Buffalo Soldiers

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Buffalo Soldiers

• Directed by Shawn Byrd
• EDUC 3336
• April 23, 2002

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Who Were the Buffalo Soldiers?
Slaves picking cotton

• Ex-enslaved
• Free blacks
• Former Civil War Soldiers (United States Colored
  Troops)

USCT
http//www.coax.net/people/lwf/portrait.htm
William Still
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Their Origination
On September 21, 1866 The 9th Calvary was
activated at Greenville, Louisiana AND the 10th
Calvary was activated at Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas. ALSO The 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st
Infantry regiments began. http//discoverseaz.c
om/History/BufSold.html
Hatch
Grierson
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Where Did The Name Buffalo Soldier Originate?
The black soldiers where given the name Wild
Buffalo by the Plains Indians, which was
translated to Buffalo Soldier. The Native
Americans considered the black soldiers a worthy
ferocious opponent with hair resembling that of a
Bisons (Buffalo).
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When Where They Served
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Desertion Rate
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Names of Native American Opponents

• Geronimo
• Victorio
• Mangus Colorados
• Loco

• Nana
• Kiowa
• Cheyenne
• Comanche

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A Feared and Infamous Opponent

• Geronimo, an Apache, was the leader of the last
  American Indian fighting force formally to
  capitulate in the United States.

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A Sound Tactician Leader of Men

• Victorio, an apache war chief was pursued by the
  9th 10th cavalries in 1879 and 1880.
• http//www.zianet.com/snm/geronvic.htm

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Lieutenant
Colonel
Allen Allensworth
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Lieutenant Colonel Allen Allensworth, was born a
slave in Louisville, Kentucky. He retired from
the army in 1906 and was the highest ranking
black officer in American history. After
retirement Allensworth founded an all-black town
in California. In 1912 more than 100 people
settled in Allensworth, CA, located north of
Bakersfield. The town of Allensworth, as a
result of being a stop on the Los Angeles San
Francisco rail line was prosperous. Its
businesses included a number of trades, farming,
shopkeeping and carpentry.
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The towns economic prosperity slowed down when
the Santa Fe Railroad rerouted its line and the
landlord reneged on the towns water contract
which was crucial for survival. In 1914 Colonel
Allen Allensworth was killed in an accident in
Los Angeles as a result the towns resident
drifted away reducing Allensworth to a ghost
town. The last of the townspeople left in 1940.
The 900 acre town site designated a state
historical park by California in 1976.
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Buffalo Soldiers
Montana 1894
9th Cavalry
http//www.vq.com/overview_buffalosoldierhistory.h
tm
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A Buffalo Soldier Wearing a Buffalo Coat
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A Buffalo Soldier
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Rankings of Buffalo Soldiers
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Medal of Honor
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MEDAL OF HONOR RECEIPENTS
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Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper
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Flipper was born in Thomasville, Georgia on March
21, 1856 into slavery. He eventually became
the first black to graduate from the US Military
Academy in 1877. He was commissioned to serve as
second lieutenant and was assigned to the 10th
Cavalry. From 1878 1880 he served in various
places in the Southwest. In 1881 Flipper was
accused of embezzling funds and of conduct
unbecoming of an officer by his commanding
officer.
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Although he was acquitted of the embezzlement
charges, he was found guilty, by general court
martial of conduct unbecoming of an officer. On
June 30, 1882 he was dismissed from the Army. He
made numerous attempts to have his conviction
reversed, but to no avail. Flipper died in 1940
in Georgia. Nevertheless, Flippers descendants
and supporters fought to have his dishonorable
discharge removed from his record. Finally in
1997 a private law firm filed an application with
the Secretary of the Army on Lieutenant Flippers
behalf and on Feb. 19, 1999
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President Clinton pardoned Flipper, which allowed
his honorable discharge to back date to June 30,
1882. Clinton also recognized the lifetime
accomplishments of this Buffalo Soldier.
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The True Identity of William Cathay

• Cathay Williams enlisted as William Cathay in the
  38th Infantry, Company A in November 1866

http//.afroamhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa1
11201a.htm
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References
http//afroamhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa11
1201a.htm http//www.zianet.com/wblase/courier/buf
falo.htm http//www.buffalosoldier.net http//www.
louisdiggs.com/buffalo/history.html http//www.sru
.edu/depts/scc/collaborate/pages/buffalos/polk.htm
l http//discoverseaz.com/History/BufSold.html htt
p//members.tripod.com/buffalos/history.htm http
//www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/Feb1999/a19990223flip
perf.html http//www.army.mil/cmh-pg/topics/afam/f
lipper.htm Katz, William L. Black Indians.
Atheneum Macmillan Publishing Co., 1986. P
198.