Services - Buffalo Soldier Monument
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Colonel Benjamin Grierson formed the 10th
Cavalry on 21 September 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. It, along with
the 9th Cavalry, 24th and 25th Infantry, formed the first all-black
regiments in the Regular United States Army. In western Kansas, the Kiowa
encountered the soldiers of the 10th as valiant opponents and termed them
the "Buffalo Soldiers." In time, the term designated all of the
black soldiers in all four regiments. The Buffalo Solders left Fort
Leavenworth to win repeated honors on the plains and in the west. In 1898
the Buffalo Soldiers fought in Cuba winning praise from Theodore Roosevelt
and his Rough Riders for their critical role in the battle for Santiago.
The Buffalo Soldiers also served on the Mexican border before the American
entry into the First World War.
On 1 July 1909, the Army formed the Command and General Staff School Support Detachment, Colored. On 12 October 1931, these troops became the 10th Cavalry (minus the 2nd Squadron and the Machine Gun section). From 1931 to 1940, the 1st Squadron of the 10th Cavalry served at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The major function they performed in the peacetime years of the first half of the twentieth century was as essential support troops for the Command and General Staff College. Additional Information about the Buffalo Soldier: |
