Buffalo Soldier History
Buffalo Soldiers in 1890.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Though African Americans have fought in various military conflicts since colonial days, they did not receive the nickname of “Buffalo Soldiers” until they began to battle Cheyenne warriors in 1867.
The ctual Cheyenne translation was “Wild Buffalo,” given to the soldiers out of respect for their fierce fighting abilities, but was soon familiarly nicknamed “Buffalo Soldiers” by their white counterparts.
Although several African American regiments were raised during the Civil War, fighting diligently alongside the Union Army, official African American regiments were established by Congress in 1866 as the first peacetime all-black regiments.
The legislation created six all black army units identified as the 9th and 10th cavalry and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st infantry regiments. The four infantry regiments were later reorganized to form the 24th and 25th infantry regiments. All of these units were commanded by white officers.
​
Buffalo Soldier Monument at Fort Leavenworth.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
The first regiment, comprised of former slaves, freemen and Black Civl War soldiers, was formed on September 21, 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The term “Buffalo Soldiers” was originally applied to the 10 Cavalry Regiment, but soon became a generic term for all African American soldiers.
When the Westward movement began in earnest, the black regiments were charged with and responsible for escorting settlers, protecting railroad crews, building forts and roads, and escorting the U.S. Mail. The 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments also conducted campaigns against American Indian tribes on the western frontier that extended from Montana in the Northwest to Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona in the Southwest.
Throughout the era of the Indian Wars, approximately twenty percent of the U.S. Cavalry troopers were African-American, fighting in over 177 engagements. Participating in these military campaigns, the Buffalo Soldiers earned a distinguished record, with 13 enlisted men and six officers earning the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars.
After the Indian Wars ended in the 1890s the regiments continued to serve and participated in the Spanish-American War, where five more Medals of Honor were earned. In 1899, some of them served as the first African-American National Park Rangers in California’s Sierra Nevada at Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park and General Grant (Kings Canyon) National Parks.
The Buffalo Soldiers also participated in many other military campaigns, including the Philippine Insurrection, The Mexican Expedition, World War I, World War II, and the Korean Police Action.
Eventually, African-American regiments were integrated into the regular military. However, the term “Buffalo Soldier” remained a proudly worn “badge of honor” which signified unsurpassed courage and patriotism.
On September 6, 2005, Mark Matthews, who was the oldest living Buffalo Soldier, died at the age of 111. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Buffalo Soldiers
Today, there are a number of monuments and museums that commemorate the Buffalo Soldiers including the Buffalo Soldier Monument at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, a memorial statue in Junction City, Kansas, and others in Tucson, Arizona and Washington D.C. The Buffalo Soldier National Museum can be found in Houston, Texas.
Cathay Williams – Female Buffalo Soldier
​
​
​
When Congress passed an act authorizing the establishment of the first all Black units of the military, later to become known as “Buffalo Soldiers,” Cathay Williams, a former slave, joined the Army. At that time, women were not allowed to serve as soldiers so Williams posed as a man, calling herself William Cathay.
Williams was born into slavery in Independence, Missouri in 1842. She worked as a house slave for William Johnson, a wealthy planter in Jefferson City, Missouri until his death. Shortly after the Civil War broke out she was freed by Union soldiers and soon went to work for the Federal Army as a paid servant. While working in this capacity, she served Colonel Thomas Hart Benton while he was in Little Rock, Arkansas as well asGeneral Philip Sheridan and his staff, experiencing military life first hand. Sheridan brought her with him to Washington to serve as a cook and laundress.
While traveling with them, she witnessed the Shenandoah Valley raids in Virginia, and afterwards continued to travel with them to Iowa, St. Louis, New Orleans, Savannah, and Macon.
When the war was over, Williams wanted to maintain her financial independence and in November 1866, she enlisted as William Cathay in the 38th U.S. Infantry, Company A in St. Louis, Missouri. At that time, only a cursory medical examination was required and she was quickly found to be fit for duty. There were only two people that knew her true identity– a cousin and a friend, who faithfully kept her secret. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a 22-year-old cook. He described her as 5′ 9″, with black eyes, black hair and black complexion.
