A paper which discusses the history of the Buffalo Soldiers – infantry men in the American army of African-American descent.
The paper shows that, although the term “Buffalo Soldier” is often proudly used in reference to any man of African American descent in the United States military, it originally denoted those who served in the cavalry and infantry, fighting in the Indian Wars. Over 180,000 Buffalo Soldier (mostly on the Unionist side) fought during the American Civil War and over 33,000 died. This paper shows the difficulties such as racism and hostilities faced by these Buffalo Soldiers. It describes the conditions under which these special units fought and their role in the peace-keeping attempts between the whites and the Native Americans.
“As hostilities increased between the white settlers and the Indians, the Buffalo Soldiers became the force responsible for ensuring that peace was kept. As the hostile Indians were forced onto reservations which failed to support them, they resorted to war against not only the white settlers but also the Indian tribes who had allied themselves with the whites. The Buffalo Soldiers fought against them with great courage and, considering their equipment and experience, with considerable success. To their credit, they did not once participate in either massacres or atrocities. They fought, at one time or another, the Kickapoos, Lipans, Comanches, Utes, Kiowas, Apaches, Shoshones, Cheyennes, Bannocks, Sioux and Blackfeet, as well as Mexicans and Chiricahua renegades. Although many of them had no previous fighting experience, they prevailed against such great leaders as Chatto, Geronimo, Cochise, Juh, Satanta, Victorio, Nachez, Loco, Benito, Mangus and Nana.”