The Ninth Regiment of Cavalry was organized
in September 1866 in Greenville, Louisiana. It was initially comprised of men from the New
Orleans vicinity. Later that year,
recruiting was conducted in Kentucky, so most of the enlisted men in the
newly formed regiment were from either Louisiana or Kentucky. In March 1867, when the regiment was ordered
to San Antonio, it numbered 885 enlisted men.
Early in June, 1867, the regiment was ordered into
western Texas and on July 1, 1867 Companies C, F, H and I, under the command
of Lieutenant Colonel Wesley Merritt, officially reoccupied Fort Davis,
the post having been abandoned since 1862.
Merritt and his Ninth Cavalry troopers had a sizeable job ahead of
them. In addition to helping to
build a new post, they had the Apache and Comanche Indians to contend with. It was their responsibility to protect the San
Antonio - El Paso Road, as mail and stage traffic on it had resumed following
the Civil War. Enlisted men at Fort
Davis were detailed on scouts and patrols.
Small detachments were often stationed as guards at stage stations
such as Barilla Springs located on a barren flat twenty-eight miles northeast
of Fort Davis, Barrel Springs twenty-two miles west of the fort and named
for the wooden water barrels stuck into the earth near the station to collect
water, and El Muerto or Dead Man’s Hole situated approximately thirteen
miles northwest of Barrel Springs.
For the most part, the patrols were only successful
in checking Apache and Comanche activities, as their tracks were often the
only visual signs the troops had of their presence in the area. In September 1868, a detachment from Fort Davis
composed of troopers from Companies C, F and K, Ninth U. S. Cavalry, under
the command of First Lieutenant Patrick Cusack, met with more success.
In pursuit of a band of about 200 Apaches who had been raiding near
Fort Stockton, the lieutenant and his men came upon the Indians in camp
just north of present-day Big Bend National Park.
Three of Cusack's men were wounded in the attack.
Indian casualties numbered between 20 and 25 with as many warriors
wounded. The soldiers captured over 200 head of stock
and all of the Apaches’ provisions and equipment.
In 1869, Colonel Edward Hatch, Ninth
Cavalry replaced Merritt as post commander of Fort Davis. During his brief stay at the post, he ordered
three separate expeditions against the Mescalero Apaches in the Guadalupe
Mountains. All three expeditions
involved Ninth Cavalry troopers from Fort Davis.
Lieutenant Colonel William (Pecos Bill) Shafter, in
the summer of 1871, led three companies of the Ninth on an expedition that
led them into the previously unscouted region of the southern Staked Plains. Although Shafter failed to encounter any American
Indians, he did capture a Mescalero woman who, through an interpreter, gave
much valuable information on Apache activities in the region. In addition, he proved that the army could successfully
survive in an area that was almost void of surface water. In October of the same year, Shafter, committed
to the belief that neither the Apaches nor Comanches would stay in a threatened
area, again led an expedition into the Big Bend. Again no native peoples were confronted, but
the knowledge gained of area terrain proved invaluable to subsequent patrols
and scouts.
In September 1875, the Ninth U. S. Cavalry was transferred to the District of New Mexico with headquarters at Fort Union. The eight years the regiment spent in Texas and at Fort Davis in helping to open the region to peaceful travel and settlement were successful. Under the command of energetic officers, these black enlisted men developed their unit into a first-rate regiment and amassed an impressive record on the western frontier.
Printer-friendly
pdf format Ninth U.S. Cavalry
The
Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry at Fort Davis
Being a soldier in the army on the
Texas frontier at a post such as Fort Davis was certainly not a glorious
or easy job. The work was hard, the
hours long, living conditions less than ideal, and the isolation from civilization
was often sorely felt. At posts where
soldiers of African-American descent served, there were often racial prejudices,
which existed within the army ranks as well as in many of the nearby communities.
Nevertheless, black regiments exhibited excellent morale and espirt de corps.
The Twenty-fourth U. S. Infantry was organized in November
of 1869 following the passage of the Army’s Reorganization and Reduction
Act earlier that year. The Twenty-fourth
was in actuality a consolidation of two other African-American regiments
of Infantry (the Thirty-eighth and the Forty-first established in 1866).
