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.

Near the end of the Civil War, Army Chief of Staff Henry W. Halleck described the 16th New York Volunteer Cavalry as ""cowed and useless"" after they were ""cut up"" by Confederate General John Mosby's Rangers. The following April the New Yorkers made their place in history when 26 men led by Lieutenant Edward P. Doherty captured and killed John Wilkes Booth. An amalgam of three partially formed regiments, the 16th was plagued by early desertions, poor leadership and a near mutiny as its First Battalion prepared to march to northern Virginia to bolster the outer defenses of Washington in October 1863. The regiment spent most of the remainder of the war chasing Mosby's cavalry, winning a handful of tactical victories but mainly confounded by the Confederate guerrillas. Drawing on personal letters, diaries and memoirs by men of the 16th, and the recollections of Mosby's men, this deeply researched history provides fresh perspective on Mosby's exploits and the hunt for Booth.

This book, a continuation of volumes one and two, completes the study of more than a hundred British regiments all of whom played more than important roles in world history. In testing times, on foreign adventures victorious, glorious and sometimes disastrous, they have helped shape the history of the British Isles. In this third volume thirty-four regiments are featured - their battle honours, badges and most famous sons - including the stories of the heroic actions of their Victoria Cross holders. Each regiment's section includes artworks and photographs illustrating insignia, uniforms and soldiers in action down through the centuries. While the tales of courage and loss are in themselves enthralling, Dorian Bond divulges many interesting facts about these unique bodies of men: how did the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment get their acorn and oak leaf badge? Which South Staffordshire man became the inspiration for Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy? Did you know that a princess wrote 'The Royal Windsor' quick march for the 29th of Foot, later the Worcestershire Regiment? Covering action wherever the regiments found it, from the High Veldt of South Africa to the grim trenches of Passchendaele and from the disaster of Dunkirk to the triumph of Waterloo, Famous Regiments of the British Army Volume Three tells the stories of some of the world's most famous battles and the role these regiments played in them.

General David Stanley's Union cavalry at Stones River in Middle Tennessee. The campaign saw some of the most desperately fought mounted engagements in the Civil War's Western Theater and marked the end of the Southern cavalry's dominance in Tennessee. This history describes the events leading up to the battle and the key actions, including the December 31 attack on Wheeler's cavalry, the repulse of General John Wharton by the 1st Michigan Engineers and Wheeler's daring raid on the rear of Williams Rosecrans' army. Amid the chaos of the fighting, a Union cavalry regiment mutinied but a third of its men defied their comrades and charged into battle.

While the battle of Gettysburg is certainly the most-studied battle in American history, a comprehensive treatment of the part played by each unit has been ignored. Brigades of Gettysburg fills this void by presenting a complete account of every brigade unit at Gettysburg and providing a fresh perspective of the battle.Using the words of enlisted men and officers, the author-well-known Civil War historian Bradley Gottfried-weaves a fascinating narrative of the role played by every brigade at the famous three-day battle, as well as a detailed description of each brigade unit. Organized by order of battle, each brigade is covered in complete and exhaustive detail: where it fought, who commanded, what constituted the unit, and how it performed in battle. Innovative in its approach and comprehensive in its coverage, Brigades of Gettysburg is certain to be a classic and indispensable reference for the battle of Gettysburg for years to come.

More than 8,000 men served in the Fifth Marine Regiment during World War I and the occupation of Germany. Marine units were among the first to arrive in war-torn Europe in 1917, and sustained greater casualties than other American units. This book tells the human story of the ""Devil Dogs"" in World War I and the years following through the recollections of veterans recorded over the past century. The influenza epidemic that raged during the war is discussed. An annotated roster of the regiment lists each Marine, with service details provided where known.

