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Buffalo Soldiers

1866-91

ustrated by Richard Hook

Elite • 107	Osprey PUBLISHING
Buffalo Soldiers

1866-91

Ron Field * Illustrated by Richard Hook

First published in Great Britain in 2004 by Osprey Publishing, Elms Court, Chapel Way. Botley, Oxford 0X2 9LP, United Kingdom.

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© 2004 Osprey Publishing Ltd.

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A CIP cataiog record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 1 64176 7565

Ron Field has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. 1966, to be identified as the Author of this Work

Richard Hook has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents. Act. 1966, to be identified as the Illustrator of this Work

Editor: Gerard Barker

Design: Ken Vail Graphic Design, Cambridge, UK Index by AJan Thatcher

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Artist’s note

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whicr the color plates in this bcxMwmm prepared are available for private sale. All repracta&n copyright whatsoever is retained by the PLotsners A enquiries shoe c ue addressed to:

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Author’s Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the to run r: for their generous assistance: Peter Harrington, Ccr^cr Arme S, K. Brown V itary Collection, Brown Un *ers?} Z: E. Drummond- Gefirig, Photo Sales, Denver Rttc Ltoary; Terri Raburn, Photo Services, Nebraska State H^orca] Society; To wan a D Sprvey, Director, Fort Sill Nafccna H stone Landmark;

P chard Frank, Curator of GotecBons and Russ Ron spies, Museum Technician, The A rrry Museum, Fort

Leavenworth; Arthur Olivas, Photo /ist, Museum of New Mexico; Leslie C. Shores, RioId Archivist, American Heritage Center, University of W. ng Sharon Silengo, Photo Archivist, North OakptaHeritage Center, State H stoncal Society of North La- Ann King, King Visual

Technology, Washington, D C ; fcare. Snerbert, Curator of olographs, Kansas State - r.r nca Society; Dolores O varez. Photo Archivist, InsttJie of Texan Cultures; Lory Morrow. Photograph Archives Super, sor Montana H stoncai Society; Herb Woo dene C^ator, and Richard wQ-'es. Assistant Custodian. V - sr* cr Defence Pattern Room, Nottingham, UK; J+ R Film Herb Peck, Jr.; Robert Kotcti an; Frank N. Schubert Don Brown; Doby Pilgrim; and Dusan Farrington.

BUFFALO SOLDIERS 1866-1891

INTRODUCTION

he African-American soldier played a decisive role in the US Army on the Western Frontier during the period 186 / through 1891. First authorized by Congress in July 1866, blacks were organized in to two c aval ry an d £o i ir i n fan try re gimcms, wl rich we re c o m m an tied by white officers, but whose enlisted personnel were African-American* The mounted regiments were the 9th and 10th Cavalry, and the foot regiments were the 38th, 39lh, 40th, and 41st Infantry (later consolidated into 24th and 25th Infantry)* All were quickly nicknamed the ‘Buffalo Soldiers' by their Cheyenne and Comanche enemies. Until the early 1890s these troops constituted approximately 20 percent of all regular forces on active duty in the American West. By 1891, they had participated in approximately 130 actions against hostile Indians in Kansas, Indian Territory, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Dakota Territory, as well as in Mexico. Twenty- two members of the various black regiments were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for extreme bravery and courage under fire. Countless others received commendations* Besides their battle record, they performed the everyday task of protecting settlers, travelers and workers alike. They built roads and erected forts, plus thousands of miles of telegraph poles, all of which brought civilization to the American frontier.

A correspondent of the Army & Amy journal left one of the best testimonials to the qualities of the buffalo soldiers. On campaign with the

‘Captain Dodge’s colored troopers to the rescue,’ This engraving, based on a drawing by Frederic Remington, depicts the moment when Captain Francis Dodge and 35 troopers of Company D, 9th Cavalry* arrived at Milk Creek on October 2, 187 9 to relieve the command of Major T. T. Thornburgh, which had been attacked by Ute Indians for about four days. (Anne S. K. Brown Military collection, Brown University Library)

9th Cavalry in New Mexico in 1881, he recalled: 'On the march, or in camp, they are cheerful and obedient. Their horses are well cared for, and in two companies 1 have seen but one man lounging in his saddle, and he had more white than black blood in his veins; no falling out of ranks, or watering at different times. If ordered on detached or dangerous service, they never shirk it, and will ride hours without sleep, and apparently tin fatigued. They do not appear to sleep, and in camp seem to be awake all night. If washed out, as I saw one company, they will change their camp in the middle of the night, laughing and cracking jokes. There is every evidence to show they will and do fight well. Their own as well as other officers and citizens who have fought with them, attest this fact.’

