Buffalo Soldiers, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1941

Entitled: These men are not football players even though they are wearing helmets. There're members of the famous African American 9th Cavalry regiment, and are wearing crash helmets as they ride in the Army's new speedy little blitz buggy or bantam reconnaissance car. The jeep is a lightweight vehicle with a short wheelbase. It has four wheel drive, a low gas consumption, and can travel at a high rate of speed. Ft. 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 24, 1941

Picture No

12698673

Media ID

48540554

Size

4500px x 3169px (1.0MB)

Credit

U.S. Army/Science Source/Mary Evans