The Thirty-eighth had been recruited in St. Louis, while the Forty-first
was organized in southern Louisiana. The staff appointed to command the
new Twenty-fourth, headquartered at Fort McKavett, Texas, was a colorful
one - headed by Colonel Ranald Slidell
Mackenzie and Lieutenant Colonel William R. Shafter.
Units of the Twenty-fourth served at
Fort Davis from November of 1869 until April of 1872 and again from June
to November of 1880. But as Company
E of the old Forty-first was stationed at Fort Davis when the consolidation
took place, and it was one of the companies that became Company B of the
new Twenty-fourth, many of the same men had been serving at the post since
March of 1868.
During their first tour of duty at Fort Davis, the
enlisted men of the Twenty-fourth were involved in all the usual, tedious,
everyday soldier routines and fatigue details in garrison in addition to
constructing fort buildings, guarding stage stations, and scouting and patrolling
hundreds of miles of desolate terrain. In 1871, detachments of Company F of the Twenty-fourth
were stationed at El Muerto (Dead Man’s Hole) located approximately thirty-five
miles west of the post and at and Barrilla Springs situated twenty-eight
miles northeast of the Fort Davis. Both
were isolated, vulnerable mail stations on the San Antonio-El Paso Road. A major expedition was undertaken in the summer
of 1871, led by Lieutenant Colonel Shafter, after Comanches attacked Barrilla
Springs and drove off forty-four mules and horses belonging to the Twenty-fourth
Infantry. In December of that year,
Shafter, with enlisted men of the Twenty-fourth led another expedition in
pursuit of American Indians.
In 1880, the Twenty-fourth U. S. Infantry returned
to Fort Davis, and from June until October the post served as the regiment’s
headquarters. Army records show that
the men were engaged in a variety of garrison duties being detailed as cooks
in the post hospital, as gardeners, as bakers in the post bakery, as teamsters,
carpenters, masons, and plasterers in the Quartermaster Department, as laborers
in the Subsistence Department, and as overseers in the post school. They also provided an invaluable service on
the frontier by building military roads, guarding stage stations, constructing
and repairing military telegraph lines, scouting, guarding waterholes, and
escorting government supply trains, survey parties, freight wagons, and
mail coaches.
Enlisted men
of Company H of the Twenty-fourth were involved in a major engagement with
the Apaches during the Victorio Campaign when the supply train they were
guarding was attacked at Rattlesnake Springs on August 6, 1880. Troops of Twenty-fourth Infantry played a crucial
role in the battle that forced Victorio to retreat and flee to Mexico. Two
months later, Mexican forces killed Victorio and many of his followers in
the Battle of Tres Castillos in Mexico.
For the most part, being an African-American
infantryman at Fort Davis was a thankless job. More of his time was spent searching for elusive
Apaches or Comanches than was spent skirmishing with them. The miserable duty of guarding a waterhole in
the west Texas sun to keep the American Indians from drinking there -or monotonous work like erecting miles of telegraph
poles and stringing telegraph wire - probably did not have much
significance for the individual soldier performing the tasks. The Twenty-fourth
U. S. Infantry, however, left an indelible mark on the Southwest and played
an important role in the peaceful settlement and development of the Trans-Pecos
and Big Bend area of Texas.
The
Twenty-fifth U.S. Infantry at Fort Davis
As with the Twenty-fourth U. S. Infantry,
the Twenty-fifth U. S. Infantry evolved from units originally authorized
by the 1866 Act of Congress. The
Twenty-fifth, formed during the army's reduction-in-force of 1869, was composed
of personnel from the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Infantry Regiments.
Enlisted men of the two parent units had been drawn from southern
Louisiana and northern Virginia. Many had seen limited service as Union volunteers
during the Civil War.
Several distinguished officers were
selected to command the new regiment, including Colonel Joseph A. Mower,
Lieutenant Colonel Edward Hinks and Major Zenas R. Bliss. All were seasoned veterans of the Civil War. The first headquarters of the regiment was established
at Jackson Barracks, Louisiana in April 1869. The Twenty-fifth did not enjoy this peaceful
home for long, however, as it was soon moved to the Texas frontier.