CHRONOLOGY

1867-63 Campaign on the Central

August 2, 1867 August 21 , 1867 September 15, 1867 September 24, 1868 October 18, 1868

Plains

Saline River Prairie Dog Creek Big Sandy Creek

Arickaree Fork of the Republican River Beaver Creek

1867-73

Campaign on the Southern Plains

December 5, 1 867 December 26, 1867 September 14, 1868 June 7r 1869 May 20, 1870 April 1872

September 29, 1872

Eagle Springs Old Fort Lancaster Horse Head Hills Pecos River Kickapoo Springs Howard's Well North Fork of Red River

1 874—75 Red River War

August 22, 1874 October 24, 1 874 November 8, 1874 April 6, 1875

Anadarko Elk Creek McClellan Creek Cheyenne Agency

1875-77 Staked Plains and in the Texas ‘Panhandle1

July 10 -August 14. 1877 Nolan's ‘lost patrol'

1876-77 New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado

January 24, 1877 Florida Mountains

1876-78 Colfax County War in New Mexico

December 19, 1877 San Elizario

1877-78 Lincoln County War in New Mexico

July 19, 1878 Lincoln

1879 Ute Campaign in Colorado

October 1, 1879 Milk Creek Canyon

1 879-8 1 Vi ctori ©Campaign i

September 18, 1879 April 8. 1880 May 14, 1880 August 6, 1880 September 1 . 1 880 August 12, 1881

New Mexico

Las Animas River Hembnllo Canyon Old Fort Tularosa Ra7 esnake Springs Agua Chiquita Canyon Carrizo Canyon

1885-^36 Geronimo Campaign in Arizona and Mexico

May 3, 1886 Sierra Pinito

1889 May 11, 1889 Cedar Springs

1890-91 Wounded Knee Campaign in Dakota Territory

Decern ber 30,1 890 Dre xel M i ssson

ORGANIZATION

Of the 1 78,892 African-Americans who served in the US Army during the American Civil War, 32,369, or more than a sixth of their number, died in uniform. I n recognition of the contribution these 'men of color1 made to the Union victory, an Act of Congress, dated July 28, 1866, authorized the creation of six black regular army regiments as part of die additions to the ‘military peace establishment of the United States/ General Philip Sheridan, commander of the Department of the Gulf, was authorized to raise the 9th Cavalry, A recruiting office was established in New Orleans, Louisiana, and later that year, a second office was opened in Louisville, Kentucky. This regiment was placed under Colonel Edward Hatch, who had commanded a division of Union cavalry during the Civil War and played a decisive role in the Union victory at Nashville in December 1864.

The organization of die 10th Cavalry was begun on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and Benjamin H.

Grierson was awarded the colonelcy of this regiment. A commander of Illinois cavalry in Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi during the Civil War, Grierson earned a reputation as a fearlessly efficient officer when he led a 600-mile m o u n te d ra id in to Reb el ter ri to ry in 1863.

The 10th Cavalry took over a year to organize, but bv July 1867 eight companies of enlisted men had been recruited within the Departments of Missouri, Arkansas, and the Platte.

These black cavalry regiments were organized on the general plan of white units, with the exception of one important feature. Each had a white regimental chaplain attached, whose duty included the instruction of the black enlisted men in reading and writing. Until that time, army chaplains were not assigned to specific regiments. Furthermore, both the 9 th and the 10 r h ( .aval ry we re des i gn a t ed two veterinary surgeons each, whereas the white cavalry regiments had only one*

Regarding the foot soldiers, the 38th Infantry, commanded by Colonel William 8. Hazen, was assembled at Jefferson

Colonel Edward Hatch abfy commanded the 9th Cavalry from 1867 until his death following an accident while driving a buck board in 1889. (Library of Congress, USZ62- 78224)

Barracks, Missouri during 1866 and marched across the plains to New Mexico. Tine 39th Infantry, under Colonel Joseph A. Mower, began recruiting at Alexandria, Louisiana. The 40th Infantry, under Colonel Nelson A. Miles, was organized in Washington D.C., while recruits were gathered for the 41st Infantry in Louisiana, Alabama, and Ohio.

As part of the consolidation of the army via General Orders No. 16, the reorganization of the four black infantry regiments began on March 10, 1869. The 39th Infantry, based in North Carolina, proceeded to New Orleans where it was amalgamated with the 40th Infantry to become the 25th Infantry, under the command of Colonel Mower, with headquarters at Jackson Barracks, On June 8, 1870, this regiment was assigned to posts throughout the Texas frontier. Meanwhile, the 38th Infantry was transferred to Fort McKavitt, Texas, where it was consolidated with the 4 1st Infantry to become the 24th Infantry, under Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie. The 24th Infantry was to serve continuously in the heat and hostility of the Texas frontier until 1888, longer than any other infantry regiment of the army.

This young unidentified corporal, possibly of the 24th Infantry, wears an 1884-pattern blouse and 1872-pattern forage cap. He holds a Model 1873 Springfield rifle, (Herb Peck, Jr. collection)

Enlistment

The period of enlistment for cavalry was five years, while the infantry' served three years, with recruits for all regiments receiving thirteen dollars a month, plus 'room, board, and clothing,’ Many of those who joined these new units had served in all-black regiments during the Civil War. Others were newly freed slaves or free blacks from the North. Almost 40 percent of those recruited into the 9th Cavalry had prior military service, mainly with the 1 16th LS G >1< >i ed Troops, stationed at Ringgold Barracks, Texas, in 1865, Although fanners and laborers constituted most of the remainder, about 10 percent were artisans or domestic servants. Remitting officers of the 10th Cavalry were instructed to enlist 'colored men sufficiently educated to fill the positions of noncommissioned officers, clerks and mechanics,’ pirn other superior men’ who would be a 'credit to the regiment/

Regarding ihe original white officers appointed to the black regiments, all were required o > have experienced two years' active field service in the Civil War with the rank of captain or above. Two-thirds of these were drawn from the volumeei regiments, while the remaining third were expected to have seen regular annv sen ice. Appointment to a black regiment was not popular, despite >ssibi lilies for greater rank and more rapid promotion.

The need tor replacements for the black regiments was constant throughout the frontier wars, especially with such a short term of service

The first African-American to graduate from West Point,

Henry O. Flipper was assigned to the 10th Cavalry as a second lieutenant from 1877 until 1881, when he was wrongfully dismissed from service, (Courtesy of the US House of Representatives, National Archives & Records Adm i nistrati on)

in the infantry regiments. Some of the reorganized companies of the 24th Infantry were almost non-existent by 1870. According to a report in th e A rmy and Navy Journal, Co m pan y E , stati o n e d a t F o r t Gr i fit n, Texas, lost by expiration of service 26 men in January and February, 29 men in March and April, and 33 men in April, leaving on June 1, 1870, "but one man in the company/ By October of that year, the unit was the smallest infantry regiment in the army, with only 431 officers and men on its roster. The 25th Infantry was not much better off with a complement of 482. At the same time, a concerted effort was made to replenish the ranks of the cavalry regiments. The same journal reported that all ‘disposable colored cavalry recruits’ were being collected at the Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania, and at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, to be sent to Lite 9th and 10th Cavalry,

Black Offi cers

Although army regulations did not prevent the commissioning of black officers or the promotion of black NCOs as commissioned officers, not a single African-American rose through the ranks of the buffalo soldiers to hold such a rank between 1866 and 1895. Between the years 1870 and 1889 only 22 blacks received appointments to the US Military Academy at West Point. Twelve of these managed to pass the entrance examination

but only three succeeded in surviving four years of discrimination and social ostracism to graduate from the academy Henry O. Flipper, John H. Alexander and Charles IT. Young graduated in 1877, 1887, and 1889 respectively.

Henry Flipper was assigned to the 10th Cavalry at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he supervised the construction of a drainage system that prevented the spread of malaria at the post. Flipper's Ditch* is a national historic landmark today. Fighting in the Warm Springs Apache campaign in 1880, he commanded the couriers who brought word of the renegade Victorious arrival at Eagle Springs, Texas, from Mexico, riding 98 miles in 22 hours.

