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.
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