| Maj. Gen. William J. Shafter, served as commander of the
24th Infantry between 1869-1879. Shafter was appointed major general of
volunteers after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War and led the U.S.
troops in Cuba. After the war, he was named commander of the Department
of California and the Columbia, a post he held until his retirement in
1901.
As a first lieutenant in the 7th Michigan Infantry, during the Civil
War, Shafter participated in the battle at Ball's Bluff, Virginia, and
earned a Medal of Honor at the battle at Fair Oaks in 1862.
Many officers considered it a beneath their dignity to command black
troops, or "brunettes" as General Custer refered to them, but "Buffalo
Soldiers" rode to white soldiers rescue, including Custer's more than once
during the Indian Wars. Led by men like Shafter and "Black Jack" Pershing
they excelled, winning the respect of their enemy, if not that of their
white comrades. When American troops charged up Cuba's San Juan Hill, it
was the Shafter's veteran Buffalo Soldiers, not the "Rough Riders" that
carried the day. In all the black soldiers won five Congressional Medals
of Honor during the War with Spain. They had many years fighting on the
plains, in the Indian Wars, against what many experts considered the toughest,
light calvary in the world.
Shafter died in 1906, and is intered in the Presidio of San Francisco,
National Cemetery, along with some 450 soldiers from his 24th, and the
25 Infantry, 9th and 10th Cavalries. His grave is located in the Officer's
Section, Section 30, Grave 2. |
