Buffalo Soldiers

Serving one's country brings great pride, duty, satisfaction, responsibility, and many other great aspirations with that particular sense of entitlement. Even in the face of the utmost racial discrimination, deprivation of their human existence, and continually met with excessive erroneous violence. Former slaves now freedmen, continued to pursue serving and protecting a country that attempted incessantly to disclaim them as citizens or therefore men at all. The first Black Americans allowed to join the U.S. military were in the latter years of the Civil War in 1863, propelling the Union to victory in 1865. Shortly after in 1866, Congress passed the Army Organization Act, which created six all Black units consisting of four Infantry and two Calvary regiments.

The two all Black Calvary units were known as the 9th and 10th Calvary regiments. The 9th Calvary out of New Orleans, Louisiana and the 10th regiment out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Infantry units were eventually cut down to two units, the 24th and 25th units. These ambitious, buoyant soldiers were used in the westward expansion movement of the United States. The Buffalo Soldiers were used heavily in the mid-west and west to suppress Native American wars and resistance to the United States, as Manifest Destiny was used by the mendacious government to snatch up Native American lands. The loyal Buffalo soldiers were also responsible for protecting and building railroads, roads, other engineering projects, escorting U.S. mail and protecting settlers traveling out west for new opportunities. These settlers the soldiers were sworn to protect were white settlers or immigrants, migrating west under the Homestead Act of 1862, which granted free land to settlers migrating west. Unfortunate circumstances for aspiring men of color, striving to fit in and be accepted, assisting others with the same freedoms and benefits they were forever denied. Throughout the famous "Indian Wars" against tribes such as the Kiowas, Comanche, Cheyenne, Apache and the Arapaho, these men made a name for themselves. Deriving from their tremendous bravery, skill, and dedication, many of the soldiers would earn Medals of Honor from these battles. The Buffalo Soldiers received their name from the wars with the Natives, as the Native peoples greatly honored the buffalo. The Black soldiers with both their thick wool like hair resembling that of the buffalo and relentless, tough, fighting spirit of the buffalo. They earned their reputation and name for themselves they believed to be quite honorable.

The soldiers would later serve as Park Rangers in National Parks such as Yosemite and Sequoia. Late in the 19th Century the courageous men fought in the Spanish American War in Cuba, battling through dangerous conditions and treatment yet prevailing successfully. Earning prestigious recognition in many battles of the Spanish American War and U.S. Imperialism, the 9th and 10th Calvary would later serve in the Philippines as well after U.S. acquisition to the territory. Serving in WWI, mostly defending the Mexican borders from attack, the 9th and 10th regiments would eventually become integrated into the 2nd Calvary division in the 1940's as things begin to change. Serving in WWII overseas, the 9th and 10th Calvary regiments would completely be deactivated by 1944. After WWII in 1948 President Truman issued an order eliminating racial segregation in the military, as the last all Black units were completely disbanded during the early 1950's.

The Buffalo Soldiers continued to endure their new lives in America through unfair treatment by the U.S. Government. Racial inequalities, Jim Crow segregation, hate crimes, harassment, under paid, unequal opportunities and clearly used to suppress other minority groups, who shared the same enemy as oppressed Black America. The Buffalo Soldiers held the lowest military desertion and court martials of their time, despite the execrable racism, these men remained loyal, prestigious, the utmost integrity and proved they could not be broken. The Buffalo Soldiers' official memory and National Museum is located in Houston, Texas today as their great sacrificial legacy reigns forever!