Buffalo Soldiers Day" February 19 at SSU

SALISBURY, MD---The Thomas Elzey Polk Sr. chapter of the 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry (the "Buffalo Soldiers"), in conjunction with the Baltimore Metropolitan Area chapter, host "Buffalo Soldiers' Day" at Salisbury State University on Saturday, February 19, from noon-4 p.m.

Activities include exhibits and a lecture by Dr. Clara Small of the SSU History Department at 1 p.m. commemorating the first African Americans in the nation's history to serve in the regular peacetime Army. All presentations, free and open to the public, are in the Wicomico Room in the Guerrieri University Center.

Nearly 16 months after the end of the Civil War, an act of Congress authorized the formation of two regiments of calvary composed of "colored" men. On September 21, 1866, the 9th Cavalry Regiment was activated at Greenville, LA, and the 10th Cavalry Regiment was activated at Fort Leavenworth, KS.

Under the leadership of Colonels Edward Hatch and Benjamin Grierson, first Regimental commanders of the 9th and 10th respectively, both regiments were trained and equipped and began a long and proud history.

For over two decades, the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments conducted campaigns against American Indian tribes on a western frontier that extended from Montana in the Northwest to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in the Southwest. They engaged in several skirmishes against such great Indian chiefs as Victorio, Geronimo and Nana. "Buffalo Soldiers" was the name given the black cavalrymen by the Plains Indians; the reason is uncertain. One view is that the Indians saw a resemblance between a black man's hair and the mane of a buffalo. Another view is that when a buffalo was wounded or cornered, it fought back ferociously, displaying unusual stamina and courage. This was the same fighting spirit Indians saw in combat with black cavalrymen. Since the Indians held the buffalo in such high regard, it was felt the name was not given in contempt. The horse cavalry and the Buffalo Soldiers were disbanded by the U.S. Army in 1944.

The Maryland General Assembly signed a citation in 1998 making February 20 of each year "Buffalo Soldiers' Day" in Maryland.

For more information about the Buffalo Soldiers' exhibit and lecture, please contact the SSU Public Relations Office at 410-543-6030.