Day 98, May 4

Learning about Freddie Stowers made me want to know more about the Buffalo Soldiers and their place in our country's history.  Formed on September 21, 1866, Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the "Negro Cavalry" by the Indian tribes they fought.  The term eventually became synonymous with all of the Negro regiments formed in 1866:  (Notice here that I have not used the politically correct terms for African Americans or Native Americans.  Such terms did not exist in the 19th century, and it seems foolish to pretend they did.)

• 9th Cavalry Regiment
• 10th Cavalry Regiment
• 24th Infantry Regiment
• 25th Infantry Regiment

Although several Negro regiments were raised during the Civil War to fight alongside the Union Army (including the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and the many United States Colored Troop Regiments), the "Buffalo Soldiers" were established by Congress as the first peacetime all-black regiments in the regular U.S. Army. On September 6, 2005, Mark Matthews, who was the oldest living Buffalo Soldier, died at the age of 111. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery