• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / History / Who were the Buffalo Soldiers and Where did the Buffalo Soldiers come from?

Who were the Buffalo Soldiers and Where did the Buffalo Soldiers come from?

February 8, 2020 by Karen Hill

On July 28, 1866, Congress passed an act allowing blacks to serve in the regular peace time army.

The act created two cavalry regiments, the Ninth and the Tenth, and four infantry regiments. Many of the men who joined were former slaves, and some had fought in the Civil War. Almost all of them chose the army because it offered what little dignity they could find in the United States at that time.

In 1867, the Ninth and Tenth Regiments were sent out West. Excellent in hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship, they fought with bravery and valor in Indian wars in the Dakotas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Arizona. They battled outlaws, Native Americans, and Mexicans, and brought law and order to western towns.

They even helped to capture Geronimo and Billy the Kid. They built army posts; escorted trains, stages, and cattle drives; strung telegraph lines; mapped new areas for settlers; and opened Native Americans compared them to the buffalo, an animal they considered sacred, and gave them the name “Buffalo Soldiers.”

Benjamin O. Davis Sr. (1877-1970), the first black general in United States military history, began his career with the Buffalo Soldiers on June 14, 1899, as a private in the Ninth Cavalry. The Buffalo Soldiers made up nearly 20 percent of the U.S. Cavalry in the West.

Related Facts

  • What happened to the Buffalo Soldiers after the American Indian Wars?
  • How did the Buffalo Soldiers get their name and what does it mean?
  • When were the Buffalo Soldiers disbanded ending racial segregation in the U.S. Army?
  • What was the European Age of Exploration?
  • What Happened To the Buffalo of the Great Plains and How Did Hunting Affect Buffalo Herds In North America?
  • Who was Buffalo Bill and What was Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show about?

Filed Under: History

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How many Black Nurses were there in the United States before World War I?
Next Post: What was happening in theater during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance period? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy