I’m trying to find out about the number of musicians James Reese Europe took with him to France in 1917 as part of the 15th New York Regiment Band. When he returned he had 90. How many did he have going over on the USS Pocahontas ?
Where did you get 90 from?
When the regiment came back from Europe in February 1919 they marched behind Europe’s 90-piece band from Fifth Ave to Lenox Ave in Harlem where they played Here Comes My Daddy Now and the strict columns broke ranks as soldiers found their loved ones.
The Fifteenth Infantry Regiment (Colored) of the New York National Guard—popularly known as the "Harlem Hellfighters"—was formed in Harlem in 1916 to help the U.S. war effort during World War I. One of its members, James Reese Europe, was charged with the task of forming a regiment band. Europe, a seasoned musician and bandleader, convinced his commanding officer to let him expand the normal size of a regiment band and to make a special recruiting visit to Puerto Rico. By the time the regiment deployed for France in late 1917, nearly one half of the 40-piece band was Puerto Rican. Once in Europe, they wowed British and French audiences unused to the syncopated rhythms in which the band’s members specialized.
That may have been rounded. I found another site with a more precise number.
Many soldiers answered the call and Europe was able to raise a forty-four piece band.13
- Badger, p.144
Badger is Reid Badger, A Life in Ragtime: A Biography of James Reese Europe. Unfortunately, Google Books doesn’t include p. 144 as part of its preview. A snippit says that 44 is what Europe considered to be the minimum for a regimental band, but that doesn’t mean he achieved that as procuring instruments was difficult.
It helps if you include cites with your questions so that we don’t duplicate work that you’ve already done.
Agreed. Thanks Expano_Mapcase.