On February 13, 1867, Williams was sent to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri and a few months later, in April, the troops marched to Fort Riley, Kansas. By June, they were on the march again, this time to Fort Harker, Kansas, and the next month, on to Fort Union, New Mexico, more than 500 miles away. On September 7, the regiment moved on to Fort Cummings, Missouri, arriving on October 1st. They were stationed there for eight months, protecting miners and traveling immigrants from Apache attack. While she was there, a brief mutiny broke out in December, 1867 when a camp follower was expelled for stealing money. Several men were brought up on charges or jailed, but Williams was not among them.
It did however, take a toll on her and seemingly her health was suffering, as she was recorded as being in four different hospitals on five separate occasions. Amazingly, during these various hospitalizations, it was never discovered that she was female.
Fort Bayard, New Mexico
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
On June 6, 1868 the company marched once again, this time to Fort Bayard, New Mexico. By this time Williams longed to be quit of the army and, on July 13, she was admitted into Fort Bayard hospital, this time diagnosed with neuralgia – a catch-all term for any acute, intermittent pain caused by a nerve.
It was during this hospitalization that it was finally discovered that she was a woman. On October 14, 1868, William Cathey and was discharged at Fort Bayard with a certificate of disability, which included statements from the captain of her company and the post’s assistant surgeon. The captain stated that Williams had been under his command since May 20, 1867 “… and has been since feeble both physically and mentally, and much of the time quite unfit for duty. The origin of his infirmities is unknown to me.” The surgeon stated that Cathey was of “…a feeble habit. He is continually on sick report without benefit. He is unable to do military duty…. This condition dates prior to enlistment.”
Over her two year stint Williams participated in regular garrison duties but there is no record that she ever saw direct combat while she was enlisted. Though seemingly not well regarded by her commanding officer, she was honorably discharged with the legacy of being the first and only female Buffalo Soldier to serve.
Afterwards, she worked as a cook for a colonel at Fort Union, New Mexico in 1869 and 1870. She then moved on to Pueblo, Colorado, where she worked as a laundress before permanently settling in Trinidad, Colorado in 1872. There, she made her living as a laundress and part-time nurse. Some years later, her failing health arose again when she was hospitalized in early 1890, for nearly a year and a half. By the time she left the hospital, she was completely without funds and in June, 1891 filed for a pension from the U.S. Army. Her application claimed that she was suffering deafness, rheumatism and neuralgia, all of which she had contracted while in the army.
However, after various doctor’s exams and investigation, the Pension Bureau rejected her claim on medical grounds, stating that no disability existed. Further, they found that her discharge certificate indicated her feeble condition pre-dated enlistment and was not due to service. Lastly, and most obviously, her service in the Army was not legal, and any type of pension, disability or otherwise, was denied.
What happened to Cathay Williams afterwards is unknown, but it appears that she may have died sometime between 1892 and 1900 as her name no longer appeared on Census rolls from 1900.
​
Origins of the Buffalo Soldiers
In 1866, Congress established six all-Black regiments, each of about 1000 Soldiers, to help rebuild the country after the Civil War and to patrol the remote western frontier. These regiments were the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st Infantry. The four infantry regiments reorganized to form the 24th and 25th Infantry in 1869. Although the pay was low for the time, only $13 a month, many African Americans enlisted because they could make more in the military than elsewhere, and it offered more dignity than typically could be attained in civilian life.
How the Buffalo Soldiers Got Their Name
According to legend, Native Americans called the Black cavalry troops “buffalo soldiers” because of their dark curly hair, which resembled a buffalo’s coat. Aware of the buffalo’s fierce bravery and fighting spirit, the African American troops accepted the name with pride and honor.
On the “Western Frontier”
​
Buffalo Soldiers played an important role in protecting settlers, building forts and roads, and mapping the wilderness as the U.S. settled and developed the West. Although the Buffalo Soldiers are best known for engaging conflicts with the region’s native people, they also fought Mexican and Anglo bandits, escorted stage coaches and paymasters, and on one occasion, stood between Indian peoples and Texas militia.
