Buffalo Soldier

Buffalo Soldiers were United States Army regiments formed during the 19th century to serve on the American frontier that primarily comprised African Americans. On September 21, 1866, the 10th Cavalry Regiment was formed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The nickname "Buffalo Soldiers" was purportedly given to the regiment by Native Americans who fought against them in the American Indian Wars, and the term eventually became synonymous with all of the African American U.S. Army regiments established in 1866, including the 9th Cavalry Regiment, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Regiment and 38th Infantry Regiment. Although several African-American Union Army regiments were raised during the American Civil War (referred to collectively as the United States Colored Troops), "Buffalo Soldiers" were established by the United States Congress as the first peacetime all-black regiments in the U.S. Army. The regiments were racially segregated, as the U.S. military would not desegregate until 1948. On September 6, 2005, Mark Matthews, the last surviving Buffalo Soldier, died aged 111. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Sources disagree on how the nickname "Buffalo Soldiers" began. According to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum the name originated with the Cheyenne warriors in the winter of 1877, the actual Cheyenne translation being "Wild Buffalo". However, writer Walter Hill documented the account of Colonel Benjamin Grierson, who founded the 10th Cavalry regiment, recalling an 1871 campaign against Comanches. Hill attributed the origin of the name to the Comanche, due to Grierson's assertions. The Apache used the same term ("We called them 'buffalo soldiers,' because they had curly, kinky hair ... like bison") a claim supported by other sources. Another possible source could be from the Plains Indians who gave them that name because of the bison coats they wore in winter. The term Buffalo Soldiers became a generic term for all black soldiers. It is now used for U.S.