Existing comment:
"Colored troops will hold their place in the Army of the United States as long as the government lasts."
-- Col. Benjamin Grierson, organizer of the 10th US Cavalry, May 24, 1867.
In July 1866, Congress, recognizing the gallantry of African-American troops during the Civil War, created two Cavalry and four Infantry Regiments composed of African-American enlisted soldiers. Fifty percent of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments were recruited from soldiers who fought in the Civil War.
These units were often equipped with poor mounts, equipment and rations yet the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments were required to patrol enormous tracts of land spanning from the Rio Grande to Minnesota, consisting of millions of square miles of largely uncharted land. They were also tasked with subduing the native tribes who resented the American expansion into the West. Despite the enormous physical hard work and tremendous danger, the 9th and 10th Cavalry had the lowest desertion rate in the army. The 9th and 10th Cavalry participated in the following Indian War Campaigns:
Comanches 1867-1875
Little Big Horn 1876-1877
Cheyennes 1878-1879
Modocs 1872-1873
Nez Perces 1877
Utes 1879-1880
Apaches 1873, 1885-1886
Bannocks 1878
Pine Ridge 1890-1891
The soldiers soon earned a nickname from the Native Americans. "Buffalo Soldiers" and the symbol of the buffalo was added to the 10th Cavalry Regimental Crest. The 9th and 10th Cavalry had 11 soldiers who won the Medal of Honor including Thomas Shaw and Brent Woods, both from Kentucky. |