“Buffalo Soldiers In the Heart of America”
The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston, Texas
Renée S. Gordon
There have been no American military engagements in which
African Americans have not participated at some level. In the 1600s
British colonies blacks were used to defend against Indian
attacks. Massachusetts’ 1636 law was one of the earliest
documented laws to state that “all able-bodied Negroes” had to
report to serve in the militia. Enslaved and freedmen were
among the 9,000 African Americans serving in the Continental
Army as Patriots, largely in integrated units. During the War
of 1812 it is estimated that 15% of the soldiers and sailors
were of African descent and General Andrew Jackson called for
“free colored inhabitants of Louisiana” to enlist in the US
Army on Sept. 21, 1814 with the promise of equal pay. The Civil
War witnessed Union enlistment of approximately 200,000 African
Americans, an estimated 100,000 once enslaved, resulting in a
death toll of nearly 40,000.
The government enacted a law on June 28, 1866 that established
four segregated infantry and two cavalry
Buffalo Soldier units.
These regiments were created to “increase and fix the military
peace establishment of the United States”. They were stationed
in the South to enforce Reconstruction, build and repair
infrastructure and protect those engaged in the westward
migration. The Buffalo Soldiers enlisted for five years at a
rate of $13.00 a month and room and board.
In the years they served they were stationed at nearly all of
the Texas frontier forts between the Rio Grande and the Red
River beginning with their first transfer to Texas in 1873. It
was they who erected forts, accompanied wagon trains, guarded
the railroads and mail, brought criminals to justice and fought
against Indian attacks. They accomplished all these things
while being issued substandard equipment and being victims of
unrelenting prejudice. Some white officers refused to lead
them, Custer being one of them, and they were restricted to
postings west of the Mississippi River because some whites
refused to have them in their area. In spite of hardships they
completed their jobs and served with honor.
The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum and The Center for African
American Military History are in Houston, Texas serves to
maintain and promulgate their history and legacy. It was
established in 2001 by Captain Paul Matthews and meticulously
showcases his astonishingly large private collection. Matthews
began his collection in the 1960s after learning of their
exploits. The 28 galleries are thematic and interpret the
history of the Buffalo Soldiers and the African American
military experience up to the present. An orientation movie is
offered before embarking on the self-guided tour.
Gallery 12 is the Westward Expansion. It is believed that the
Buffalo Soldiers received their name from the Plains Indians
because their hair and ferocity resembled that of the buffalo.
The name was a term of respect and the soldiers themselves
embraced it and incorporated the animal on their regimental
insignia. Former slave Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper’s story is told
here. In 1877 he was the first black West Point graduate and
served with the 10th Cavalry as the first black officer to
command in the regular US Army. He was targeted, court
martialed and dismissed in 1882. In 1999 he received a
presidential pardon.
Native Americans, Seminole Indian Scouts and the Indian Wars
introduces visitors to the Black Seminole scouts. The Seminoles
were asked to relocate to Texas, serve as scouts, and promised,
land, rations and pay. They served valiantly but the US kept
none of the promises even going so far as to stop rations for
their families. The unit was disbanded in 1914 and by that time
they had earned four Medals of Honor. The honorees are buried
in the Seminole Negro Indian Scout Cemetery near Fort Clark,
Texas.
President Theodore Roosevelt, after banding together a group
known as The Rough Riders, garnered a reputation as a military
tactician and leader during the Spanish American War. History
tells us that they charged Cuba’s San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898
but somehow omits, or downplays the fact, that all four of the
then existing regiments of the US Colored Troops also made the
charge. The Rough Riders and the 9th and 10th were the first to
charge. Gallery 14 returns them to the narrative.
William Cathay became a Buffalo Soldier on November 15, 1866.
Numerous illnesses resulted in visits to the post doctor and
the discovery that William Cathay was actually Cathay Williams,
the only woman to ever serve as a Buffalo Soldier. She was
honorably discharged. A short video and additional information
is located in Gallery 15.
The remaining galleries are filled with artifacts, art and
memorabilia on the World Wars, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Pearl
Harbor, Women in the Military and the Camp Logan Race Riot. The
tour ends at the Medal of Honor Wall with information on the
nine Medal of Honor recipients.
Ultimately the Buffalo Soldiers were deactivated and integrated
into a racially integrated US Armed Forces as mandated in
Truman’s Executive Order 9981. The Twenty-fourth, the final
segregated unit, remained so until the Korean War in 1951.
One of the highlights of the museum is a Buffalo Soldier Mardi
Gras costume. It is located in the lobby and one should examine
the details closely.
This museum is a gem and not to be missed.
Note: Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 22 features a
Buffalo Soldier marker and memorial tree. The Rough Riders
Marker is nearby.