BUFFALO SOLDIER, an African American member of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the US Army, initially formed in 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and eventually a catchall for any Black soldier on the Western frontier. According to some accounts, Native Americans coined the term either due to the servicemen’s dark curly hair or because they were said to fight as fiercely as Great Plains buffalo. According to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, the name originated with Cheyenne warriors in the winter of 1877, the Cheyenne translation being “Wild Buffalo.” However, writer Walter Hill documented the account of Colonel Benjamin Grierson, founder of the 10th Cavalry regiment, who attributed the origin of the name to the Comanches, who used the term during an 1871 campaign. The Apache apparently also used the term (“We called them ‘Buffalo Soldiers,’ because they had curly, kinky hair . . . like bison”), a claim supported by some sources, including Herman Lehmann’s history with the Native American tribe. Several sources assert that the nickname was given out of respect for the fierce fighting ability of the 10th Cavalry. Still, other sources point to a combination of both legends. Another possible source could be the Plains Indians, who gave the soldiers the name because of the bison coats they wore in winter.
Regardless of origin, the term Buffalo Soldier has become a generic term for all Black soldiers. It is now used for US Army units that trace their direct lineage back to the 9th and 10th Cavalry units, whose service earned them an honored place in US history. During the Civil War, the US government formed regiments known as the United States Colored Troops, which were composed of Black and Native American soldiers. The USCT was disbanded in the fall of 1865. In 1867, the regular Army was set at ten cavalry regiments and forty-five infantry regiments. The Army was authorized to raise two regiments of Black cavalry (the 9th and 10th [Colored] Cavalry) and four regiments of Black infantry (the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st [Colored] Infantry), who were primarily drawn from USCT veterans. The first draft of the bill that the House Committee on Military Affairs sent to the full chamber on March 7, 1866, did not include a provision for regiments of Black cavalry. However, this provision was added by Senator Benjamin Wade prior to the bill’s passing on July 28, 1866. In 1869, the regular Army was kept at ten regiments of cavalry but cut to twenty-five regiments of infantry, reducing the Black complement to two regiments (the 24th and 25th [Colored] Infantry). The 38th and 41st were reorganized as the 25th, with headquarters in Jackson Barracks in New Orleans, Louisiana, in November 1869. The 39th and 40th were reorganized as the 24th, with headquarters at Fort Clark, Texas, in April 1869. The two Black infantry regiments represented ten percent of the size of all twenty-five infantry regiments. Similarly, the two Black cavalry units represented twenty percent of the size of all ten cavalry regiments.
After most of the Indian Wars ended in the 1890s, the regiments continued to serve and participated in the 1898 Spanish-American War (including the Battle of San Juan Hill) in Cuba, where five Medals of Honor were earned. The men of the Buffalo Soldiers were the only African Americans who fought in Cuba during the war. Additionally, the 6th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment had a company of African American soldiers, Company L, that saw action in Puerto Rico. Up to 5,000 “Black men” enlisted in volunteer regiments in the Spanish-American War in Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia, and some had all Black officers. Several other African-American regiments of the United States Volunteer Infantry (USVI) were formed and nicknamed “Immune Regiments,” as they were mistakenly believed to be resistant to tropical diseases, but only the 9th Immunes served overseas in the war. The Buffalo Soldier regiments also took part in the Philippine-American War from 1899 to 1903 and the 1916 Mexican Expedition. In 1918 the 10th Cavalry fought at the Battle of Ambos Nogales during the First World War, where they assisted in forcing the surrender of Mexican federal and militia forces. Buffalo Soldiers fought in the last engagement of the Indian Wars, the minor Battle of Bear Valley in southern Arizona, which occurred in 1918 between the US cavalry and Yaqui natives.
Another little-known contribution of the Buffalo Soldiers involved eight troops of the 9th Cavalry Regiment and one company of the 24th Infantry Regiment who served in California’s Sierra Nevada as some of the first national park rangers. In 1899 Buffalo Soldiers from Company H, 24th Infantry Regiment, briefly served in Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, and General Grant (Kings Canyon) National Parks. The song “Buffalo Soldier,” co-written by Bob Marley and Noel “King Sporty” Williams, first appeared on the 1983 album Confrontation. Many Jamaicans, especially Rastafarians like Marley, identified with the Buffalo Soldiers as examples of Black men who performed with exceeding courage, honor, valor, and distinction in a field that was dominated by Whites, and who persevered despite endemic racism and prejudice. The Buffalo Soldiers were often confronted with racial prejudice from other members of the US Army. Civilians in the areas where the soldiers were stationed occasionally reacted to them with violence. Buffalo Soldiers were attacked during racial disturbances in Rio Grande City, Texas, in 1899; Brownsville, Texas, in 1906; and Houston, Texas, in 1917. Although the Buffalo Soldiers comprised twelve percent of the US Army infantry force and twenty percent of the cavalry force in this era, Buffalo Soldiers were awarded less than four percent of all Medals of Honor. By contrast, other regiments during this era received more Medals of Honor but were not distinguished enough to see duty in Cuba for the Spanish-American War. For example, the 8th Cavalry Regiment, with eighty-four Medals of Honor, were not assigned duty to fight in Cuba in 1898. Scholars have hypothesized that commanders were reticent to award behavior they expected from soldiers, that the bureaucracy impeded awards, and that the posting of Black soldiers to remote outposts reduced the visibility of Black soldiers.