As well as fighting Apaches, Flipper went on to serve as a signal officer and quartermaster at several other posts, before being wrongfully accused of embezzling money from commissary funds while serving as Acting Commissary of Subsistence at Fort Davis, Texas, in 1881. He denied tiic charge, claiming that he had be e n se I u p by h is lei 1 ow c > ( fi ce rs , wh c > hated him because he was black. A

court-martial found him not guilty of embezzlement, but convicted him of conduct unbecoming an officer. Thus he was dismissed from the army and spent many years trying unsuccessfully to clear his name, Henry Flipper died without vindication in 1940, but in 1976 the US Army granted him an honorable discharge, following which a review board stated that he had been singled out because of his race. President Bill Clinton issued him a full pardon in 1999,

Both Alexander and Young were assigned to the 9th Cavalry, The former was attached to Troop M, stationed at Foil Washakie, Wyoming, in March 1888, and subsequently served in Nebraska and Dakota Territory. He was detailed as professor at the Department of Military Science and Tactics at Wilberforce University, in Xenia, Ohio, This institute became the first black college authorized to grant commissions to college students. Lieutenant Alexander continued to serve in this position until his death from a heart attack in March 1894,

Charles Young graduated from West Point in 1889 and remained on active duty for 38 years. He became the highest-ranking black officer during World War One, and the first black officer to hold the rank of colonel. His service included assignments as Military Attache to Haiti and Liberia. He was the second officer to hold the position of Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Wilberforce University. 1 1 is command and staff assignments had carried him to Haiti, the Philippines, and the Republic of Liberia. In January 1922 Colonel Young died. 1 le was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Discrimination

Inevitably, the black regulars were the victims of racial prejudice and discrimination. In 1867 a dispute developed between Colonel Grierson and Colonel William Hoffman, the commanding officer at Fort Leavenworth, when the 10th Cavalry was ordered to establish camp in a swampy area about one mile south of the permanent barracks. These two officers subsequently engaged in a heated argument on the parade ground in front of the assembled command when Hoffman ordered Grierson not to form his men too close to the white troops. As a result, Grierson completed his regimental organization at Leavenworth as quickly as possible and sent his companies on to Fort Riley for further training.

Worse still were the disputes that sometimes occurred among the enlisted men. On January 20, 1869, a ‘small row" broke out at Fort Wallace, Kansas, between the troopers of the 10th Cavalry and the white soldiers of the 5lh Infantry, This resulted in ‘three colored men being placed hors de combat' According to a rather unsympathetic: correspondent at the post, 4 One was wounded in the left arm, which was amputated by Dr. []. A.] Filz Gerald in artistic style. The other two were wounded in the legs, and it is a question whether they do not lose a leg apiece."

The buffalo soldiers were also wrongly accused of spreading disease. During the summer of 1866, a medical officer at Jefferson Barracks, Missour i began an unfounded rumor that recruits of the 38th Infantry, being raised at. that post, were responsible for beginning 4 a most disastrous outbreak of cholera on the high, dry plains of western Kansas.1 In fact, the Barracks was stricken nearly one month after the

8

Relationships between the buffalo soldiers and white civilians were often strained. This Remington drawing depicts the shoot-out at San Angelo, Texas, following the murder of a member of the 10th Cavalry in 1881. (From Remington, Done in the Open [New York: P. F. Collier & Son, 1898, 1902])

buffalo soldiers had departed for Fort TIarker, and the disease was most likely spread by civilians, either migrants from the wagon trains or workers on the railroad construction gangs.

Occasionally, the buffalo soldiers were the victims of cruelty from their own officers. During December 1872 and January 1873, Captain J. Lee Humfreville, Company K, 9lh Cavalry, inflicted a number of cruelties on the men under his command while on detached service performing escort duty. Seven troopers were handcuffed and forced to march from Fort Richardson to Fort Clark, Texas (a distance of about 400 miles) tied to the back of an army wagon. At the end of each days march, the same men r emained manacled and were required to carry a log weighing about 25 pounds up and down in front of a sentinel. On another occasion, Captain Humfreville punched Private Jerry Williams, who was being restrained by two NCOs. The officer next ordered Williams to be hung from a tree, following which he hit him over the head with a club! He also ordered Private Malachi G. Pope to be thrown into a stream during very cold weather and refused to allow any of these men to light camp fires at night time. On December 4, 1873, Captain Humfreville faced a court-martial and was dismissed from the service.