Proceeding by official order to San
Antonio in May and June of 1870, the regiment’s ten companies went into
bivouac together for the last time for many years to come. They were soon to be scattered far and wide
to posts in western Texas -Forts Davis, Clark, Bliss and
Stockton.
In the course of the June 20, 1870
regimental inspection conducted by Department of Texas Commander James H.
Carleton, the troops of the Twenty-fifth were found to be well trained and
disciplined. A drill demonstration
scheduled for the same review was cancelled due to the extreme heat of the
afternoon. The first sergeant of
Company A collapsed on the San Antonio parade ground that day from the effects
of heat exhaustion. This experience
was just a taste of what he and the men of his company were to endure as
part of their upcoming duty at Fort Davis.
On July 31, 1870, after a march of
about 350 miles through the summer heat of Texas, Companies A and G arrived
at Fort Davis. These miles were the
forerunners of thousands more to be covered by the foot soldiers of the
regiment as they performed a variety of duties in and around Fort Davis. The duty would take the men to the border country
along the Rio Grande, to the Mescalero Apache Reservation in southern New
Mexico, and to numerous mail stations and army camps on the trails crisscrossing
the Trans-Pecos region of Texas.
Life at Fort Davis for the soldiers
of Companies A and G began with inglorious, but essential assignments. Company A was split into smaller detachments
that were detailed to guard nearby stage stations from Apache or Comanche
attacks. Company G was ordered to a forested area 16
miles west of the fort to establish and operate a lumber camp and sawmill,
one of several known over the years as the "Pineries." In the succeeding months and years, from the
fall of 1870 to the spring of 1880, various other companies of the Twenty-fifth
Infantry served at Fort Davis.
A new and highly respected commander,
Colonel George L. Andrews, was assigned to the Twenty-fifth in June 1871.
Early in 1872, Andrews with the regiment’s field staff and band were
transferred to Fort Davis. The post served as the headquarters for the
regiment until May of 1880.
Besides the construction and maintenance
of buildings on post and other routine garrison duties, the enlisted men
and officers of the Twenty-fifth participated in many off-post projects.
Company E accomplished the construction of new roads through Wild
Rose Pass and Musquiz Canyon, under the command of Captain David Schooley.
When government trains were detailed to Tularosa, New Mexico to pick
up lumber for the fort, a detachment from the regiment often served as the
protective escort. In December 1876,
a large contingent was ordered to "Presidio del Norte, Texas for the
purpose of protecting American citizens from aggression by Mexican marauders
and bandits." Part of the contingent
remained in Presidio for more than two months before peace was finally restored
to the settlement.
Perhaps the most important field-labor
detail for the regiment was that completed by Second Lieutenant George Andrews
and the men of Company I in February of 1879. They constructed 91-1/2 miles of telegraph line
west from Fort Davis to Eagle Springs (near present-day Sierra Blanca, Texas),
connecting with a recently finished section from Fort Bliss. This telegraph line, in conjunction with another
from Fort Concho to Fort Davis, was the vital communications link used by
Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson, Tenth U. S. Cavalry, and his command during
a subsequent campaign against Apaches in western Texas.
While Colonel Grierson was planning
strategies during the Victorio Campaign, Colonel George L. Andrews (father
of the aforementioned lieutenant) received orders for the transfer of his
regiment to what was in 1880 known as the Dakota Territory. By the end of the summer of 1880, the entire
command relocated to the Northern Plains.
Duties for the companies of the Twenty-fifth at their new stations
were very similar to those performed in Texas.
The Twenty-fifth U. S. Infantry compiled an impressive history on the frontier. Surmounting the obstacles of harsh living conditions, difficult duty, low pay, and racial prejudice, the men of the regiment gained a reputation for dedication and bravery. The words of Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson, in a General Order issued by him in 1881, may best reflect this reputation: "It is a pleasant duty for me to thank the officers and enlisted men for the zeal and alacrity with which they responded to every demand . . . for the fortitude with which they braved dangers, and the intelligent activity and efficiency manifested in the discharge of the duties assigned them.”
