Suggested Reading: Tom's Take


Commentary courtesy of Thomas D. Phillips

Updated May 28th, 2002



OK, here's my pre-Leckie (1967) list. But first some explanations:

1. With two exceptions, all citations are for books--not for articles from popular or professional journals or newspaper material. I'll tackle this lengthy list down the pike a bit.

2. Very few of these citations deal exclusively with black troops in the 1866-98 period--but specific pages, sections and chapters do. I've listed all the "early" stuff that I've found useful. You can turn the pages to find what suits your interests.

3. I've included some books that deal only with black troops during the Civil War--on the assumption that to understand what happened "later" you should know what happened "first".

4. Be warned--anything with a l898-l900 publication date was probably cranked out as part of the surge of national chest thumping that followed the defeat of the Dons in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Take much in these books with a grain or two of salt--but there is still plenty of good stuff to be found. Also, these books tend to focus mainly on the role of volunteer rather than regular troops.

5. Most books published during the WWI years deal mainly with black draftees, volunteers and National Guardsmen. But these books contain interesting information on how black regular units and individual soldiers were, or were not, used during the war.

6. Same warning about books from the l940's--mostly about black draftees and vols. --but often a gem or two about black regulars.

7. I know some of what I'm listing have been reprinted. I was lucky enough to start my library years back when original editions were fairly cheap. I've noted reprints where I know of them--but I've probably missed more than a few.

8. Anything preceded with a * gets my strong recommendation.



***** I'll begin the list with a strong recommendation and a plea for anyone who is interested in the story of the black regulars to read before anything else: L. D. Reddick, The Negro Policy of the United States Army, 1775-1945 (Journal of Negro History, Vol. XXXIV, No. l, January, l949)*****



Here goes:

1. 1883 Frederick Phisterer, Statistical Record of the Armies of the United States (Charles Scribner's Sons)

2. 1888 George W. Williams, A History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 (Harper Bros.)

3. 1895 Christian A. Fleetwood, The Negro as a Soldier (Howard University Print)

4. *1896 Theo. F. Rodenbough and Wm. L. Haskin, eds, The Army of the United States (Maynard, Merrill & Co.)

5. *1896 Theophilus G. Steward, ed, Active Service of Gospel Work Among the U. S. Soldiers (U. S. Army Aid Assoc.)

6. 1897 Theo. F. Rodenbough, Saber and Bayonet ( G. W. Dillingham, Co.)

7. 1897 Joseph T. Wilson, The Black Phalanx (np, Hartford, CT)

8. 1898 Norwood Hallowell, The Negro as Soldier in the War of the Rebellion (Little Brown)

9. 1898 Booker T. Washington, The Colored Soldier in the Spanish-American War (Chicago Library & Publications Commission)

10. 1899 Edward A. Johnson, History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War (Capitol Printing)

11. *l899 James A. Moss, Memories of the Campaign of Santiago (Mysell-Rollins Co.)

12. 1899 Frank E. Edwards, The 98 Campaign of the Sixth Mass., U.S.V. (Little Brown)

13. *1899 John Bigelow, Reminiscenses of the Santiago Campaign (Harper)

14. 1899 James M. Guthire, Campfires of the Afro-Americans or Colored Man As Patriot (Afro-American Publishing Co.)

15. *1899 Herrschel V. Cashin, Charles Alexander, Wm T. Anderson, Arthur M. Brown, Horace W. Bivins, eds., Under Fire with the Tenth United States Cavalry (F. Tennyson Neely) reprinted

16. *1899 Miles V. Lynk, The Black Troopers (M. V. Lynk Publishing House) reprinted

17. 1899 Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders (Charles ScribnerÕs Sons) reprinted

18. 1900 W. T. Goode, The Eighth Illinois (Blakely Printing Co.)

19. 1900 W. Hilary Coston, The Spanish-American War Volunteer (Mt. Pleasant Printery)

20. 1903 Walter F. Beyer & Oscar Keydel, eds., Deeds of Valor, 2 Vols (Perried-Keydel Co.)

