The Story of the Buffalo Soldiers

Over 180,000 African-Americans served in the Union Army during the Civil War, of these more than 33,000 died. After the war, the future of African-Americans in the U.S. Army was in doubt.

Stories relating to the origin of the legendary name "Buffalo Soldiers" are as varied, as there are people who tell them. Here are a few of the most accepted ideas regarding the name. Some attribute it to the Indians comparing the short curly hair of the black troopers to that of the buffalo. Another possibility for the nickname was the heavy buffalo robes most soldiers wore in the winter campaigns. Yet, some say that the American bison was ferocious, displaying uncommon stamina and courage, similar to the black man in battle.

At the end of the Civil War, the troops who fought on both sides were tired and weary from years of fighting. Death, crippling injuries, disease and POW camps had decimated both sides. Most of the enlisted men and officers simply went home to forget the horrors of the last four years.

Those confederate veterans returning home found the South in virtual poverty. The plantations were gone, the Negro slaves having been freed. The carpetbaggers from the north were taking what little was left. Those white soldiers who returned were now competing with freedmen for jobs in the open market in factories, fields and farms. This created a powder keg atmosphere between blacks and whites.

The U. S. Army was restructuring itself for a new kind of warfare on the western prairie. This was a type of warfare that it had only come to know in the years immediately before the Civil War.

This new warfare was waged by bands of Indians, mounted on the fleetest of ponies, deadly accurate shots with either bow and arrow or rifle, making hit-and-run raids and able to disappear into the empty prairie without a trace.

President Grant ordered a "scorched prairie" policy of dealing with the wild tribes of the Great Plains and the Southwest. Grant's theory was to get the Indians on a reservation or kill them if they resisted. Now, there were needed fresh troops to endure the hardships of a life on horseback chasing the marauders across the boundless plain.

Southerners and eastern populations did not want to see armed Negro soldiers near or in their communities. They were also afraid of the labor market being flooded with a new source of labor. General employment opportunities in these communities was not available to blacks, so many African-Americans took a long hard look at military service, which offered shelter, education, steady pay, medical attention and a pension. Some decided it was much better than frequent civilian unemployment. Of course in some quarters, it was thought this is a good way of getting rid of two problems at the same time.

It was thought by some in Washington that there could be a use for the thousands of freedmen in the south who were competing with the white veterans returning from the army. If they could recruit the freedmen in the south, this would remove them from the job market and lessen the possibility of an all out race war in the south.

Congress authorized the formation of several all black units on July 28, 1866. The 10th Cavalry was formed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1866. The regiment's commander set very high standards of recruitment. By the end of July 1867 eight companies of enlisted men had been recruited. The 10th Cavalry existed from 1866 until 1944.

The 9th Cavalry was formed in New Orleans, Louisiana in August 3, 1866 by orders of Gen. Phillip Sheridan, who was authorized to raise one regiment of "colored" cavalry. The new recruits came from Louisville, Kentucky. They were ex-Civil War veterans. Enlistment was for 5 years, with recruits receiving 13 dollars a month, plus room, board, and clothing.

Congress passed legislation establishing two cavalry and four infantry regiments, these being the 9th and 10th Cavalry as noted and the 38th, 39th, 40th, & 41st Infantry Regiments. The infantry regiments were all later consolidated into the 24th and 25th Infantry regiments.

The 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments now consisted of ex-slaves and black Union veterans. There were twenty-one members of the 9th and 10th Cavalry who received the Congressional Medal of Honor during its existence fighting in the Indian Wars of the southwest, along the Rio Grande fighting Poncho Villa, in Cuba during the Spanish American War and in WWII.

During these years there was also one woman who was a "buffalo soldier". Her name was Cathay Williams. Cathay was born a slave in Missouri and was a house girl when the Civil War came. Union soldiers took her with them when they came to her plantation. The young girl was a noted cook and soon caught the attention of General Sheridan, for whom she went to work.

After the end of the war, there was no further need for a field cook such as Cathay and she had to make her own way. When the 38th Infantry Regiment was being formed, Cathay Williams joined up. Cathay Williams became William Cathay.

She moved with her regiment to Ft. Cummings, New Mexico and for two years fought the Apache with her comrades. Then one day she became very sick and went to the doctor. Her secret was out. She was discharged from the service and never received her pension because of illegal enlistment. William Cathey's discharge from the United States Army is dated October 14, 1868. Years later, a reporter asked her why she joined the army. Cathay reportedly answered the question much like today's soldier would answer, saying, "I wanted to make my own living and not be dependent on relations or friends."

Cathay Williams lived to the ripe old age of eighty-two years.

The 10th Cavalry was sent to Kansas and Indian Territory to fight the Comanche and Kiowa. Elements of the 10th Cavalry were stationed at Ft. Arbuckle and during the remainder of 1866 and to the summer of 1867 rebuilt Ft. Arbuckle from the deterioration of the years of neglect during the war when it was occupied by southern troops. The 9th cavalry was sent to Texas and New Mexico.

A word of explanation as to the reason infantry and cavalry units were stationed together. The cavalry units traveled from post to post while scouting for raiders. The infantry traditionally guarded the forts and served as guards protecting the long supply wagon trains, which followed the cavalry expeditions.

In 1869, elements of the 10th Cavalry were sent to Camp Wichita to build a fort that later became know as Ft. Sill. The black troopers did all the old stonework.

If one has ever visited the old post at Ft. Sill, there is a very impressive "stone corral" with a 12-foot high wall with stalls around the inside to protect the horses. This was done to keep the Comanche from stealing the Army horses. The Comanche loved to sneak into the post at night and steal the army's horses just to show the army they could do it.

All the old barracks and officer's quarters as well as the commissary and other buildings of the old post were made of stone, which the black soldiers of the 10th Cavalry quarried from the Wichita Mountains.

The 10th Cavalry Regiment, while stationed at Ft. Arbuckle, consisted of the following companies: C, D, E, L and M. In September of 1867, the post returns indicated that there were ninety-nine enlisted men and one officer. By December of 1869, just as Ft. Sill was beginning construction the post returns indicated that the post was manned by 245 cavalry and 255 infantry personnel and eight officers. By June of 1870 the new post in the Wichitas was completed and the 6th Infantry and the 10th cavalry were moved to that location.

One final thing, there is a graveyard located three miles south of Davis which is a black cemetery known as the James Cemetery. It is small and sits back off the road in the pasture. One of the interesting things about this cemetery is that it has a military tombstone resting in the middle of the small cemetery. It reads: Richmond Kimble, Sergeant, 10th U. S. Cavalry.

Contributed by Dennis Muncrief - September 27, 2003.