The buffalo soldiers continually encountered prejudice among the civilians they were garrisoned on the Frontier to protect. One of the worst trouble spots was Fort Concho in Texas, where elements of the 10th Cavalry served alongside the white I6th Infantry during the late 1870s. Troopers visiting the nearby town of San Angelo were regularly exposed to insults and harassment from the local residents. On several

occasions in 1878 and 1879 the soldiers demonstrated their willingness to retaliate by shooting up town saloons and business premises where they had been threatened or refused service. The worst incident occurred following the murder of Private William Watkins by a white sheep rancher in 1881. When news reached the fort, about 70 soldiers, black and white, converged on the town. According to the report of Colonel Grierson, ‘A good many shots were fired in the vicinity of the Hotel, but fortunately only one person [was] slightly wounded.’

In the face of common adversity, the white troops developed a great respect for the buffalo soldiers towards the end of the Indian Wars, In April 1891, a member of the garrison at Fort Custer, in Montana, wrote, The colored troops of the 25th Infantry ... get along extremely well with their white comrades of the 1st Cavalry, and the color line is exceedingly dim. So may it ever be. Men who wear the same uniform, eat the same rations, draw the same pay and fight for the same country, can ill afford to let the color of the skin form the cause of estrangement,’

A female buffalo soldier

In the absence of a thorough physical examination, Cathay Williams, the only black female to become a buffalo soldier, enlisted in Company A, 38th Infantry, on November 15, 1867. Born into slavery near Independence, Missouri, Williams was freed by Union forces during the Civil War, and served as a cook and laundress for the 8th Indiana Infantry from 1862 until the end of the conflict. Being tall and powerfully built, and calling herself ‘William Cathay,’ she easily fooled the recruiting officer of the 38th Infantry, who was anxious to secure volunteers to fill the ranks of his regiment. Her company arrived at Fort Cummings, New Mexico, on October l, 1867, and for the next two years she helped protect miners and immigrants from Indian attack. When interviewed later in life, she recalled, *1 carried my musket and did guard and other duties while in the army, but finally 1 got tired and wanted to get off. I played sick, complained of pains in my side, and rheumatism in my knees. The post surgeon found out I was a woman and 1 got my discharge.’ Sire finally left the army on October 14, 1868.

CAMPAIGNING ON THE CENTRAL PLAINS, 1867-1873

fhe first black regular army soldiers to see action on the Great Plains belonged to the 38th Infantry. By June 1867 this regiment was recruited up to full strength and shortly afterwards was posted along the Smoky Hill River in Kansas as part of General Winfield Scott Hancock’s campaign against the Cheyenne. Duties included escorting mail coaches, guarding relay stations, and protecting the construction gangs building the Kansas Pacific Railroad.

On J une 26, 21 year old Corporal David Turner and a detachment of Company K, 38th Infantry, assisted in the defense of supply wagons being escorted by elements of the 7th Cavalry. The black infantrymen had been assigned to guard a surveying party when the attack began. Realizing they were needed on the firing line, theyjumped into a wagon

10

pulled by four mules and raced to reinforce the white troopers of Companies G and I. 7th Cavalry. Standing and firing from the wagon as they charged through the battle lines, the black soldiers joined in the three-hour fight and assisted in driving back about 300 Cheyenne led by Chief Roman Nose. According to Libby Custer, wife of the lieutenant- colonel of the 7th Cavalry, ‘When the skirmish-line was reached, the colored men leaped out and began firing again. No one had ordered them to leave their picket-station, but they were determined that no soldiering should be carried on in which their valor was not proved/ Shortly after this, seven companies of the 38th Infantry were ordered to New Mexico, where regimental headquarters was established at Fort

Members of the 38 th Infantry stand guard behind the surveyors and engineers building the Kansas Pacific Railroad, circa 1867= Dressed in surplus Civil War uniforms, they wear 1851 -pattern frock coats and white dress gloves. (Kansas State Historical Society)

A Remington engraving depicting a detachment of Company K, 38th Infantry, helping the 7th Cavalry repel a Cheyenne attack at Port Wallace in Kansas during June 1867. (Author's collection)

Craig. This protected the central portion of the Caminp Real, a trail which stretched from northern Mexico to Taos, New Mexico. Elements of the regiment were also posted at Forts Bayard, McRae and Selclen. Meanwhile eight companies of the 41st Infantry were based along the Rio Grande River in Texas, with headquarters at the Ringgold Barracks. The remaining two infantry regiments were retained back east as part of the military occupation imposed on the defeated Southern States, with the 39th Infantry headquartered at Greenville, Louisiana, and the 40th Infantry on garrison duty in North and South Carolina*