21. *1904 Theophilus G. Steward, Colored Regulars in the United States Army (A.M.E. Book Concern) reprinted

22. 19l2 Charles Young, Military Morale of Nations and Races (Franklin-Hudson Publishing Co.)

23. *l9l4 Charles Alexander, Battled and Victories of Allen Allensworth (Sherman-French Co.)

24. 19l5 Mary Curtis, The Black Soldier, Or the Colored Boys of the United States Army (Murry Bros.)

25. 19l7 Henry H. Johnson, The Black Man's Part in the War (Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co.)

26. *1919 Emmett J. Scott, Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War (E. J. Scott, publisher)

27. 1919 J. A. Jamison, Complete History of the Colored Soldiers in the World War (Bennett & Churchill)

28. 1919 Wm. Sweeney, History of the American Negro in the Great World War (D. H. Hayes)

29. 1920 O. C. Troxel, ed., Narrative of Service of the Tenth U. S. Cavalry in the Punitive Expedition (Acme Printing Co.)

30. *1921 Edward L. N. Glass, The History of the Tenth Cavalry, 1866-1921 (Acme Printing Co.) reprinted

31. 1923 Charles H. Williams, Sidelights on Negro Soldiers (B. J. Brimmer, Co.)

32. *1923 William G. Muller, The Twenty Fourth Infantry Past and Present (I do not have citation for original publisher) reprinted

33. 1923 Abraham Chew, A Biography of Colonel Charles Young (R. L. Pendleton)

34. *1927 John N. Nankivell, History of the Twenty Fifty Regiment of United States Infantry (Smith Brooks Printing Co.) reprinted

35. 1939 Wm T. Sexton, Soldiers in the Sun, An Adventure in Imperialism (Military Service Publishing Co.)

36. *1939 George W. Webb, List of Engagements Between Regular Army of the United States and Various Tribes of Hostile Indians which Occurred During the Years 1790-1898, Inclusive (Wing Printing and Publishing Co.)

37. 1944 Ruth D. Wilson, Jim Crow Joins Up (wm. J. Clark)

38. 1948 James C. Evans, The Negro in the Army, Policy and Practice (Special report 1-495, U. S. Government Printing Office)

39. 1952 David G. Mandelbaum, Soldier Groups and Negro Soldiers (Univ of California Press)

40. *1953 Benjamin Quarles, The Negro in the Civil War (Little Brown & Co.)

41. 1954 Lee Nichols, Breakthrough on the Color Front (Random House)

42. *1956 Dudley T. Cornish, The Sable Arm (LongmanÕs)

43. 1957 Otis A., Singletary, Negro Militia and Reconstruction (Univ. of Texas Press)

44. 1960 John T. Martin, The Negro in the Armed Forces of the United States (U. S. Government Printing Office)

45. 1963 Of course--Don Rickey's Forty Miles a Day on Beans and Hay

46. 1963 D. Alexander Brown, The Galvanized Yankees (Univ. of Illinois Press)

47. *1964 H. B. Warfield, The l0th Cavalry and Border Fights (np., El Cajon, CA)

48. *1965 Don Rickey, Jr., The Negro Regulars, A Combat Record, l866-l89l. This, as far as I know, unpublished paper was presented at the Western History Assoc. meeting in Helena, Montana in October, l965. I have not seen a copy.

49. 1967 Irvin H. Lee, Negro Medal of Honor Men (Dodd, Mead & Co.)

50. 1967 Otto M. Marshall, The Wham Paymaster Robbery, Boldest in Arizona History, May 11, 1889 (np, Pima, Arizona)

That's it up through 1967

Bibliography Part II, 1968-1979
After Leckie, the deluge. A flood of books: some great; some not so great; some just so-so; and too much same-old, same-old.

