African Americans served in the U.S. Military during the Civil War and continued to serve afterward. Many of these soldiers went on to fight in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War. Although the pay was low, only $13 a month, many African Americans enlisted because they could earn more and be treated with more dignity than they often received in civilian life.
In 1866, Congress established six all-black regiments (consolidated to four shortly after) to help rebuild the country after the Civil War and to fight on the Western frontier during the Plains Wars. It was from one of these regiments, the 10th Cavalry, that the nickname Buffalo Soldier was born. American Plains Indians who fought against these soldiers referred to the black cavalry troops as “buffalo soldiers” because of their dark, curly hair, which resembled a buffalo’s coat, and because of their fierce nature of fighting. The nickname soon became synonymous with all African-American regiments formed in 1866.
In addition to their military duties, the Buffalo Soldiers also served as some of the first care takers of the national parks. Between 1891 and 1913, the U.S. Army served as the official administrator of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The soldiers were stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco during the winter months and then served in the Sierra during the summer months. While in the parks, soldier’s duties included fighting wildfire, curbing poaching of the park’s wildlife, ending illegal grazing of livestock on federal lands, and constructing roads, trail and other infrastructure. In 1903, Captain Charles Young led a company of Buffalo Soldiers in Sequoia and General Grant (now Sequoia and King’s Canyon) National Parks. Young and his troops managed to complete more infrastructure improvements than those from the previous three years. They completed a road to the Giant Forest and a road to the base of Moro Rock. Their work on these new roads now allowed the public to access the mountain-top forest for the first time.
The Buffalo Soldier regiments went on to serve the U.S. Army with distinction and honor for nearly the next nine decades. The storied Buffalo Soldiers regiments came to an end during the Korean War and the institution of Executive Order 9981.
Here we present the individual stories of the Buffalo Soldiers sorted by the regiments in which the men served. Choose a regiment from those pictured and listed below to view their stories.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Aaron R. Fisher
Aaron R. Fisher was born in 1892 in Lyles, Indiana. He enlisted in the Army in 1911. He served with the Buffalo Soldiers of the Twenty-Fourth Infantry during the Punitive Expedition into Mexico. He was an officer in the all-Black 366th Infantry in World War I. He received the Distinguished Service Cross and France’s Croix de Guerre for his actions in France. He was an ROTC instructor at Wilberforce University from 1936 to 1947. He died on November 22, 1985, in Xenia, Ohio.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Augustus Walley
Augustus Walley was born enslaved in 1856 in Maryland. He enlisted in the Ninth Cavalry in 1878. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions on August 16, 1881. He fought at the Battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish American War in 1898. He died in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 9, 1938.
Brent Woods
Brent Woods, who became a sergeant in the Buffalo Soldiers, was born enslaved in 1855. He earned the Medal of Honor for his valor in New Mexico on August 19, 1881. He is buried in Mill Springs National Cemetery in Nancy, Kentucky
Brigadier General Charles Young
- Sites: Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, Presidio of San Francisco, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Throughout his life, Charles Young overcame countless obstacles in his ascent to prominence. In spite of overt racism and stifling inequality, Young rose through the military ranks to become one of the most respected leaders of his time. From leading men in combat on foreign soil to leading men domestically in our country’s national parks, Young led by example and inspired a generation of new leaders. He was posthumously promoted to Brigadier General on November 1, 2021.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Clinton Greaves
Clinton Greaves was born in 1855 Virginia. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in the Florida Mountains of New Mexico in January 1877. He died on August 18, 1906, in Columbus, Ohio. He is buried in Columbus at Green Lawn Cemetery, Section 27, Lot 88.
Edward L. Baker Jr.
Edward Lee Baker, Jr., was a Buffalo Soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Spanish American War in Cuba on July 1, 1898. He served in numerous units including the Forty-ninth Infantry, U.S. Volunteers. He was commissioned a captain in the Philippine Scouts in 1902. He died on August 26, 1913, at the age of 47 and was buried in Los Angeles, California.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Emanuel Stance
Sergeant Emanuel Stance of the Ninth U.S. Cavalry was the first African American soldier to be awarded the Medal of Honor in the post-Civil War era. Stance was born into slavery in Carroll Parish, Louisiana, in 1844. He enlisted in the Ninth U.S. Cavalry on October 2, 1866. Stance received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award, on June 20, 1870.
