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

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 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, 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. 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 accurate history. This 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 pay 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 and its place in the story of both World War I and the African American campaign for equality.

About the Author :
Jeffrey T. Sammons is professor in the Department of History at New York University. John H. Morrow, Jr. is Franklin Professor of History at the University of Georgia.

Review :
"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