Major George William Ford was an original member of the 10th Cavalry (Buffalo Soldiers) and later a Major with the Second Battalion of the 23rd Kansas Volunteers during the Spanish American War. Ford was born on November 23, 1847, on the Mount Vernon Plantation in … Read MoreGeorge William Ford (1847-1939)
On July 28, 1866, the Thirty-Ninth Congress passed the Act to increase and fix the Military Peace Establishment of the United States; thus the federal government created six all-Colored Army Regiments. The units identified as the 9th and 10th Colored Cavalry Regiments and the 38th, … Read MoreFormation of the Buffalo Soldiers, 1866
During the Spanish American War, several battles were fought that included Buffalo Soldiers. The Battle of Kettle Hill (generally known as San Juan Hill) fought on July 1, 1898, was the most significant since it was the only battle that involved all four buffalo soldier … Read MoreBattle of San Juan and Kettle Hill (1898)
African Americans began a migration up the island of Manhattan in the early 1800s. Starting in Five Points, which is now New York City’s Chinatown, they moved in succession to Washington Street on the Lower West Side, then the Tenderloin in the West 20s and … Read MoreSan Juan Hill, New York City (ca. 1895-1940)
In May of 1899 the United States Army sent Buffalo Soldiers, the black soldiers of Company L of the 24th Infantry, to Dyea, Alaska Territory. The Klondike Gold Rush had brought hordes of gold rushers up the Lynn Canal to the tiny ports at Dyea … Read MoreBuffalo Soldiers in Skagway, Alaska (1899-1902)
When the U.S. Army was reorganized on July 28, 1866 for peacetime service after the American Civil War, six regiments were set aside for black enlisted men. These included four infantry regiments, numbered 38th through 41st. The 25th Infantry was created during a reduction in March 1869 by … Read More25th Infantry Regiment (1866-1947)
William McBryar was a biracial buffalo soldier whose received the Medal of Honor for his participation in the 1890 Cherry Creek Campaign in Arizona Territory. McBryar was born on February 14, 1861 in Elizabethtown, North Carolina to Rose McBryar, an African American, and a white father whose name is unknown. McBryar attended … Read MoreWilliam McBryar (1861-1941)
The 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps was a unit of black soldiers commanded by a white officer, Lt. James A. Moss, which was formed in 1896 to test the combat viability of bicycle-mounted troops by riding from Missoula, Montana to Saint Louis, Missouri. Moss, a West Point graduate and … Read More25th Infantry Bicycle Corps (1896-97)
Benjamin O. Davis Sr. was the first African American to be named a general in the American military. Davis claimed to have been born on July 1, 1877, but according to some sources, his birthdate may have been in May 1880, and he lied about … Read MoreBenjamin O. Davis Sr. (1877-1970)
Early 20th Century East San Francisco (California) Bay civic leader and activist, Fannie Franklin Wall, was born in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1860 She married Archy H. Wall, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army who also later worked for the San Francisco Post Office. They … Read MoreFannie Franklin Wall (c. 1860-1944)
