Buffalo Soldier Medal of Honor recipients

The Buffalo Soldiers were members of all-African American peace-time Army regiments. The name was originally applied to the Tenth Calvary Regiment from Fort Leavenworth Kansas, a regiment created by an act of Congress in 1866. Eventually, the term Buffalo Soldier came to mean any of the African American Army Regiments, which included the Ninth Calvary, Twenty-Fourth Infantry, Twenty-Fifth Infantry, and Second Thirty-Eighth Infantry. Although Congress allowed for African Americans to serve in the Army following the Civil War, these soldiers were only allowed to serve in the West, past the Mississippi River, in order to support westward expansion. They were also tasked with helping build infrastructure, such as roads, and providing protection to civilians and the US mail service.

Background

Historians cannot agree to the exact origin of the usage of the nickname, Buffalo Soldier, but it is thought that it was given to them by Native Americans who fought the Army during the American Indian Wars. The Native Americans likened the soldiers to buffalo either by the appearance of their dark curly hair or their bravery and excellent horsemanship skills. As the buffalo was highly regarded by the Great Plains Native Americans, the name was seen as a compliment. An image of a buffalo was used on the Tenth Calvary’s regimental crest.

The soldiers did more than just maintain peace-time duties; they also participated in military action throughout the American Indian Wars, which lasted though much of the nineteenth century. Buffalo Soldiers also actively fought in the 1892 Johnson County War, the Spanish American War, the Philippine-American War, and the Mexican Revolution.

African American soldiers faced prejudice and persecution in the military, just as they did in civilian life. Some white officers refused to command the regiments, even if it cost them a rank promotion. Although one of the reasons for the formation of the regiments was to protect settlers, African American soldiers risked racial violence from civilians where they were stationed. Discrimination was common, and segregation and repression prevented many of the soldiers from active involvement in World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945).

Segregation in the military ended in 1951 during the Korean War. At that time, any remaining Buffalo Soldier regiments were integrated into other units. Because the Army was the official administrator of several National Parks between 1891 and 1913, some of the country’s first national park rangers were Buffalo Soldiers. The skills that the soldiers used for westward expansion were put to use building and maintaining parks, and protecting them from illegal activity and wildfires.

Although they faced constant discrimination, the Buffalo Soldiers did earn the respect of the US military, and some were acknowledged for their heroism with Medals of Honor. Over time, the soldiers helped break down barriers and allowed future African Americans to serve as Army officers and attend the West Point Military Academy.

The Medal of Honor is the most prestigious military award. It is presented by the President of the United States for acts of valor, bravery, sacrifice, and integrity. Eighteen Medals of Honor were awarded to Buffalo Soldiers out of the 417 given during 1865 and 1899, which were the years of the Indian campaigns and the Spanish American War.

Overview

Edward L. Baker Jr.

Sergeant Edward L. Baker Jr. was born in 1865 and died in 1913. He grew up in eastern Wyoming, close to Fort Laramie, and became proficient at horsemanship and other frontiersman skills at a young age. He also spoke several languages. He enlisted in the Army when he was sixteen and rose in ranks while traveling extensively with the Ninth and Tenth Calvary.

He fought with the Tenth Cavalry alongside the famed Rough Riders during the Spanish American War in Cuba. One of the heroics acts he was honored for was rescuing a fellow wounded soldier, Private Lewis Marshall, from drowning while they were both under heavy fire on July 1, 1898, on San Juan Hill in Santiago, Cuba. Baker was also wounded from shrapnel that had lodged in his left side, yet he continued on until the Spanish retreated and San Juan Hill was taken. For his heroic efforts, Baker was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Dennis Bell

Corporal Dennis Bell was born in 1866 and died in 1953. He was from Washington D.C. He enlisted in the army in the Tenth Calvary in 1892 after working as a coal miner. As a private in 1898, when the Spanish American War was starting, he was given the opportunity to volunteer for a special assignment to work behind enemy lines, which he did along with fellow Medal of Award winners Fitz Lee, George H. Wanton, William H. Thompkins, and others.

Cuban freedom fighters and some American soldiers had attempted to land in Tayabacoa, Cuba, where they met by hostile Spanish soldiers. Six wounded soldiers were trapped as the group retreated. Several rescue attempts had been made, but it was Bell and the other soldiers who were able to help the soldiers return safely. Bell individually received a Medal of Honor while on occupation duty in Manzanillo, Cuba, and he also eventually received a promotion to corporal. Later, he returned to the United States where he served with the Tenth Cavalry in Texas and then in the Philippines.

Thomas Boyne

Sergeant Thomas Boyne was born an enslaved person in Maryland in 1849 and he died in 1896. He joined the Union Army during the Civil War as part of the Colored Troops. After the war ended, Boyne continued his service out West in the Indian Wars as a Buffalo Soldier and was praised by his superiors for his bravery and valor.

In May 1879, Boyne was with the Ninth Calvary pursuing Apache Chief Victorio. They met up with the Apache in the Mimbres Mountains and engaged in several skirmishes with Victorio over the next several months. On September 24, they clashed again in a surprise attack in the Cuchillo Negro Mountains. Lieutenant Henry H. Wright was trapped under his horse when it was shot dead, and Boyne, along with some others, came to his rescue while under fire. Boyne received the Medal of Honor in 1882, and he continued his service until he was medically discharged in 1889.

