An unheralded military hero, Charles Young (18641922) was the third black graduate of West Point, the first African American national park superintendent, the first black U.S. military attachÉ, the first African American officer to command a Regular Army regiment, and the highest-ranking black officer in the Regular Army until his death. Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment tells the story of the man who-willingly or not-served as a standard-bearer for his race in the officer corps for nearly thirty years, and who, if not for racial prejudice, would have become the first African American general.

Originally published in 1967, William H. Leckie’s The Buffalo Soldiers was the first book of its kind to recognize the importance of African American units in the conquest of the West. Decades later, with sales of more than 75,000 copies, The Buffalo Soldiers has become a classic. Now, in a newly revised edition, the authors have expanded the original research to explore more deeply the lives of buffalo soldiers in the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry Regiments. Written in accessible prose that includes a synthesis of recent scholarship, this edition delves further into the life of an African American soldier in the nineteenth century. It also explores the experiences of soldiers’ families at frontier posts. In a new epilogue, the authors summarize developments in the lives of buffalo soldiers after the Indian Wars and discuss contemporary efforts to memorialize them in film, art, and architecture.

All students of the frontier army as well as aficionados with a special interest in the Buffalo Soldiers will find this an invaluable tool. Drawing on a wide variety of periodicals, military records, and letters, the book covers such key topics as the legislative origin of the inclusion of black soldiers in the army.

African American Officers in Liberia tells the story of seventeen African American officers who trained, reorganized, and commanded the Liberian Frontier Force from 1910 to 1942. In this West African country founded by freed black American slaves, African American officers performed their duties as instruments of imperialism for a country that was, at best, ambivalent about having them serve under arms at home and abroad. The United States extended its newfound imperial reach and policy of "Dollar Diplomacy" to Liberia, a country it considered a U.S. protectorate. Brian G. Shellum explores U.S. foreign policy toward Liberia and the African American diaspora, while detailing the African American military experience in the first half of the twentieth century. Shellum brings to life the story of the African American officers who carried out a dangerous mission in Liberia for an American government that did not treat them as equal citizens in their homeland, and he provides recognition for their critical role in preserving the independence of Liberia.

This history by a chaplain of the Twenty-fifth Infantry includes firsthand accounts of the Spanish-American War as well as an overview of African-American contributions to prior wars and conflicts.

Brian G. Shellum tells the story of Company L, which served in Skagway, Alaska, and was one of the two companies added to the all-Black Twenty-Fourth U.S. Infantry Regiment after war was declared on Spain in April 1898.

An exciting general history of the first generation of African-Americans to serve in the US Army!