Buffalo Soldiers, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1941
Entitled: Troops of the 9th Cavalry stands at attention beside their pup tents. Band instruments are seen in the left foreground. The famous 9th was in bivouac when the photographer snapped this picture. Fort Riley, Kansas. Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the US 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. This nickname was given to the Negro Cavalry by the Native American tribes they fought in the Indian Wars. The term eventually became synonymous with all of the African American regiments formed in 1866: 9th Cavalry Regiment, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 24th Infantry Regiment, and 25th Infantry Regiment. Although several African American regiments were raised during the Civil War as part of the Union Army (including the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and the many United States Colored Troops Regiments), the Buffalo Soldiers were established by Congress as the first peacetime all-black regiments in the regular US Army. On September 6, 2005, Mark Matthews, who was the last living Buffalo Soldier, died at the age of 111. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. U.S. Army photograph May 28, 1941