By the 1890s, Black soldiers comprised 20 percent of America’s frontier cavalry and performed exemplary service within a military that remained segregated until President Harry S. Truman finally ordered it integrated in 1948. By the end of the Indian Wars, 18 Medals of Honor and 12 Certificates of Merit were awarded to Buffalo Soldiers for their valor, endurance, and courage. African American units had the lowest desertion rate in the Army.
Remember the Maine!
By the end of the 19th century, the Spanish empire was crumbling as two of its island colonies, Cuba and the Philippines, struggled for independence. After the U.S. battleship Maine mysteriously exploded in Cuba’s Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, the U.S. President and Congress yielded to popular sentiment and declared war on Spain. Military campaigns soon began on both islands.
Seasoned troops of the 9th Cavalry were among the first to arrive in Cuba, where they and the 10th Cavalry fought beside Theodore Roosevelt’s volunteer “Rough Riders,” helping them to storm San Juan Hill. During the seven-month war, five Buffalo Soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor and 28 received Certificates of Merit. While these men fought colonialism overseas, their families at home suffered from racial discrimination, lynchings, and riots.
Patrolling the National Parks
The first national parks were patrolled by Army cavalry troops before there was a National Park Service. In May 1903, Captain Charles Young led 9th Cavalry troops from the Presidio to Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant (Kings Can-yon) national parks. These were the first Black units to patrol the parks for an entire season, and the first time a Black officer served as acting superintendent of a national park. Under Young’s command, troops at Sequoia accomplished more work than in the last three years combined, extending roads into the Great Forest to open the area to visitors for the first time.
Legacy at the Presidio
Today, overlooking the Golden Gate—shaded by Cypress and washed by fog— are the head-stones of 450 Black Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry. Among them is William Thompkins, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery and valor in the Spanish American War. These headstones are quiet reminders of the sacrifice and lasting contributions made by African Americans, both to the Presidio and to American History.
9th Cavalry at the Presidio
Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry on patrol in Chihuahua, Mexico, 1916. The legacy of African-American participation in the armed forces dates back to our first war: The Revolutionary War. During the Civil War over 180,000 black men fought for the Union Army in volunteer regiments.
But it was not until after the Civil War that African Americans could enlist in the Regular Army. In 1866, Congress created six segregated regiments which were soon consolidated into four black regiments. They were the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry. They were to become known as "The Buffalo Soldiers."
There are many theories as to its origin, but the nickname probably started on the Western Frontier with the Cheyenne, who thought the hair of the Black Soldiers resembled the fur of the buffalo. Buffalo were revered by tribal leaders so any comparison between men and buffalo was considered high praise. African Americans became feared and worthy opponents.
The Native American description was first mentioned in a letter from a frontier army wife to a popular magazine in 1873. Referring to the 10th Cavalry, Mrs. Frances M.A. Roe wrote, "The officers say that the Negroes make good soldiers and fight like fiends … the Indians call them 'buffalo Soldiers' because their woolly heads are so much like the matted cushion that is between the horns of the buffalo."
​
The Soldiers seldom used the name amongst themselves, but they did accept the name as complimentary. The symbol of the buffalo was eventually incorporated into the crest of the 10th Cavalry Regiment. Service for the Buffalo Soldiers took them from the American Plains and Southwest to duty in Cuba, the Philippines, Hawaii, and Mexico. The troops weren’t always in combat. The Buffalo Soldiers were some of our first park rangers in the Sierra Nevada.
Troops of all four regiments assigned to Pacific commands during the Spanish American and Philippine American wars departed and returned through San Francisco. Following those wars, Soldiers of the 24th Infantry and 9th Cavalry were garrisoned at the Presidio of San Francisco. Over 400 Buffalo Soldiers never left the Presidio. They're buried here. No matter where their duty station was located, the Buffalo Soldier regiments remained segregated, and with only a few exceptions, the officers in charge were Caucasian. The courage of the men of these Black units meant not only valor in the face of physical danger, but also the spirit to stand in service to the United States despite discrimination, segregation, and repressive Jim Crow laws. Discrimination played a role in diminishing the Buffalo Soldiers' involvement in World War I. Eventually, segregation ended and these legendary units were disbanded.