In this photo by Alexander Gardner, a detachment of the 38th Infantry provides an escort atop a stagecoach in Kansas, circa 1867* The sergeant wears non -regulation leather gauntlets, while the enlisted men wear braes shoulder scales. (Kansas State Historical Society)

Saline River, 1867

Meanwhile, the two cavalry regiments had reached their respective stations* The 9th Cavalry was headquartered with Companies A, B, E, and K at Camp Stockton, Texas* The remainder of the regiment was located at Forts Davis and Hudson and at Brownsville, Texas* The 10th Cavalry was posted in Kansas along the Smoky Hill River, with Companies I, K, L, and M headquartered at the stone-built Fort Riley, and the rest of the regiment spread throughout four other posts. The buffalo soldiers found Fori Riley in 'very bad order,5 and spent much of their time cleaning and repairing the post.

The first fight between black cavalry troopers and Native Americans occurred on August 2, 1867, and involved Company F, 10th Cavalry, under the command of Captain George A. Armes* While trailing hostile* who had killed seven Union Pacific Railroad workers at CampbelFs Camp, two officers and 34 men of this unit encountered about 75 Cheyenne by the Saline River, 40 miles northeast of Fort Hays. Armes ordered his command to dismount and fight on foot and later reported: 4 kept my flankers well out, and advanced until I saw what was supposed to be a herd of buffalo, but close investigation discovered them to be

12

Indians coming to the support of those around me. 1 gave the command, "To the left, march!” and started for die post/ Under a blazing sun, the dismounted troopers held off their attackers during a running batdc that lasted about six hours. With ammunition running low, they were pursued for about 15 miles until the Cheyenne finally gave up the: chase as they neared Fort Hays. Captain Amies was wounded in the hip, while Sergeant William Christy, an ex-farmer from Pennsylvania, was shot through the head, and became the first black regular to be killed in action.

Prairie Dog Creek, 1867

On August 21, 1867, a force commanded by the same officer (sufficiently recovered from his wound), and consisting of 40 men of Company F, 10th Cavalry, and 95 men of the 18th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, under Captain George Jen n is, were scouting in several separate parties along the Saline River when the black unit was attacked by about 400 Cheyenne and Kiowa led by Chiefs Satan ta and Roman Nose.

The black troopers fiercely held ground, but discovered they were completely surrounded and were ordered to dismount and herd their horses into a ravine* Captain Amies recorded: 'The Indians fought me from 3 to 9 o’clock p.m. 1 Satan ta* in full army uniform on a beautiful grey horse, sounded the charge with his bugle at least a dozen times, whooping and yelling, and endeavoring to get his men to charge into the ravine, but only getting near enough to have at least twenty of his saddles emptied at a volley or a dozen or so ponies killed and wounded/

Eight troopers were wounded during the attack. At nightfall, Armes attempted to link up with other elements of his command. Finding his supply wagons guarded by 65 Kansas volunteers, he learned that Captain Jennis and 29 men were in a 'helpless condition/ having also been iin de r at ta c k s i i i c e r h e previ o u s eve n i ng * Se n d i n g oi it a r e 1 i e f force , the y b roug h t Je n nis and his w our i d ed i n to sa fe ty.

In the face of further attacks, Armes mounted about 20 black regulars and Kansan volunteers, and ordered a charge on the Indians. Galloping firstly toward Prairie Dog Creek, he then veered up hill toward the main body of warriors. Surprised by such decisive action, the Indians scattered but then rallied, having been reinforced by more braves. In danger of being encircled and cut off, Armes returned to his main force, after which the Indians withdrew. Losses for Armes on this occasion amounted to one soldier killed and scalped, and 1 1 wounded, while 14 Kansas volunteers and two guides were also wounded*

‘Buffalo Soldiers1 get their name

It was during these early actions that the nickname 'Buffalo Soldiers* was acquired, although it is doubtful that the black troopers ever used the term themselves. Because of their tight curly hair, which reminded the Indians of the woolly heads of the buffalo, the Cheyenne, Kiowa and Comanche referred to the African-Americans as £WiJd Buffaloes.* At first the Indians treated the black soldiers with contempt, but after a taste of their fighting qualities, they developed a great respect for those they continued to call 'Buffaloes* or ‘Buffalo Soldiers/ Aware that the buffalo was an important animal to Native Americans, later' generations of blacks accepted the name with pride arid the buffalo

18

Private Reuben Waller, Company H, 10th Cavalry, took part in the relief of Forsyth's Scouts during September 1868. He wears a Civil War surplus, 1353-pattern sack coat and forage cap, while his ‘ankle boots7 were prescribed for mounted service only.