Benjamin Brown

Sergeant Benjamin Brown was born in Virginia in 1859 and died in 1910. He enlisted in the Army, serving in the Twenty-Fourth Infantry, holding ranks first of private, then corporal, sergeant, and drum major. In 1889, an infamous gunfight robbery occurred in Pima, Arizona, which became known as the Wham Paymasters Robbery. Brown was cited for his courageous fighting, along with other Buffalo Soldiers, to protect the interests of the military. He was shot in the abdomen when the thieves exchanged gunfire with the Paymaster’s escorts, and was later wounded in both arms. Despite these injuries he continued on fighting the robbers, although the men eventually got away with $28,000. Brown, along with fellow Buffalo Soldier Isaiah Mays, was given the Medal of Honor in 1890. He retired from the Army after suffering a stroke in 1905.

John Denny

Sergeant Johnny Denny was born in 1846 in New York and died in 1901. He served in the army as a Buffalo Soldier in the Ninth Cavalry, first with Company C and then became acting sergeant of Troop B in New Mexico, ordered to hunt down renegade Apache Native Americans. He had a reputation as a fighter and for being unruly; this even cost him his sergeant rank on a few occasions.

However, he also came to be known as a hero when he was on horseback patrol in New Mexico with Troop B. Denny and his fellow soldiers were ambushed by the Apache. His fellow soldier, Private A. Freeland, was wounded in the fighting, and lay in the line of fire. Denny risked his own life to save him and carried him to safety. Although it took twelve years, in 1891, Denny was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery in action.

Clinton Greaves

Sergeant Clinton Greaves grew up an enslaved person. After the Civil War ended, he enlisted in the Army in 1872. Over time, he became a corporal in the Ninth Cavalry. He was stationed in New Mexico in 1877 when he went on a mission to capture Apache that were heading east after a battle in Arizona with the Sixth Calvary. He and some fellow soldiers, along with Navajo scouts, trailed them to their encampment in the Florida Mountains. However, they were surrounded in an ambush. Greaves managed to break through their lines by using close combat, so he and his companions could escape. He was awarded the Medal of Honor shortly after the incident. There is a statue of him at his former post in Fort Bayard, New Mexico, and a camp named in his honor at a US Army installation in South Korea.

Henry Johnson

Henry Johnson was born an enslaved person in 1850 in Virginia and died in 1904. He enlisted in the army several times after his tours of duty ended, serving in the Ninth and Tenth Calvary. During the American Indian Wars, he was a scout and patrolman in Fort Union, New Mexico. In 1879, his troop was escorting surveyors working on the border between Colorado and Utah, when his captain received word that the Fifth Calvary was surrounded at the Milk River in Montana by Ute Native Americans. After arriving to support the regiment, fighting continued and water ran out behind the barricades protecting the soldiers. Johnson led a group of fellow soldiers out at night to collect drinking water from the river. In 1890, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his courageousness.

George Jordan

Sergeant George Jordan was born an enslaved person in 1847 in Tennessee and died in 1904. He was nineteen when he enlisted in the Army and entered the Thirty-Eighth Infantry. He eventually attained the rank of first sergeant as a Buffalo Soldier with the Ninth Calvary.

Jordan was awarded the Medal of Honor for both his actions at Fort Tularosa when he protected a nearby ranch town and its cattle from Native Americans, and in battle in Carrizo Canyon, New Mexico in 1881. There, his detachment was ambushed by Apache. Jordan commanded his men as they fought back and prevented his group from being surrounded and killed. After Jordan’s death, Camp George Jordan in Seattle, Washington, was named after him. A recruiting headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, was also named in his honor in 1999.

Fitz Lee

Private Fitz Lee was born in 1866 and died in 1899. He enlisted in the Tenth Calvary in 1889 and fought alongside Dennis Bell, George H. Wanton, and William H. Thompkins in the Spanish American War. They volunteered with other soldiers for a dangerous mission to rescue six Cuban soldiers trapped in hostile territory in the Cuban town of Tayabacoa. They surprised the Spanish and freed their comrades. From this act of bravery, all four soldiers received the Medal of Honor for performing the rescue while under fire. By the time he was honored in 1899, Lee was facing poor health that he had suffered following the mission and was in the hospital. He was medically discharged just days later and moved to Kansas where he died just a few months later.

