Buffalo Soldiers Essay, Research Paper

Buffalo Soldiers

“Buffalo Soldiers” was the name given to African-American cavalrymen by their

native-American antagonists during the Indian Wars in the post-Civil War

American West. The first men to serve in all-black army units did so in the

Union Army, during the Civil War. The initial all-black regiment, the 54th

Massachusetts, trained by its white commander, Col. Robert G. Shaw, suffered

heavy casualties in a heroic, though unsuccessful attempt to capture Fort Wagner

at Charleston (S.C.) harbor in July 1863. In all, about 209,000 ex-slaves and

free blacks served in the Union Army, and more than 68,000 of them died in

battle or from wounds or disease. After the Civil War, Congress authorized two

cavalry regiments and four infantry regiments of black troops, who were led by

white officers. The 9th and 10th cavalry regiments were formed in 1866 and were

used to control “hostile” Indian tribes in the West for the next 25 years.

Despite prejudicial treatment by some army officers, as well as open prejudice

displayed by many civilians in frontier towns, the black regiments performed

effectively. They fought innumerable skirmishes and running battles with Indian

warriors in the Great Plains, western Texas, the southwestern desert, and the

mountains of Colorado. One company of the 9th regiment fought in the last battle

of the Indian Wars, at Wounded Knee, S. Dak., in December 1890. The black troops

were proud to be called Buffalo Soldiers; in fact, the regimental crest of the

10th cavalry bore the figure of a buffalo.