Printer-friendly pdf format 25th U.S. Infantry
The Tenth U.S. Cavalry
at Fort Davis 1875-1885
The Tenth U. S. Cavalry has earned
a respected place in the pageant of American military history. Formed in the mid-19th century, the
Tenth Cavalry has been retired, reactivated, and redesignated numerous times.
The regiment found its origins at Fort
Leavenworth in 1866. Its commander,
Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson, set very high standards of recruitment, which
delayed the organization of the regiment for a year. By July of 1867, eight companies of enlisted
men recruited from the Departments of Missouri, Arkansas, and the Platte
made up the unit. At approximately
the same time, orders were received calling for the transfer of the Tenth
Cavalry to Fort Riley, Kansas. Two
months after the regiment's arrival in Kansas, four more companies were
added to its ranks.
For the next eight years the regiment
was stationed at different forts throughout Indian Territory (present Oklahoma),
Kansas, Colorado Territory, and Texas. During this period, the men of the Tenth provided
guards for work parties of the Union Pacific Railroad and assisted in the
building of Fort Sill. In 1867-1868,
they participated in General Philip Sheridan's winter campaigns against
the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and Comanches.
In 1875, the regiment’s headquarters
was moved to Fort Concho, Texas. Company H was detailed to Fort Davis, arriving
for duty in May 1875. From 1875 until
April of 1885, units of the Tenth Cavalry served at Fort Davis, which became
the regiment’s headquarters in 1882.
The regiment's mission in western Texas was to protect
the mail and travel routes, control Indian movements, and gain knowledge
of the terrain. The regiment proved
successful in carrying out its orders. It
is recorded that the Tenth Cavalry scouted approximately 34,420 miles, opened
300 miles of new roads, and built 200 miles of telegraph lines.
The scouting activities took the troopers through some of the most
desolate and harsh land of the southwestern United States.
The men compiled excellent maps detailing water holes, mountain passes,
and grazing areas. The long scouting and patrolling marches produced
tough soldiers who became accustomed to an area that offered few comforts
and no luxuries. They became thoroughly
familiar with the land and the unconventional hit-and-run tactics of Apaches.
One highlight in the history of the Tenth Cavalry was
the 1879-1880 campaign against a renegade band of Apaches and their leader
Victorio. The elusive Victorio and
his band escaped from the reservation in New Mexico and caused havoc as
they pillaged the area of west Texas on their way to Mexico. Learning that Victorio was in Mexico, Colonel
Grierson attempted to prevent him from re-entering Texas and especially
from reaching New Mexico where he could find more supporters. Grierson knew that this could be accomplished
by controlling the springs and waterholes.
The campaign called for the biggest
military concentration ever assembled in the Trans-Pecos area. Six troops of the Tenth Cavalry and Company
H of the Twenty-fourth Infantry patrolled the area from the Van Horn Mountains,
west to the Quitman Mountains and north to the Sierra Diablo and Delaware
Mountains. Encounters with the Apaches
usually resulted in skirmishes, however, major confrontations occurred at
Tinaja de las Palmas (a waterhole south of Sierra Blanca) and at Rattlesnake
Springs (north of Van Horn). These
two engagements halted Victorio and forced him to retreat to Mexico. Victorio and his band were not captured, but
the campaign conducted by the Tenth was successful in preventing them from
reaching New Mexico. The regiment’s
efforts of containment exhausted Victorio's band and the Apache leader and
many of his warriors were killed by Mexican troops in northeastern Mexico
in October of 1880.
One of the few enlisted men mentioned
by name in the reports of the Victorio campaign was Corporal Asa Weaver.
In command of a small detachment stationed at Alamo Springs in the
Eagle Mountains on August 3, 1880, he discovered a band of Victorio's followers.
Weaver and his men, pursued by the warriors, were in a running fight
that extended over fifteen miles. For
his bravery at Alamo Springs, Weaver was awarded a field promotion.
Fort Davis remained the headquarters
for the Tenth Cavalry until the spring of 1885, when the regiment transferred
to the Department of Arizona. Once
again the regiment was involved in the arduous pursuit of Apaches, this
time under department commanders Generals George Crook and Nelson Miles
in the campaigns against Geronimo.