The hard-fighting 11th Michigan Volunteer Infantry was recruited from sparsely settled southwest Michigan shortly after the Civil War broke out. Mainly young farmers and tradesmen, the regiment rapidly evolved into one of the Army of the Cumberland's elite combat units, tenaciously fighting its way through some of the war's bloodiest engagements. This book - featuring a complete unit roster - tells the story of the regiment through the words of the veterans, tracing their development from a rabble of idealists into a fine-tuned fighting machine that executed successful bayonet charges against superior numbers. The narrative continues into the postwar period, discussing the ex-soldiers' careers through Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. Photographs, maps, illustrations and a statistical analysis round out this tale of courage and travail.

The 112th New York Infantry Regiment served 1,017 days during the Civil War, from 1862 to 1865. They marched in 4 states, fought in 16 battles and lost 324 men, included two regimental commanders. This unit history is based on the personal papers of Chaplain William Lyman Hyde, including his war diary, journals, reports and letters to his wife. A prolific writer, Hyde's remarkable story of service to God and country is told in his own words, providing vivid depictions of camp life, combat and its aftermath and the daily trials faced by the ""Chautauqua Regiment.

With the onset of World War II, African Americans found themselves in a struggle just to be allowed to fight for their country. Individuals like Lt. General Leslie McNair and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt fought against the military's discrimination, arguing that the nation could little afford to overlook such an important source of strength. Their eventual success took the form of a military experiment designed to determine whether African Americans were as capable as white soldiers. The 784th was one tank battalion formed as a result. Part of an effort to chronicle the history of the first African Americans to serve in armored units, this history recounts the service of the 784th Tank Battalion. Replete with observations and comments from veterans of the battalion, it paints a vivid picture of World War II as seen through the eyes of soldiers who had to confront second-class treatment by their army and fellow soldiers while enduring the horrors of war. It details the day-to-day activities of the 784th Tank Battalion, describing basic training, actual combat, occupation and, finally, the deactivation of the unit. Special emphasis is placed on the ways in which these war experiences contributed to the American civil rights movements of the 1960s.

North Carolina sent more than 125,000 men and boys to fight the Civil War. It is estimated that about 40,000 lost their lives on the battlefield or by disease. Most were sent home for burial in family plots or community churchyards but thousands could not be identified or could not be transported and were interred in unmarked graves across the country. Many never had an obituary published. Others had obituaries that included directions to the deceased's final resting place. This compilation of obituaries from North Carolina newspapers documents the date and cause of death for hundreds of soldiers, with many providing place of burial, surviving relatives, last words, accounts by comrades and details of military service.

The British army was almost unique among the European armies of the Great War in that it did not suffer from a serious breakdown of discipline or collapse of morale. It did, however, inevitably suffer from disciplinary problems. While attention has hitherto focused on the 312 notorious 'shot at dawn' cases, many thousands of British soldiers were tried by court martial during the Great War. This book provides the first comprehensive study of discipline and morale in the British Army during the Great War by using a case study of the Irish regular and Special Reserve batallions. In doing so, Timothy Bowman demonstrates that breaches of discipline did occur in the Irish regiments but in most cases these were of a minor nature. Controversially, he suggests that where executions did take place, they were militarily necessary and served the purpose of restoring discipline in failing units. Bowman also shows that there was very little support for the emerging Sinn Fein movement within the Irish regiments. This book will be essential reading for military and Irish historians and their students, and will interest any general reader concerned with how units maintain discipline and morale under the most trying conditions. -- .

The Second U.S. Sharpshooters was a hodgepodge regiment, composed of companies raised in several New England states. The regiment was trained for a specific mission and armed with specially ordered breech-loading target rifles. This book covers the origin, recruitment, training, and battle record of the regiment and features 32 photographs, four battlefield maps, and a regimental roster.

The book chronicles the extensive training and heroic service of the New York National guard's 104th Field Artillery Regiment from the period of 1916 to 1919. The regiment, initially called the 1st field Artillery Regiment, served as border patrol in Texas during the Mexican Punitive Expedition in 1916, and trained at the gunnery field at La Gloria, Texas. During World War I, they trained by the Glassy Mountains at Camp Wadsworth in South Carolina, and then at the School of Fire of Camp de Souge near Bordeaux, France. Because of this extensive training, elements of the 27th Division were splintered off and placed within a number of other divisions. The 52nd Field Artillery Brigade, under which the 104th Field Artillery Regiment served, was attached to the 33rd Division as their artillery, and then the 79th Division for the entire Meuse-Argonne Offensive near Verdun. Using field diaries, photos and letters, their story of courage under extreme conditions including enemy shelling and gas is recorded and their memory preserved.