{Kansas State Historical Society)

symbol became a prominent feature of the regimental crest of the 10th Cavalry.

During March 1868, the headquarters of the 10th Cavalry was moved from Fort Riley to Fort Gibson in Indian Territory, following which Colonel Grierson assumed command of the District of the Indian Territory. Elements of the regiment were involved in the winter campaign of 1867-68 to stop hostile tribes from raiding border settlements in Texas and Kansas. On September 15, 1867, Company I under Captain George Washington Graham was attacked by about 100 hos tiles at Big Sandy Creek, Colorado. Fighting until dark, they lost 10 horses killed or captured arid killed seven Indians. A Civil War veteran, Graham had commanded a company of ‘galvanized Yankees 5 (Confederate prisoners-of-war recruited to serve on the Western frontier during the closing days of the Civil War) from North Carolina from 1863 to 1865, before his assignment to the 10th Cavalry. In 1870 he faced a court-martial and was cashiered for selling government property. During the next five years he became an outlaw, often finding himself on the receiving end of army gunfire. He was eventually shot dead in October 1875.

Rescue of Forsyth’s Scouts, 1868

On September 23, 1868, Captain Louis H, Carpenter and Company H, 10th Cavalry, nick-named 'Carpenter’s Brunettes/ were patrolling the

Denver Road when couriers from Fort Wallace brought word that a company of civilian scouts under the command of Major George A, Forsyth was under attack on the Arickaree Fork of the Republican Riven A field officer on detached service from the 1 0th Cavalry, Forsyth had received orders from General Philip Sheridan to 'employ fifty first-class hardy frontiersmen’ to be used as scouts against hostile Indians. Having pursued a Lakota and Cheyenne war party, these men had been surrounded and forced to take refuge on a small island in the nearly dried-up bed of the Arickaree, There they dug in and made a stand. Shot in the head and leg , and with half his men either dead or wounded, Forsyth sent for help. After crawling through the Indian lines for several miles, two of his men finally brought word of their plight to Fort Wallace,

Leaving his supply wagons to catch up later, Captain Carpenter made all haste towards the Arickaree to relieve the beleaguered scouts. Company H arrived at the scene after the Indians had withdrawn, and the company commander’s orderly, Private Reuben Waller, a former slave who had enlisted at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1867, recalled, 'What a sight we saw - 30

14

wounded and dead men right in the middle of 50 dead horses, that had lain in the hot sun for ten days/ While an army surgeon attended to the wounded, Waller and the other buffalo soldiers began to feed the starving scouts with rations from their haversacks, 'If the doctor had not arrived in time we would have killed diem all by feeding them to death. The men were eating all we gave them, and it was plenty/

Several weeks after their return to Fort Wallace, some of the troopers of Company H took Trench leave” and went to Pond Creek, three miles from the post. According to Corporal Waller, 'When we got there we met the Beecher scouts, as they had been paid off. They sure treated us black soldiers right for what we had done for them/ For his pari in rescuing Forsyth's Scouts, Captain Carpenter became the first officer in his regiment to he awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, which was eve n tual 1 y i s s ue d to him on Apri 18, 1898.

Beaver Creek, 1368

On arrival at Fort Wallace, Carpenter reported having seen the tracks of a large party of Indians headed towards Beaver Creek. General Sheridan subsequently ordered seven companies of the 5th Cavalry, under Major William B, Royal!, to pursue the hostile*. Major Eugene Carr, the senior field officer of this regiment, arrived at the fort several days later. As Carr was anxl ou s to j o in the men o f h i s re gi m e n t i n a n tic i p ati o n ( >f at: t i on, Cap tai n Ca rp e n te r, co m m an d i ng Co m pan i es H a n d 1 , 10 th ( ’ aval ry, was ordered to escort him on this mission.

Unable to locate the 5th Cavalry, despite a 60-mile scout along Beaver Creek, Carr returned to Fort Wallace, leaving the bulk of Carpenter's men to continue the search* On October 18, 1868, Carpenter ordered Captain Graham to make one final attempt to find RoyalFs command. Accompanied by two buffalo soldiers, Graham had not gone more than 1,000 yards before being attacked by a large party of about 500 Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho, led by a medicine man called Bullet Proof. Wearing buffalo robes cured, like that of their Leader, in a 'secret manner’ with the horns left on, many of these Indians believed they were impervious to bullets!

