Illustrated 1923 History Honoring Black Soldiers in the United States Army's Twenty Fourth Infantry, 1923

U S. Army

First Edition

[African American Military][WWI] Muller, William G. The Twenty-Fourth Infantry (1923) documents the service of a Black regiment in the United States Army, tracing its development from Reconstruction through the Mexican Border War. Written by Captain William G. Muller, the volume situates the regiment’s origins in the 1869 consolidation of the 38th and 41st Infantry regiments, among the first post–Civil War units composed of Black enlisted men, and follows its campaigns across the Western frontier, Cuba during the Spanish American War, and Mexico during the 1916 to 1917 Punitive Expedition. Produced at a time when Black military service was constrained by segregation, the work offers insight into the service of Buffalo Soldiers in the decades preceding formal desegregation.

Muller, William G. The Twenty-Fourth Infantry. 1923. The text opens with a dedication “To those colored non-commissioned officers and soldiers whose unswerving loyalty and devotion of the regiment made possible these brilliant pages of history.” Extensively illustrated with photographic portraits of senior Black noncommissioned officers, among them Regimental Sergeant Major Walter B. Williams, Color Sergeant Wm. G. Wilcox, and Regimental Color Sergeant Abraham Hill, identified as “one of the Army’s great rifle shots.” Additional images document encampments in New Mexico and Texas, scenes from Mexico during the Punitive Expedition, and regimental athletics, including a football team that competed against historically Black colleges such as Tuskegee and Talladega. The narrative emphasizes the regiment’s record of discipline and cohesion, asserting that its “high character…unsullied for 54 years” reflected institutional stability amid shifting national racial politics.

The history reflects an effort to commemorate the service record of Black soldiers at a moment when their contributions to westward expansion, the Spanish American War, and border conflicts were indispensable. The sustained attention to leadership, merit, marksmanship, and athletic competition underscores the high professional standards Black soldiers were held to in the face of systemic discrimination. Minor edge wear and light rubbing to the binding; interior generally clean with occasional light toning; illustrations clear and complete. Overall very good.

Item #21595

Price: $2,450.00