George Jordan
George Jordan came to the Army like many other African American young men of the time, illiterate and in search of meaning in their lives. Jordan would go on and become a well-respected leader among his men in his storied military career that spanned three decades.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Henry Johnson (1850-1904)
Henry Johnson was born enslaved in 1850. He enlisted in the cavalry in 1867. By October 1879, he reached the rank of sergeant. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Milk River, October 2-5, 1879. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Section 23, Lot 16547.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
John Denny
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John Denny enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1867 in Elmira, New York and served with the Ninth Cavalry. In 1879 at Las Animas Canyon, New Mexico, Sergeant John Denny saved a fellow comrade in battle. He was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
John Hanks Alexander
John Hanks Alexander was born on January 6, 1864, in Helena, Arkansas. He attended the United States Military Academy, and in 1887 he became the second African American to graduate. He was a roommate and mentor to Charles Young at West Point and in the U.S. Army. He died on March 26, 1894, in Springfield, Ohio, and was buried at the Cherry Grove Cemetery in Xenia, Ohio.
Moses Williams
He entered the Army as an illiterate ex-slave, but Moses Williams took advantage of the opportunities presented to him to become educated and also became a Buffalo Soldier who achieved one of the Army’s highest honors during his military service career.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Thomas Boyne
Thomas Shaw
Sgt. Thomas Shaw was one of several Buffalo Soldiers who would wind up receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions during the Indian Wars on the frontier.
Thomas Boyne was born enslaved in Prince Georges County, Maryland, in 1849. He fought during the American Civil War as part of Battery B, Second Colored Light Artillery. After the war, he joined the Ninth U.S. Cavalry, a Buffalo Soldier regiment. Boyne was awarded the Medal of Honor for two separate engagements in 1879. He also served in the Fortieth Infantry and Twenty-fifth Infantry.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
William O. Wilson
William Othello Wilson was a member of the Ninth U.S. Cavalry at the end of the Plains Wars (1890). He was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery on December 30, 1890. Wilson was the last American soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for actions on American soil. He died in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1928.
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Charles Faulkner
Charles Faulkner had a thirty year career with the 10th Cavalry. He travelled to Cuba and the Philippines, and retired at the Presidio San Francisco.
Charles Key
Charles Key was a Buffalo Soldier who served his country for decades with distinction
Charles Terry
Charles Terry was a Buffalo Soldier whose military career lasted almost 30 years.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Edward ‘Sancho’ Mazique
Edward ‘Sancho’ Mazique was born enslaved on June 10, 1849, in South Carolina. He enlisted in E Troop, Tenth Cavalry in 1875. He served at Fort Concho, Texas a carpenter. He was honorably discharge in 1880. He lived to be 101 and died on April 20, 1951.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Edward L. Baker Jr.
Edward Lee Baker, Jr., was a Buffalo Soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Spanish American War in Cuba on July 1, 1898. He served in numerous units including the Forty-ninth Infantry, U.S. Volunteers. He was commissioned a captain in the Philippine Scouts in 1902. He died on August 26, 1913, at the age of 47 and was buried in Los Angeles, California.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Fitz Lee
Fitz Lee was born in June 1866 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. As a Buffalo Soldier, he earned the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Spanish American War on June 30, 1898. He died in Leavenworth, Kansas, on September 14, 1899, at the age of 33.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
George Wanton
George Henry Wanton was born on May 15, 1868, in Paterson, New Jersey. He earned the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Spanish American War on June 30, 1898. He retired from the Army in 1925 as a master sergeant. He died on November 24, 1940, at the age of 72.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Henry O. Flipper
Henry Ossian Flipper was born enslaved on March 21, 1856, in Thomasville, Georgia. He was the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1877. He was dishonorably discharged from the Army on June 30, 1882, based on racist motives of some white officers he served with. He was posthumously pardoned on February 19, 1999.
James Brown
James Brown served in the 10th Cavalry almost thirty years, before his untimely death in 1895.
Lewis Harris
Lewis Harris served with the USCT, 10th Cavalry, and 24th Infantry during his long military career. He fought in the Civil War, “Indian Wars,” and Spanish American War before retiring in 1901.
Michael Finnegan
Michael Finnegan was a Buffalo Soldier in the 10th Cavalry and 24th Infantry. After his military career was over, he was on a steamship that was sunk by a German Submarine in 1917.
Pollard Cole
Pollard Cole was a veteran of the US Colored Troops (Civil War) who enlisted in the 10th Cavalry and had a long military career.
William H. Thompkins
A member of the African-American 10th Cavalry commonly known as the “Buffalo Soldiers,” SGT William H. Thompkins served in the Spanish-American War.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
William McBryar
William McBryar, a Buffalo Soldier in the Tenth U.S. Cavalry, received the Medal of Honor for his participation in the 1890 Cherry Creek Campaign in the Arizona Territory. He was later a member of another Buffalo Soldier regiment, the Twenty-Fifth U.S. Infantry, during the Spanish- American War.
Resource National Park Service