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An exciting general history of the first generation of blacks to serve in the US Army Rousing narrative and accompanying images bring to life over a century of African American military history Combines a half century of combing public and private collections across the nation

Prior to the 1960s, the term “Buffalo Soldier” was a fairly obscure one. Then, a trickle of titles became a torrent of books, articles, novels, monuments, and expanding numbers of historic sites along with museums all of which have changed the picture. Even an occasional nod from television and movies helped transform these once relatively little-known Black U.S. Army troops into familiar figures, who have taken their place in a mythic past. Indeed, powerful imagemakers from William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and his Congress of Rough Riders to Frederic Remington, the dean of frontier artists, helped lionize the Black troops whose exploits brought them to the American West, Cuba, the Philippines, Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii in the years between 1866 and 1916. Despite a significant shift in emphasis, numerous efforts treating this element of the vital, complex story of the post-Civil War U.S. Army frequently repeated earlier studies rather than added fresh perspectives. Also, the narrative typically ended with the so-called Indian Wars or Spanish American War. Many authors likewise dwelt on military operations rather than numerous other relevant contributions and activities of these men who played a role in the nation’s complex evolution during the half century after the American Civil War. Profusely illustrated with compelling images and detailed maps, along with an array of appendices, this latest addition to the Buffalo Soldier saga represents over five decades of research by military historian John P. Langellier. Further, More Work an Glory: Buffalo Soldiers in the United States Army, 1866–1916 combines the best features of prior scholarship while enhancing the scope with new or underused primary sources. The author views the subject through the broader perspectives of race. He sets the text against the backdrop of the transition of the U.S. Army from a frontier constabulary to an international power. In the process, he highlights the staggering assortment of non-military missions including assignments to national parks and forests; road building; exploration; pioneer military bicycling; duty along the explosive border between the United States and Mexico; employment as agents of law and order, along with a litany of other contributions that enhanced an impressive combat record against formidable Native Americans and others. Langellier frames the narrative within the context of continuity and change from Reconstruction in the 1860s through the early twentieth century. Above all, he focuses on the soldiers themselves to provide a human perspective as well as challenges prevalent misconceptions that often overshadow more fascinating facts.

On a hot summer’s day in Montana, a daring frontier cavalry officer, Powhatan Henry Clarke, died at the height of his promising career. A member of the U.S. Military Academy’s Class of 1884, Clarke graduated dead last, and while short on academic application, he was long on charm and bravado. Clarke obtained a commission with the black troops of the Tenth Cavalry, earning his spurs with these “Buffalo Soldiers.” He evolved into a fearless field commander at the troop level, gaining glory and first-hand knowledge of what it took to campaign in the West. During his brief, action-packed career, Clarke saved a black trooper’s life while under Apache fire and was awarded the Medal of Honor. A chance meeting brought Clarke together with artist Frederic Remington, who brought national attention to Clarke when he illustrated the exploit for an 1886 Harper’s Weekly. The officer and artist became friends, and Clarke served as a model and consultant for future artwork by Remington. Remington’s many depictions of Clarke added greatly to the cavalryman’s luster. In turn, the artist gained fame and fortune in part from drawing on Clarke as his muse. The story of these two unlikely comrades tells much about the final stages of the Wild West and the United States’ emergence on the international scene. Along the way Geronimo, The Apache Kid, “Texas” John Slaughter, and others played their roles in Clarke’s brief, but compelling drama.

Hats Off offers a concise history of U.S. Army headgear from the immediate post Civil War era to the eve of World War I. In this study historian John P. Langellier shares more than a quarter of a century of research in archives, museums, and private collections throughout the nation. An informative text is supported by nearly 400 illustrations of rare and important military headdress. The volume is destined to become a standard reference for collectors, curators, and those interested in American military uniforms from the Indian Wars through the early 20th century. 400 colour & b/w photographs

“Give[s] an interesting insight into how the uniforms and personal equipment of this branch of the U.S. Army developed.” —Historic Musings This volume in the popular G.I. series illustrates a much-neglected aspect of American military history—the U.S. Army artillerymen named Redlegs after the red stripes on their trousers. The photographs, most of them rarely seen in other sources, range from the Civil War and the campaigns against the Native Americans through to the Spanish-American War. Artillery was a vital arm and proved its worth in all of these diverse theaters of war; artillerymen served as part of mobile columns, in sieges and blockades, and as garrisons in remote frontier forts. This handy guide includes superb images and descriptive captions detailing the appearance of the men, their uniforms and equipment, and the ordnance used over the years.