Suffering a casualty rate of more than 80 percent by the war's end, the Seventh Rhode Island participated in some of the fiercest battles of the Civil War. From its muster in the fall of 1862 through the death of the Seventh's last surviving veteran in 1939, this regimental history follows the Seventh from Providence, Rhode Island, through the swamps of the Mississippi to the grueling Overland Campaign, providing a gripping historical narrative enlivened by the words of those who were actually present. Researched primarily from firsthand sources such as letters and diaries, it includes period photographs, portraits and sketches.

This book is a study of an important regiment in the Civil War overlooked by most historians. Unlike most regiments, which came from rural areas of the country, the 14th Brooklyn was taken from the city of Brooklyn in the State of New York. Having been a militia unit until the outbreak of the war, they were quickly mobilized and they served in most of the major battles in the East. Their bravery in battle was noted by both friends and enemies and certainly by the military leadership on both sides. The book tells of both the military and personal side of fighting; the soldiers' letters home show their homesickness as well as their willingness to endure whatever was necessary to preserve what they believed was right. It shows the relationship between the men of the regiment and the people of Brooklyn, who because they were a militia unit, provided some of their supplies rather than the Federal government. This was particularly true of their distinctive uniforms modeled after the French Chasseur uniforms with bright red pants. The 14th kept these uniforms even after the Federal government standardized the Union uniform to the blue with which we are all familiar.

The unique history of 'The Micks' - the Irish Guards - is chronicled in this photographic record that starts at their formation in 1900 and takes the reader through to the recent war in Afghanistan. It is the story of a remarkable family regiment that continues to enhance the values, standards and reputation of the British infantry in an ever-changing world. Their role in two world wars, and more recently in the Balkans, the Gulf War and the War on Terror, is covered in graphic detail with dramatic pictures. The book shows the development of regimental soldiering from the rigidity of the Victorian era, through the horrors of the trenches to armoured warfare in Europe and light infantry soldiering worldwide - all the time upholding the finest traditions of the Foot Guards demonstrating excellence in operational and ceremonial duties. It also features, in an extensive set of appendices, a remarkable record of facts about the regiment - the people, places and events in the history of the Irish Guards - which will serve as an invaluable source of information for future generations. .

Formed in 1851 by Irish immigrants, the Fighting Sixty-Ninth has served with distinction since the Civil War. The regiment's flagstaff boasts 23 streamers (for each campaign) and 62 silver battle rings (for each battle), more than any other regiment in the United States Army at the close of World War II. Initially known as 69th New York State Militia (and seeing action under that name at the Battle of Bull Run), the regiment later ""cadred"" the 69th New York Volunteers. This is a complete illustrated history of the regiment's service in the Irish Brigade and the Rainbow Division. Functioning as the 1st Regiment, Irish Brigade, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac throughout the Civil War, the regiment made history at Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Appomatox. Confederate generals Lee christened them the ""Fighting Sixty-Ninth"". According to legend, an exasperated General Jackson (who rarely cursed) recognized them as part of ""that damn brigade"". Functioning as the 165th Infantry, 42nd Division (Rainbow Division) throughout World War I, the regiment helped turn back the last German offensive, counterattacked at the Ourq river, spearheaded one of Pershing's pincer at St. Mihiel, and helped break the Hindenburg Line in the Argonne Forest. Today, the regiment is known as 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry (Mechanized), New York Army National Guard.

"The 22nd Maine Regiment joined General Nathaniel Banks' campaign in Louisiana, fighting at Irish Bend in two attacks on Port Hudson. Drawing on first-person accounts from soldiers, a company commander, and colonel, this military history follows the Civil War regiment from formation in 1862 to muster out in 1863"--Provided by publisher.