In the history of Fort Davis, the Tenth
U. S. Cavalry amassed a notable record of accomplishments. They arrived at the fort in the mid-1870s when
western Texas was still open to attacks by American Indians. By the time they left in 1885, peaceful travel
and settlement prevailed in the region.
Desertion
in the African-American Regiments During the Frontier Indian Wars
The success and effectiveness of African-American
enlisted men during the frontier Indian Wars was in part a result of the
training, leadership, equipment and experience provided by the Regular Army.
It was also due to the determination to succeed of the black recruits
who enlisted in the army.
An Act of Congress of July 28, 1866
authorized two black cavalry and four black infantry regiments as part of
the Regular Army. Recruiting for
the new regiments, which were considered by the army as somewhat of an experiment,
began in the fall of 1866 and special attention was given to the caliber
of men selected. Solicited first
were personnel of the U. S. Colored Troops, blacks who fought in the Union
Army. New recruits came from the ranks of these volunteers
from the New Orleans area, the fringes of the southern states, and from
large northeastern cities like Boston and New York.
Benjamin H. Grierson, Colonel of the
Tenth U. S. Cavalry, was especially concerned with enlisting men who demonstrated
initiative and a keen desire to learn. He sought men who possessed a sense of self-esteem
and who would "do credit to the regiment." Recruits in the Tenth as well as in the other
black regiments were raw, and few had any expertise that qualified them
for military service. Many could
not read or write. Grierson and the
other regimental commanders of African-American troops, however, achieved
a measure of success. The men they
enlisted had one essential quality necessary for becoming soldiers - they had the desire to succeed.
Social advancement and economic independence
were principal motives for black enlistments throughout the Indian Wars.
The Regular Army offered African Americans a chance to better themselves
in post-Civil War society, which legally recognized their rights as free
men but did little to protect their status as citizens or to insure them
a chance at "the good life." The
fortitude to be “somebody” led blacks to enlist in large numbers. It was this same persistence that spurred them
to stay in the army once they had enlisted.
Desertion was the single most serious
problem of the late 19th -century army. In 1891, Secretary of War Stephen B. Elkins
estimated that one-third of the men recruited into the army between 1867
and 1891 deserted. Only a small percentage
of this figure, however, was from the ranks of the black regiments. In 1868, out of the army’s 10,939 deserters,
only 394 were blacks. As African
Americans represented approximately one-ninth of the total strength of the
army, these figures reflect a ratio of one to three. Desertions in the white regiments were roughly
three times greater than among black enlisted men.
In the Southwest, the desertion rate
appears to have been far below the national average. The black regiments boasted desertion rates
lower than other regiments on the frontier.
The Tenth Cavalry in 1877 had a total of 18 desertions as compared
with 184 for Colonel Ranald Mackenzie’s Fourth Cavalry. In 1880, despite the hardships of the Victorio
Campaign, the Tenth Cavalry reported only 5 desertions. The regiment had the best record of any unit
in the country. From 1867 to 1881,
the years Fort Davis was manned exclusively by black enlisted men, the average
desertion rate at the post was slightly more than six men per year.
African-American recruits faced the same hardships
as their white counterparts. Low
pay ($13.00 per month for a private), loneliness, and boredom were common
conditions endured by all soldiers on the frontier. An army investigation disclosed that the use
of liquor and general dissatisfaction with army life were two of the major
reasons for desertions. Nonetheless,
in the face of such obstacles, the black soldiers admirably resisted the
temptation to desert. They were more
content in the army than their white comrades and consequently drunkenness
was lower than in white regiments.
African Americans joined the army for
some of the same reasons whites enlisted.
Ironically though, whites deserted for some of the same reasons blacks
remained. The desire to better oneself
after receiving a free ticket to the West was a common cause of desertion
among white enlisted men. Conversely,
black regulars were proud of their occupations as soldiers. To desert would necessitate a drop in status
to a socially unacceptable position.
Generally the African-American enlisted
men who served in the Indian Wars Army enjoyed being soldiers. They were proud of their profession and proud
to play a part in bringing peace to the American frontier. Their desertion record is one that often is
overlooked in the annals of military achievements, yet it is one that serves
to strengthen their accomplishments and to give added dignity to their service.