51. *1968 William Bruce White, The Military and the Melting Pot: The American Army and Minority Groups, 1865-1924,unpublished PhD, University of Wisconsin

52. *1969 W. Allison Sweeney, History of the American Negro in the Great War (Negro University Press)

53. 1969 Victor Hicken, The American Fighting Man (Macmillian)

54. 1969 J. Norman Heard, The Black Frontiersman: Adventures of Negroes Among American Indians, 1818-1918 (The John Day Co.)

55. 1969 Fairfax Downey, The Buffalo Soldiers in the Indian Wars (McGraw-Hill) for young readers

56. 1916 Otto Lindenmeyer, Black and Brave, The Black Soldiers in America (McGraw-Hill)

57. 1969 Olive W. Burt, Negroes in the Early West (Julian Messner)

58. 1969 Richard M. Dalfiume, Desegregation of the U. S. Armed Forces, 1939-1953 (University of Missouri Press)

59. *1970 Jack D. Foner, The United States Soldier Between Two Wars, 1865-1898 (Humanities Press)

60. 1970 Jesse J. Johnson, A Pictorial History of Black Soldiers in the United States in Peace and War, 1619-1969 (Jesse Johnson, Hampton, VA)

61. 1971 William L. Katz, The Black West (Doubleday)

62. 1971 John M. Carroll and Louis Griffin, Buffalo Soldiers West (Old Army Press)

63. 1971 Bill Adler, comp., The Black Soldier from the American Revolution to Vietnam (Morrow)

64. *1971 Graham A. Cosmas, An Army for Empire, The U. S. Army in the Spanish-American War (university of Missouri Press)

65. *1971 Kenneth Wiggins Porter, The Negro on the American Frontier (Arno Press)

66. *1971 John M. Carroll, The Black Military Experience in the American West (Liveright)

67. 1971 David Jay and Elaine Crane, The Black Soldier; From the American revolution to Vietnam (Wm. Morrow and Co.)

68. *1971 Willard B. Gatewood, Smoked Yankees and the Struggle for Empire: Letters from Negro Soldiers, 1898-1902 (University of Illinois Press)

69. *1971 Arlen Fowler, The Black Infantry in the West, 1869-1891 (Greenwood Publishing)

70. John F. Marzalek, Court Martial: A Black Man in America (Charles ScribnerÕs Sons)

71. 1973 Alvyn Barr, Black Texans, A History of Negroes in Texas, 1528-1971 (Jenkins Publishing Co.)

72. *1973 Robert M. Utley, Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indians, 1866-1890 (Macmillian)

73. 1973 John M. Gates, Schoolbooks and Krags: The United States Army in the Philippines, l898-1902 (Greenwood Press)

74. 1973 Robert W. Mullen, Blacks in AmericaÕs Wars (Monad Press)

75. 1973 Time-Life series, The Old West, vol. The Soldiers (Time-Life Books)

76. *1974 Marvin Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer in the United States Army, 189l-1917 (University of Missouri Press)

77. *1974 Jack D. Foner, Blacks and the Military in American History (Praeger)

78. 1974 Robert E. Greene, Black defenders of America, 1775-1973 (Johnson Publishing)

79. *1974 Preston E. Amos, Above and Beyond in the West, Black Medal of Honor Winners, 1870-1890 (The Westerners, Potomac Corral)

80. 1974 Arthur E. Barbeau and Florette Henri The Unknown Soldier: Black American Troops in World War 1 (Temple University Press)

81. 1975 Earl F. Stover, Chaplain Henry V. Plummer, His Ministery and His Court Martial (Nebraska Historical Society)

82. 1976 W. Sherman Savage, Blacks in the West (Greenwood Press)

83. 1977 Cornelius C. Smith, Jr., Fort Huachuca: The History of a Frontier Post (U.S. Government Printing Office)

84. *1976 Frank N. Schubert, Fort Robinson, Nebraska: The History of a Military Community, 1874-19l6, Ph D, University of Toledo

85. 1978 Frank E. Vandiver, Black Jack, The Life and Times of John J. Pershing (Texas A & M University Press)

86. 1977 William L. Katz, Black People Who Made the Old West (Thomas Y. Crowell Co.)

