as well as external pressures, paying particular attention to the environment created by the presence of both black and white officers in the unit. They also explore the role of women—in particular, the Women's Auxiliary of the 369th—as partners in the struggle for full citizenship. From its beginnings in the 15th New York National Guard through its training in the explosive atmosphere in the South, its singular performance in the French army during World War I, and the pathos of postwar adjustment—this book reveals as never before the details of the Harlem Rattlers' experience, the poignant history of some of its heroes, its place in the story of both World War I and the African American campaign for equality—and its full importance in our understanding of American history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780700619573
Publisher:	University Press of Kansas
Publication date:	04/08/2014
Series:	Modern War Studies
Pages:	630
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.90(d)

About the Author

Jeffrey T. Sammons is professor in the Department of History at New York University and the author of Beyond the Ring: The Role of Boxing in American Society. John H. Morrow, Jr., Franklin Professor of History at the University of Georgia, is the author of several books, including The Great War: An Imperial History.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. "He Has a Flag": the Relationship of the Military to Black Identity, Community, and Citizenship and the Origins of the Black Regiment Movement

2. "Positions of Honor and Trust": Charles Ward Fillmore, the Equity Congress, and the Byzantine Politics of the Black Regiment Movement

3. "Second Only to . . . the Emancipation Proclamation": The Trying Campaign from Authorization to Formation

4. "Mulligan's Guards": The (Re)-Birth and Growing Pains of the 15th New York National Guard

5. War and Expediency: The Politics of Federal Recognition, Regimental Training, and the President's Call to Service

6. Race War at Home or Combat Abroad? Tested in the White-Hot Crucible of Camp Life

7. "Over There": The 15th New York/369th Regiment in France: From the AEF to the French Army, January - April 1918

8. Trial by Fire: In Combat with the French 16th Infantry Division, Mid-April to June 1918

9. "The Battle of Henry Johnson" and Neadom Roberts: The Night Two Ordinary Men Became War Heroes and Race Symbols

10. A Midsummer's Nightmare: Race Swirls above the 369th, May - August 1918

11. The Big Push: Offensives in Champagne/Meuse-Argonne and the Capture of Sechault, September 7 - October 4, 1918

12. War's End: One Last Battle, First to the Rhine, Occupation, and Hasty Departure

13. "War Crossed Abroad and Double Crossed at Home": Triumphant Heroes, Objects of Ridicule, or Fearsome Trained Killers?

14. Your Services Are No Longer Needed: the War Department's Postwar Discrimination and Denigration of Black Soldiers and the 369th's Fight for Survival and Recognition

15. Winning the Battle and Losing the War: The Renewed Fight for a Black Commander and the Disfiguring Transformations of the 369th

Conclusion: Henry Johnson and the Neadom Roberts—Representative or Exceptional?

Epilogue: A Brief Look at the Postwar Careers and Lives of a Few Outstanding Black and White Officers and Men

Appendix

List of Acronyms

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

"The single most comprehensive and scholarly account of the 369th Infantry Regiment to date and covers the unit’s creation, wartime service, and postwar attempts at recognition. . . . brings a welcome and much needed clarity to the suffering, sacrifices, and heroics of some of America's finest military men."—Journal of African American History

"As the centennial of World War I continues, much more is being written about that horrific conflict, and this book reminds us of the significant but often forgotten African American contributions to Allied victory."𔳜On Point

"An outstanding work."—New York Military Affairs Symposium

"This book is the definitive history of the 369th Regiment in World War I, an outstanding black infantry regiment comprised of 3,000 men led by a white command element. It is the most complete, scholarly, and fully documented account of this famous (and underpublicized) unit, unlikely to be superseded. The authors, both prominent historians, are renowned experts in their fields."—Joint Force Quarterly

"A book that readers of military history will cherish and general readers and lovers of history will find informative. It is both a reference book and an important historical narrative that lays the ground for the civil rights movement."—New World Review

"The authors mesh the military history of the regiment with the social history of the general movement for African-American equality. They analyze nonfiction and fictional works that tell the story of the regiment in such a way as to convey a vision of the African-American struggle for true freedom."—Key Reporter

"Belongs on the shelf of any serious student of the 15th/369th Regiment, American involvement in World War I, race relations in the early twentieth century, and African American history."—Journal of Military History

"Librarians need to make room for Sammons and Morrow’s study because their work delves quite deeply into the background of the regiment’s formation, the culture of the early-20th-century Harlem, and the complex issues surrounding the formation of an African American fighting unit in an era when Jim Crow was a dominant feature of the US and supported by the federal government from its president on down. Essential."—Choice

"From a literary viewpoint, [the book] is a masterpiece of scholarly research. . . . A pleasurable read. Like a vintage wine, Harlem’s Rattlers and the Great War is a reading experience to be savored."—African American Golfer’s Digest

“A thoroughly researched, carefully argued, and lucidly written history. By examining the challenges faced by this African American regiment on World War battlefields and in the arenas of political power in New York City, Albany, and Washington, D.C., the authors provide important insights not only into the black experience but also into the military history of the nation. This is undoubtedly one of the best books published in recent years on American military history.”—Robert A. Doughty, author of Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War

"The history of the 369th Infantry Regiment has finally been told. Jeffrey T. Sammons and John H. Morrow, Jr., with this remarkable work of collaborative scholarship and meticulous research, have produced the definitive account of the most famous African American fighting unit in World War I."—Chad Williams, author of Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era

From the Publisher