The Buffalo Soldiers

The Buffalo Soldiers

The U.S. Army was reorganized in 1886 after the Civil War. Six Black regiments were for formed by law to be a part of the regular army for their valor during the Civil War. In 1866, Congress passed an act creating four regiments: the Twenty fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry and the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry. The four regiments were supposed to remain a permanent part of the Army. From these four regiments, the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry distinguished themselves during the Indian Wars in the West between 1870 and 1900. The Ninth and Tenth Cavalry were nicknamed "Buffalo Soldiers" by the Cheyenne and Comanche Indians. These soldiers were widely feared by the Indians. During this time the Buffalo Soldiers made up about 20 percent of the Armed Forces in the West.

The 9th and 10th Cavalries' played an enormous part in defeating the Mexican revolutionaries, hostile Native Americans, outlaws, comancheros, and rustlers. These Cavalries accomplished these feats in some of the most rugged and unfriendly terrain in the Southwest part of the country. Some of the adversaries these regiments would face were: Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Victorio, Lone Wolf, Billy the Kid, and Pancho Villa.

The Buffalo Soldiers also explored and mapped large areas of the southwest and laid out thousands of miles of telegraph lines. The Black Soldiers built and fixed frontier outposts. From these outposts Cities and towns were formed.. The Buffalo Soldiers, despite extreme prejudices and the worst assignments, did their duties to the best of their abilities. Therefore, in that period of time they have received more citations for valor than any other group in the United States military.

The Spanish-American War gave them but another chance to prove their abilities. African-American soldiers were involved in the war from the beginning. At least thirty Blacks were stationed on the battleship Maine when it exploded in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. Of these men, twenty-two of them were killed. Thousands of African-Americans