Isaiah Mays

Corporal Isaiah Mays was born an enslaved person in Virginia 1858 and died in 1925. After the Civil War, his family moved to Ohio where he enlisted in the Twenty-Fourth Infantry. He was among the soldiers escorting Major Wham and the military payroll in Arizona when they were attacked by robbers during the 1889 Wham Paymaster Robbery. Mays crawled through the gunfight to get help from nearby ranchers. The next year, Mays, along with Benjamin Brown, were awarded the Medal of Honor for their bravery. After discharge, Mays worked as a laborer in Arizona and New Mexico and died at the Arizona State hospital in 1925. His grave was marked with only a numbered brick; however, in 2001, he was given an official Army headstone. In 2009, his remains were moved to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Thomas Shaw

Sergeant Thomas Shaw was born an enslaved person in Kentucky in 1846 and died in 1895. He escaped slavery to join the Union Army and later served in the Ninth Cavalry, where he became a sergeant. He was known to have a dignified and imposing look that commanded attention. He fought numerous skirmishes with the Apache and Sioux peoples in New Mexico. He also fought in the battle at Carrizo Canyon. Although his regiment was greatly outnumbered, Shaw held his advanced position while under heavy enemy fire. This kept the Apache warriors from surrounding the troops and saved lives. For this, both he and George Jordan received Medals of Honor in 1890.

Emanuel Stance

Sergeant Emanuel Stance was born an enslaved person in 1844 and died in 1887. He enlisted in the Ninth Cavalry in 1866, along with fifty other men from Louisiana. In 1867, he was promoted to sergeant and was sent out with his regiment to Texas.

In 1870, he was sent by his commanding officer with a detachment to rescue two boys kidnapped by Apache near Kickapoo Springs. Following a run-in with the Apache, one of the boys, Willie Lehman, was released. Although his older brother was held as a captive until 1878. Stance was cited for his gallantry in the release of the younger brother. He was also the first African American soldier to be awarded the Medal of Honor following the Civil War. Although later in his career, he was cited for drunkenness, brawling, and other unruly conduct, and in 1887 he was found shot to death near Fort Robinson, Nebraska.

William H. Thompkins

Sergeant William H. Thompkins was born in 1872 and died in 1916. He enlisted in the Army in New Jersey, where he grew up, and served in the Tenth Calvary as a Buffalo Soldier. He along with Dennis Bell, Fitz Lee, and George H. Wanton voluntarily went on a dangerous mission during the Spanish American War. In the Cuban town of Tayabacoa, they snuck behind enemy lines after dark to rescue wounded Cuban freedom fighters, bringing them to safety and retrieving the bodies of fallen American and Cuban soldiers. Four other groups had attempted the rescue, but only Thompkins’ group was successful. He, along with those four others that were part of the mission, were awarded the Medal of Honor in 1899.

Augustus Walley

Private Augustus Walley was born an enslaved person in 1856 in Maryland, and died in 1938. In 1878, he enlisted in the Ninth Calvary. During the Spanish American War, Walley and Moses Williams served together in the same Buffalo Soldier regiment. They fought at the Battle of Cuchillo Negro Creek in New Mexico on Aug. 16, 1881, earning them both a Medal of Honor. They were ambushed by Apache when Walley and his companions came to follow up on a report of an attack on a family at a ranch in the area. As the soldiers attempted to retreat, some were cut off from the rest of the group. Walley and another soldier came to their rescue, carrying two of them to safety.

Walley, along with Williams, and Lieutenant George Burnett were awarded Medals of Honor in 1890 for their bravery under fire. Walley was also present during the charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish American War and was recommended for another Medal of Honor for once again coming to the aid of wounded comrades while under fire.

George H. Wanton

Corporal George H. Wanton was born in 1868 in New Jersey and died in 1940. He enlisted in 1884 in the Navy and then four years later in the Tenth Calvary. He along with Dennis Bell, Fitz Lee, and William H. Thompkins all volunteered to go on a mission to free Cuban soldiers who were trapped behind enemy lines during the Spanish American War in the town of Tayabacoa. They rescued the soldiers while receiving direct fire from the Spanish. A Medal of Honor was each given to Bell, Lee, Wanton, and Thompkins. Wanton continued his service in the military and retired as a master sergeant with the quartermaster department.

Moses Williams

First Sergeant Moses Williams was born in 1845 in Louisiana and died in 1845. He served with Augustus Walley in the Ninth Cavalry Regiment. Williams already had fifteen years of experience serving in the West when he and Walley fought in the Battle of Cuchillo Negro Creek in New Mexico in 1881. Williams came to the aid of the trapped soldiers by covering fire as Williams and another solider rescued two of the wounded soldiers. For this act of valor, Williams, and Lieutenant George Burnett were awarded Medals of Honor. Williams was awarded the medal much later in 1896 only after a petition was made for him to be included. Williams further distinguished himself when he became one of the first ordnance sergeants in the Army in 1885.

Brent Woods

Sergeant Brent Woods was born an enslaved person in 1855 in Kentucky and died in 1906. He enlisted in the Army in 1873 and served in the Ninth Cavalry as a Buffalo Soldier. In 1881, he was stationed with Troop B at Fort Cummings in New Mexico. He, along with other soldiers were pursuing the Apache Chief Nana. They were joined by others including local cowboys who decided to enter a canyon. Despite knowing an ambush was likely, the Buffalo Soldiers went along to provide protection. Several of the soldiers, including commanding officers, were killed when the Apache attacked from their hiding places. Woods took command of the remaining soldiers and ordered them to charge up the canyon, which caused the Apache to retreat. He continued the battle until another troop of Buffalo Soldiers arrived and provided reinforcement. He received the Medal of Honor in 1894 for saving the detachment from being killed.

Bibliography

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