Celebrating Buffalo Soldiers Day: A legacy of bravery and service

By Kendra Bryant
AFRO Intern
kbryant@afro.com

Each year on July 28 many across the country celebrate Buffalo Soldiers Day, honoring the legacy of the African-American soldiers who have valiantly served their country, even in the face of oppression. 

According to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum (BSNM), African Americans have fought in every U.S. military conflict since the colonial period. 

In fact, according to the National Museum of the U.S. Army, when Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 with more than 2,000 troops to inform the enslaved populations in the area that they were in fact free, many of the men who accompanied him were Black. The men were former slaves and free men who had joined the United States Colored Troops (USCT). But it wasn’t until after the Civil War that they served in organized, all-Black regiments during peacetime.

“In 1866, through an act of Congress, legislation was adopted to create six all-African American Army units,” reports the BSNM, which is located in Houston. “The units were identified as the 9th and 10th cavalry and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st infantry regiments. In 1869, the four infantry regiments were reorganized to form the 24th and 25th infantry regiments.”

“​​The Black soldiers were charged with and responsible for escorting settlers, cattle herds and railroad crews as the country expanded in the West,” states information from the BSNM. “Regiments also conducted campaigns against American Indian tribes on a western frontier that extended from Montana in the Northwest to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in the Southwest.”

James Hayes, who proudly portrays 1st Lt. Stephen Swails, of the Civil War’s 54th Massachusetts Regiment at community events, takes pride in the fact that it was the Black soldier that was called upon to help tame the West. 

“They felt that the African-American soldiers who had combat experience during the Civil War would be excellent candidates for that. Thus, the Buffalo Soldiers were born,” said Hayes, a 69-year-old Atlanta native.

The troops earned the name, “Buffalo Soldiers,” from Native American tribes who, according to the BSNM, used the term because of the Black soldiers’ “combat prowess, bravery, tenaciousness, and looks on the battlefield.” 

Still today, the term stands as a sign of respect. Descendants of the Buffalo Soldiers and Black history buffs across the nation have associations open to those interested in keeping the legacy of the soldiers alive. 

Hayes, who began serving his community as a living historian in 1989, said volunteering his time is just one way he contributes to future generations.

“Learn your history,” said Hayes. “When you don’t know your history, you repeat the same mistakes over and over and over again. How many times do we have to learn?”

“With the Civil War, we learned that we had to fight for our freedom. As African Americans, we are one of the only people who had to fight for freedom in our own country. We had to fight for equal rights,” said Hayes. “Those rights are being challenged today, and people are under the impression that they won’t take that again.” 

For Antoine Watts, of Philadelphia, serving as a living historian has been a life-long dream.

“I’ve wanted to be a living historian my entire life,” said the 51 year old. “My father was a big history buff. We had an agreement when I was a kid: he did everything from World War II to the present day at that time. I had everything from World War I backwards. I was younger- I had a harder job.” 

Watts said that it’s important for Black people to serve as living historians who reenact the past through the Black lens– especially given today’s climate.

“We need to know our history,” he said. “I’m terrified of what I’m seeing now with our young people not knowing– or not wanting to know where we came from. Yes, we were enslaved, but our ancestors that were enslaved and brought over here were originally warriors. The Bantu tribe, Mandinka tribe, Ojibwe tribe, Songhai Empire, the Mali Empire. Those first slaves that came here were captured soldiers. That blood still runs through us.”