July 1866: A Milestone In Black History
The Establishment of Black Regiments in the Regular Army
It was opposed by many, considered only an experiment by others, but the "Act to Increase and Fix the Military Peace Establishment of the United States" changed the course of American Military History, and afforded blacks a permanent place in the Armed Forces of the United States.
The Act of Congress, dated July 28, 1866, increased the size of the Regular Army by raising the number of infantry regiments from nineteen to forty-five and the number of cavalry regiments from six to ten. The legislation stipulated that of the new regiments created, two cavalry and four infantry "shall be composed of colored men." For the first time in the history of the United States, regiments composed of black troops were authorized as part of the Regular Army.
As slaves and as free men, blacks participated in the French and Indian Wars. They fought under Generals Braddock and Washington in the American Revolutionary War. In the War of 1812, black troops manned defenses against the British at the Battle of New Orleans. It was the Civil War, however, that provided the first opportunity and need for the use of blacks in the army on a large scale. Nearly 200,000 blacks wore the Union blue, and more than 33,000 of them died in that tragic conflict.
Their exemplary service in the Civil War paved the way for the authorization of the black regiments. Designated as the Ninth and Tenth United States Cavalry, and the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, and Forty-first United States Infantry, the units were organized under white officers between the summers of 1866 and 1867.
THE NINTH AND TENTH CAVALRY
The Ninth Cavalry initially saw action in Texas with Companies C, F, H, and I, officially reoccupying the abandoned post at Fort Davis on July 1, 1867. The first home of the Tenth Cavalry was Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; after seeing duty in Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado, the regiment came to Texas in 1873. It was troopers of these two cavalry regiments that earned the nickname "Buffalo Soldiers" – a term supposedly given them by the Indians because of the resemblance of their hair to the short, curly hair of the buffalo.
THE INFANTRY REGIMENTS
In 1869, the infantry regiments underwent consolidation. The Thirty-eighth and Forty-first became the Twenty-fourth, while the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth combined to form the Twenty-fifth. For the next eleven years, the regiments were headquartered in Texas. In May of 1880, the Twenty-fifth Infantry transferred to the Department of Dakota with its headquarters at Fort Randall. Later in the year, the Twenty-fourth Infantry was ordered to Indian Territory with the regimental staff and band taking station at Fort Still.
PROUDLY THEY SERVED
Black troops served at Fort Davis, Texas, from 1867 to 1885. Surmounting obstacles of harsh living conditions, difficult duty, low pay and racial prejudice, they gained a reputation of dedication and bravery. Stationed continuously on the frontier during the years of American Indian hostilities, the black regiments played a major role in the peaceful settlement and development of the American West.
Black regiments later served in the Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection, and Mexican Punitive Expedition. In the mid-1950s, the army desegregated the last all-black units. For the first time, black and white soldiers served together in the same regiments.
