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Reviews
The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Black Cavalry in the West, revised edition
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By William H. Leckie, with Shirley A. Leckie
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University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2003. Illustrations, photographs, maps, notes, bibliography, index. 336 pages. 29.95 cloth.
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Reviewed by Dwayne Mack
Berea College, Berea, Kentucky
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| After the Civil War, African American soldiers helped with U.S. efforts to secure the western territories. The story of the buffalo soldiers, as the Plains Indians called them, is one of courage, perseverance, dedication, and triumph, yet very few historians have examined their role in settling the western frontier. |
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William H. Leckie and Shirley A. Leckie capture in vivid detail the bravery of the buffalo soldiers during the Indian Wars. First published in 1967, The Buffalo Soldiers re-examines the period from the end of Civil War to the early 1890s and re-creates the fierce battles between African American detachments from the Ninth and Tenth Regiments of the U.S. Cavalry and Native Americans. The soldiers' duties carried them to areas of present-day New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and Colorado, where they "relocated" Comanches, Kiowas, Kiowa-Apaches, Southern Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and other Native American groups to reservations. The buffalo soldiers' duties were not limited to fighting Native Americans, however. They also apprehended Mexican bandits and revolutionaries and "border scum" such as bootleggers, cattle rustlers, horse thieves, "crooked government contractors, heartless Indian agents, and land-hungry homesteaders" (p. 18). The most notable aspect of this study is its fluid and captivating prose, particularly when the authors describe the soldiers' encounters with the revered Native American leaders Victorio, Geronimo, Satank, and Santana. |
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Their military duties gave these African American men the opportunity to "prove their manhood in a nation that, by and large, but particularly in the South, denigrated their worth as human beings" (p. 10). Despite having inadequate artillery, mounts, clothing, shelter, and food, the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry "had an outstanding record for faithful service, with a desertion rate well below any units of the army" (p. 164). Besides being poorly equipped, the buffalo soldiers encountered racial hostility from white soldiers and the citizens they protected. At Fort Richard-son and Fort Concho in Texas, for example, white residents of the former slave state "were hardly likely to welcome anyone in a blue uniform, much less so if that uniform encased a black frame" (p. 71). |
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A new epilogue examines the soldiers' careers after the Indian Wars. The authors posit that most men found it difficult to adjust to civilian life because the Jim Crow system prevented them from "enjoying their right to full citizenship" (p. 278). This section also includes an overview of scholarship about buffalo soldiers and of private and public efforts to memorialize the men since the first edition was published. |
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An impressive collection of photographs, maps, and drawings complements the narrative. The photographs make the members of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalries come alive again. The study is filled with graphic descriptions of battles and chases across mountain ranges and territories, and readers unfamiliar with the geography of the nineteenth-century western frontier may lose track of the narrative. Numerous maps and illustrations, however, will aid readers in following the trail of the soldiers and their foes. |
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The book has some shortcomings. The final chapter examines the recreational activities, educational activities, and family life of the soldiers. The new material in the chapter is minimal, and it offers only a glimpse into the soldiers' personal lives. The buffalo soldiers need to be seen as men whose lives transcended their work. |
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The study is anchored by solid research, especially the chapters examining the activities of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry in Texas, the Red River War, and the Victorio War. To support their research, the authors rely on military records from the National Archives, including informative correspondence between military officials, reports, and fort records. Their work is also enhanced by the use of Native American documentary sources such as the Cheyenne-Arapaho, Kiowa, and Indian Agent and Agency files at the Oklahoma State Historical Society. |
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I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in military, Native American, and African American history. It offers significant insight into the United States's successful efforts in settling the West and the contributions of African Americans to that effort. As the authors note, "the story of the buffalo soldier is not a chronicle of black history. It is instead a chronicle of American history and a vital part of our common national heritage" (p. 296). In all, the authors have improved on what was already a groundbreaking study that adds significantly to our knowledge of American expansionism and, more importantly, of African Americans in the West. |
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