The winter of 1862-1863 found the Union's Army of the Potomac in sad shape. Bloody battles, multiple defeats, lack of adequate provisions and high desertion rates had left even the hardiest Union soldiers dispirited. With Major General Joseph Hooker's advent to the army command, he set about revamping the army's conditions, establishing a generous furlough program, implementing a system of corps insignia and setting new sanitary standards. While his administrative efforts were extremely successful, his battlefield manner left something to be desired. Instructed by President Lincoln to make the destruction of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia the Union's top priority, Hooker mounted the Chancellorsville Campaign. Lee's aggressive battlefield manner coupled with Hooker's failure to initiate an assault led to a sound defeat by Confederate forces and left Hooker--who ultimately had only himself and his lack of initiative to blame--looking for a scapegoat. Among those Hooker attempted to hold responsible was the courageous Sixth Army Corps, the unit responsible for the sole Union victory of the entire campaign. This military history focuses on the battlefield engagements of the Union's Sixth Army Corps on May 3 and 4, 1863. Compiled from contemporary accounts as well as a variety of postwar histories, it examines the role which the Sixth Army Corps and their commander, Major General John Sedgwick, played in the Chancellorsville Campaign. Particular attention is given to evaluating the impact that the Corps' actions had on Major General Hooker's offensive and refuting the accusations which Hooker made following Federal retreat from the engagement. The battles of Second Fredericksburg, Salem Church and Banks's Ford are consequently examined in detail. Appendices provide information detailing the organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, the Army of the Potomac and the Sixth Army Corps in the spring of 1863.

Originally published in 1920. The 231st Infantry Brigade, with which this diary is chiefly concerned, came into extence in January 1917, at a time when its compoent parts were engaged in the campaign against the Senussi, distributed in the Western Desert of Egypt and the Oases, from Sollum to Dakhala. The diary opens on October 1st 1917, when the preparations for the simultaneous attacks on Beersheba and Gaza were nearing completion.

The First Vermont Cavalry participated in 75 major Civil War engagements from 1862 through 1865. As the state's only mounted regiment, riding Vermont - bred Morgan horses, the cavalry unit battled some of the most notable Confederate cavalry commanders, mostly in Virginia. This history explores the battles and leaders of the unit, including generals George Custer and Philip Sheridan.

North Carolina contributed more of her sons to the Confederate cause than any other state. The 37th North Carolina, made up of men from the western part of the state, served in famous battles like Chancellorsville and Gettysburg as well as in lesser known engagements like Hanover Courthouse and New Bern. This is the account of the unit's four years' service, told largely in the soldiers' own words. Drawn from letters, diaries, and postwar articles and interviews, this history of the 37th North Carolina follows the unit from its organization in November 1861 until its surrender at Appomattox. The book includes photographs of the key players in the 37th's story as well as maps illustrating the unit's position at several engagements. Appendices include a complete roster of the unit and a listing of individuals buried in large sites such as prison cemeteries. A bibliography and index are also included.

This regimental history follows the 111th New York Volunteer Infantry's service from muster through victory. Drawing on many first-hand accounts and primary sources, it provides details on the towns from which the regiment was organized and the backgrounds of the men who served in its ranks. Battles in which the regiment fought, including Harpers Ferry, Gettysburg and Petersburg, are covered in detail, with close unit-level coverage as well as information on the overall strategy and the regiment's place in the greater conflict. An appendix covers in depth the October 1864 capture of 83 111th soldiers by the Confederacy and their subsequent imprisonment, during which many died from hunger and disease.

Raised from Rhode Island farmers and millworkers in the autumn of 1861, the Union soldiers of Battery G fought in such bloody conflicts as Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, and Cedar Creek. At the storming of Petersburg on April 2, 1865, seven cannoneers were awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in the face of the enemy. This history captures the battlefield exploits of the "Boys of Hope" but also depicts camp life, emerging cannon technology, and the social backdrop of the Civil War.