As Graham and his men dashed back through a hail of bullets to the main camp, Carpenter reacted swiftly and moved his command to higher ground where he corralled the wagons in the form of a horseshoe. Company II was assigned to protect either flank, while Company I was detailed to cover the rear. The hlack troopers were ordered to dismount, tie their horses inside, and take up a defensive position behind the wagons, A Fire commenced from our seven-shooter Spencers which sounded like the fire of a line of infantry/ recalled Captain Carpenter. The Indians charged up around the wagons, firing rapidly and seriously wounded some of the men, hut in a very short time they were driven back in wild disorder, leaving the ground covered with ponies, arms, and some bodies/

Disappointed that their robes had not protected them, the hostile* withdrew, leaving ten Indians dead and three buffalo soldiers wounded. Forming his wagons into a double column, with men and animals inside, Carpenter subsequently moved his command back to the riverside, where they camped again for the night. Setting out on their return march the next day, they reached the safety of Fort Wallace on October 21, 1868. Six

15

days later, General Sheridan published a general order complimenting the officers arid men of the 10th Cavalry for their gallantry under fire at Beaver Creek.

The Peace Commission, 1867

Three black troopers pose for the camera of Will Soule, who accompanied the 10th Cavalry to Fort Sill in 1869. They appear to be wearing 1858-pattern sack coats shortened to the approximate length of the cavalry uniform jacket, while the sun reflects off the brass insignia fixed to the tops of their caps. Medicine Lodge Creek can be seen in the background. (US Army Artillery & Missile Center Museum, Fort Sill)

With the commencement of President Ulysses S. Grants Peace Policy on March 4, 1869, the 10th Cavalry became part of an army of occupation. During this period, the Plains tribes were brought into reservations managed predominantly by agents composed of members of the Society ol Friends, or Quakers. Regarded as hostiles, die Indians who rejected reservation life kept the buffalo soldiers very busy.

During the summer of 1869, four companies of the 10th Cavalry established Camp Wichita at Medicine Lodge Creek in Kansas. By August of that year it was named Fort Sill. Members of the regiment were responsible for constructing this post, much of which was built from stone quarried nearby. A typical evening with the buffalo soldiers during this period was described by an Army rif Navy Journal correspondent: The monotony of the camp is relieved by the songs of

the minstrel troupes in the different companies until taps blows, when all is still except the howling of the wolf or tiie bark of the coyote, relieved by the £tum turn turn7 of the rawhide drum in the Indian camp [nearby].’ From Fort Sill, the 10th Cavalry began to operate into northern Texas as well as Indian Territory. A detachment of the regiment escorted General Sherman when tie inspected conditions in the Brazos River region following a Kiowa attack on a government wagon train on January 24, 1871 . W ith a further massacre of a civilian wagon train on May 18, three companies of the regiment took part in the peaceful arrest of the Kiowa chiefs Satank, Eagle Heart, Big Tree and Big Bow, after Satank admitted lie had led the attack.

At the beginning of 1873, Colonel Grierson was ordered to St. Louis as S tiperi n ten den t of th e Mo un te d Recruiting Service, and Lieutenant- Colonel John W. £ Black Jack’ Davidson commanded the 10th Cavalry, by then headquartered at F or 1 G ibs< :>n, in Indian 4 e rr i u ) ry, until

1875.

During January 1873, Davidson received word that the Comancheras were selling whisky to the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho, For

Troopers of the 1 0th Cavalry built Fort Sill in 1869 using stone quarried nearby. Many of these buildings still surround the old post quadrangle today. (US Army Artillery & Missile Center Museum, Fort Sill)

generations, these New Mexico outlaws had traded liquor, arms and ammunition to the Kiowas and Comanches on the Staked Plains, in return for livestock and other plunder of the Indian raids on Texas settlements. As a result. Lieutenant Richard H. Pratt and twenty troopers of Company D, 10th Cavalry, were ordered to set out from Camp Supply in be low-zero weather to bring back under arrest those responsible. Although a severe north wind turned their march into an ordeal, the same weather conditions kept the Comancheros in their cabins, enabling Pratt to round up 15 prisoners, plus their baggage, which contained '