87. 1977 Earl F. Stover, Up From Handymen: The U. S. Army Chaplaincy 1865-1920 (Washington, D.C., Office of the Chief of Chaplains)

88. 1978 Oliver Knight, Life and Manners in the Frontier Army (University of Oklahoma Press)

89. 1979 Michael J. T. Clark, A History of the 24th U. S. Infantry regiment in Utah, 1896-1900, unpublished Ph D, University of Utah



Here's Part III of my bibliography, covering books published l980-l990. Good stuff is a bit thin on the ground during these years---but some gems that I've noted with a *.

90. *1980 Barry C. Johnson, Flipper's Dismissal, The Ruin of Lt. Henry O. Flipper, U.S.A.---First Coloured Graduate of West Point (in Ho, For the Great West, Special publication No. 6A, English Westerner's Society, Eatone, Ltd., London)

91. 1980 Jerry M. Cooper, The Army and Civil Disorder: Federal Military Intervention in Labor Disputes, 1877-1900 (Greenwood Press)

92. 1981 Michael J. Clark, U. S. Army Pioneers: Black Soldiers in Nineteenth Century Utah (Ft. Douglas Military Museum Association). This is a booklet

93. *198l Bernard C. Nalty and Morriss J. MacGregor, eds., Blacks in the Military: Essential Documents (Scholarly Resources)

94. 1982 Thomas W. Dunlay, Wolves for the Blue Soldiers: Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the U. S., Army, 1860-1890 (Univ. of Nebraska Press)

95. 1982 Constance W. Altshuler, For Better or for Worse: Frontier Army Life (The Pronto Press)

96. 1982 Black Americans in Defense of Our Nation (Office of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Equal Opportunity and Safety Policy, U. S. Government Printing Office)

97. 1982 Martin Binkin, et al, Blacks in the Military (Brookings Institution)

98. *1982 Ira Berlin, ed., The Black Military Experience (Cambridge University Press)

99. 1983 John P. Langellier and Cameron Laughlin, Soldiers at Play: Recreation and Pastimes of the Frontier Army (Ft. Leavenworth, U. S. Army Command and General Staff College) I have not seen this.

100. *1984 William H. and Shirley A. Leckie, Unlikely Warriors: General Benjamin Grierson and His Family (University of Oklahoma Press)

101. 1984 Paul A. Hutton, Phil Sheridan and His Army (University of Nebraska Press)

102. 1985 Lowell D. Black and Sara H. Black, An Officer and A Gentleman: The Military Career of Lt. Henry O. Flipper (The Lora Co., Ltd.)

103. 1985 Lenwood G. Davis and George Hill, comps., Blacks in the American Armed Forces, 1776-1983, A Bibliography (Greenwood Press)

104. 1985 Douglas C. McChristian, ed, Garrison Triangles in the Friendless Tenth: The Journal of Lt. John Bigelow, Jr., Ft Davis, Texas (J. M. Carroll and Co.)

105. 1985 Anthony L. Powell, The Post Civil War Army and the Black Soldier, 1866-1898 (privately printed) I have never seen the original

106. *1986 Bernard C. Natly, Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military (Free Press)

107. *1986 Edward M. Coffman, The Old Army: A Portrait of the American Army in Peacetime, 1784-1898 (Oxford University Press)

108. 1987 Paul Andrew Hutton, ed, Soldiers West, Biographies from the Military Frontier (Univ. of Nebraska Press)

109. 1987 William L. Richter, The Army in Texas During Reconstruction (Texas A & M Univ Press)

110. 1988 Robert A. Wooster, The Military and United States Indian Policy, 1865-1903 (Yale Univ. Press)

111. 1989 Paul H. Carlson, Pecos Bill, A Military Biography of William R. Schafter (Texas A & M Univ. Press)

112. 1989 Shirley A. Leckie, The Colonel's Lady on the Western Frontier: The Correspondence of Alice Kirk Grierson (Univ. of Nebraska Press)








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