After the end of World War II, General George Patton declared that artillery had won the war. Yet howitzers did not achieve victory on their own. Crucial to the success of these big guns were forward observers, artillerymen on the front lines who directed the artillery fire. Until now, the vital role of forward observers in ground combat has received little scholarly attention. In Bracketing the Enemy, John R. Walker remedies this oversight by offering the first full-length history of forward observer teams during World War II. As early as the U.S. Civil War, artillery fire could reach as far as two miles, but without an “FO” (forward observer) to report where the first shot had landed in relation to the target, and to direct subsequent fire by outlining or “bracketing” the targeted range, many of the advantages of longer-range fire were wasted. During World War II, FOs accompanied infantrymen on the front lines. Now, for the first time, gun crews could bring deadly accurate fire on enemy positions immediately as advancing riflemen encountered these enemy strongpoints. According to Walker, this transition from direct to indirect fire was one of the most important innovations to have occurred in ground combat in centuries. Using the 37th Division in the Pacific Theater and the 87th in Europe as case studies, Walker presents a vivid picture of the dangers involved in FO duty and shows how vitally important forward observers were to the success of ground operations in a variety of scenarios. FO personnel not only performed a vital support function as artillerymen but often transcended their combat role by fighting as infantrymen, sometimes even leading soldiers into battle. And yet, although forward observers lived, fought, and bled with the infantry, they were ineligible to wear the Combat Infantryman’s Badge awarded to the riflemen they supported. Forward observers are thus among the unsung heroes of World War II. Bracketing the Enemy signals a long-overdue recognition of their distinguished service.

John Langellier''s study examines the uniforms and equipment of Abraham Lincoln''s soldiers as they appeared in the field during the Civil War. The study covers the artillery, cavalry and infantry.

A highly illustrated, compact volume on a significant win for the Confederacy. "There never was such a campaign, not even by Napoleon," wrote Confederate General Pender of the Second Manassas campaign in which the gray-bearded Virginian, Robert E Lee, came as close as he ever would to exterminating his Northern enemies. In so doing, Lee established himself as the South's pre-eminent military commander and the Army of Northern Virginia as it's most powerful weapon. The fighting in northern Virginia left Union General John Pope's career in tatters and proved the South was a power to be reckoned with. This book's powerful account demonstrates that during that fateful summer of 1862 Lee's soldiers were fighting for anything but a lost cause.

This volume reveals the little-known story of the 90-year presence of American forces in China until the fall of Peking in 1941. Included is coverage of the first operations on the Pearl River in 1856 as well as US involvement in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. As China entered a chaotic period in her history, known as the years of the “Warlords”, American marines also participated in numerous small-scale amphibious landings. Finally, during the later Sino-Japanese War and early into World War II, US volunteers of the “Flying Tigers” became renowned for their combat missions in support of Chinese Nationalist forces, and their aerial duels are also recounted by the author John P. Langellier, who has spent several years researching the subject in the US and China. Discover the history of these various actions and the different services involved, recreated in color artwork and illustrated with rare, previously unpublished photographs.

In the 1840s, the powerful pull of Manifest Destiny brought the U.S. Army to today's southern Arizona. The first forces came as a vanguard marching westward to conquer California, but soon their comrades returned. They would establish a string of outposts, a few of which remain more than a century after their founding. These installations greatly contributed to local military, economic, social, and even political history. Their inhabitants included noted 19th-century generals George Crook and Nelson A. Miles, as well as a later officer, Omar Bradley of World War II fame. Some of these men brought their families to share the often lonely, monotonous existence of life at a frontier fort. Occasionally their routine was broken by grueling field service that more than once sent troops southward on to Mexican soil where they suffered and sometimes died. Among these stalwarts were buffalo soldiers, Indian scouts, and new arrivals fresh from Europe.