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THE TENTH
REGIMENT OF CAVALRY.
By LIEUTENANT JOHN BIGELOW, JR., U. S. A.
R. Q. M. TENTH CAVALRY.
SECTION 3 of an "Act to increase and fix the military peace
establishment of the United States," approved on the 28th day of July,
1866, provides "That to the six regiments of cavalry now in service,
there shall be added four regiments, two which shall be composed of
colored men. " The six regiments referred to as already in service were
composed of white men".
Copyright:
US Army Center of Military History
During
the American Civil War, the U.S. government formed regiments
known as the United States Colored Troops, composed of black soldiers
led by white officers. After the civil war the Congress
reorganized the Army, authorizing the formation of two regiments of
black cavalry with the designations 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry, and four
regiments of black infantry, designated the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st
Infantry Regiments (Colored). The 38th and 41st were reorganized as the
25th Infantry Regiment, with headquarters in Jackson Barracks in New
Orleans, in November 1869. The 39th and 40th were reorganized as the
24th Infantry Regiment, with headquarters at Fort Clark, Texas, in
April 1869. All of these units were composed of black enlisted men
commanded by white officers such as Benjamin Grierson, Ranald S.
Mackenzie, and, occasionally, black officers such as Henry O. Flipper.
From 1866 to the early 1890s these regiments served at a variety of
posts in the Southwestern United States (Apache Wars) and Great Plains
regions. During this period they participated in most of the military
campaigns in these areas and earned a distinguished record. Thirteen
enlisted men and six officers from these four regiments earned the
Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars. In addition to the military
campaigns, the "Buffalo Soldiers" served a variety of roles along the
frontier from building roads to escorting the U.S. mail.
After the Indian Wars ended in the 1890s the regiments continued to
serve and participated in the Spanish-American War (including the
Battle of San Juan Hill), where five more Medals of Honor were earned.
They took part in the 1916 Punitive Expedition into Mexico and in the
Philippine-American War.
Economic Impact of Their Contribution:
These MENhelped
made it possible for the industrialists to make millions, the ranchers
to ranch
thousands of cattle and the farmers to feed the growing U.S.
population by creating an environment of peace. There by creating a
safe haven for the building of an infrastructure (for example the
railroad), which could move cattle, supplies and people to and from the
frontier faster, less costlier and in greater numbers.
A
forgotten contribution in the buffalo soldier story involves eight
troops of the Ninth Cavalry Regiment and one company of the
Twenty-fourth 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 both
Yosemite as well as Sequoia and General Grant (Kings Canyon) National
Parks.
U.S. Army regiments had been serving in these national parks since
1891, but until 1899 the soldiers serving were Euro-American. Beginning
in 1899, and continuing in 1903 and 1904, African-American regiments
served during the summer months in the 2nd (Sequoia) and 3rd (Yosemite)
oldest national parks in the United States. Because these soldiers
served before the National Park Service was created (1916) they were
"park rangers" before the term was even coined. (i.e., the modern day
Forest Service has a "proven" history of racial discrimination in its
hiring practices, that the bush administration refuses to prosecute).
Links to
prove our information:
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