i thought this might be a good deceased family members and...wars. 36 the 19th century negro life...

I thought this might be a good

subject to discuss in memory of my deceased family members and forefathers.

In this age of technology, what do

we know about history and historical events?

Here is my historical interpretation of the lives of Negroes in the 19th Century.

2

The 19th Century Negro Life History

Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldier, Ft. Davis Texas 1887

There is a multitude of research and information that was researched and complied by me, but I broke my research down to encompass eight critical events in the life of each 19th Century individual:

1. The Southern Plantation System

2. The Civil War (and other wars)

3. The Emancipation Proclamation

4. Moving Up North

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Buffalo Soldiers

Negro Officers, c. 1875

5. Negroes in the Military

6. Jim Crow Laws

7. City Living

8. Rural Living

We can talk about Negro lives in general, but this will not suffice my curiosity of

“What was it really like to be a Negro in the 19th Century?”

.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Negro Soldiers in the Field c. 1882

We weren't all slaves or working in the fields as share croppers and indentured servants from rural southern regions.

We were fortunate to live in a country where we were able to transition into scientist, doctors, lawyers, business owners, farmers, freed slaves, civil servants and family people.

.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Colored Civil War Bugler c. 1864

Negroes thrived and survived during these difficult times despite the obstacles and when it would have been so easy to give up and to go back to Africa or wherever we came from.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Colored Civil War Bugler c. 1864

During the Civil War, over 180,000 African Americans served in the Union army with 33,380 being killed.

Many also served in the Confederacy. In 1866, African American soldiers contemplated a question: Now what?

.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Negro Union Civil War Soldiers c. 1864.

Although they had fought and died with their Union Army brothers, Colored Troop soldiers found that the hard-won battlefield for equality didn't always make its way onto the quieter streets of postwar society.

.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Negro Soldiers in the Field c. 1884.

African Americans have served proudly in every great American war.

Over two hundred thousand African American servicemen fought bravely during the Civil War.

In 1866 through an act of congress, legislation was adopted to create six all African American army units.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers Calvary in the Field. 1877

.

The units were identified as the 9th and 10th cavalry and the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st infantry regiments.

That same year, Congress contemplated a question, too –

How do we revise and rebuild the military now that the bloodiest war in American history is over?

It turns out that the answer to both questions was mostly the same.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldier Officers, c. 1874.

The carnage of the Civil War had severely depleted military troop numbers.

The Army needed more men, and it needed a new way to organize them

On July 28, 1866, the Army Reorganization Act authorized the formation of 30 new units, including two cavalry and four infantry regiments "which shall be

“composed of colored men.”

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Buffalo Soldiers

Colored Yankee Cavalryman, c. 1865

About half of the Civil War Colored Troops took the opportunity and signed on.

For the first time in history, African American men were now considered "regular" soldiers.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Fort Davis, Texas 1887

They could serve their country and further their quest for equality in the institution that gave them the best opportunity to do both – the United States Army.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Fort Davis, Texas 1887

The Legend Begins

Under the new Army structure, African American soldiers were organized into six segregated regiments, which were later combined into four: The 9th and 10th Cavalry, and the 24th and 25th Infantry.

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Buffalo Soldiers

The Legend Begins

Eventually, their ranks would include the first black graduate of West Point, 23 Medal of Honor recipients, and one woman disguised as a man.

These soldiers fought in over 100 significant military engagements as America pushed ever westward, earning the nickname that symbolized their fighting bravery and fierceness:

“ Buffalo Soldiers”.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldier, Ft. Davis Texas 1887

In addition to protecting frontier settlements, all Buffalo Soldiers regiments surveyed and mapped the vast Texas plains, built and repaired dozens of forts and they strung thousands of miles of telegraph lines,

And they escorted countless wagon trains, stagecoaches, railroad trains, and cattle herds across the southwest.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers Escorting a Stagecoach, c. 1885

The troops were led by white officers.

Many officers, including George Armstrong Custer, refused to command black regiments and accepted a lower rank rather than do so.

The Black regiments could only serve west of the Mississippi River because of the prevailing attitudes following the Civil War.

.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers in the Field, c. 1875

The Buffalo Soldier’s main charge was to protect settlers as they moved west.

They also supported the westward expansion by building the infrastructure needed for new settlements to flourish.

The Buffalo Soldiers of the American West represent members of the 10th Cavalry M Company, organized in 1867 under Commanding Officer, Capt. Alvord.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers in the Field, c. 1874

Troopers of the M Company rode mix colored horses—black, brown, bay, gray, chestnut, and at times, other color combinations.

Company M, therefore, is known as the Calico Company.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Civil War Buffalo Soldiers, c. 1867

Under the new Army structure, African American soldiers were organized into six segregated regiments, which were later combined into four:

The 9th and 10th Cavalry

and

The 24th and 25th Infantry.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Civil War Buffalo Soldiers, c. 1867

These soldiers fought in over 100

significant military engagements as

America pushed ever westward,

earning the nickname that symbolized

their fighting bravery and fierceness:

“ Buffalo Soldiers”

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Buffalo Soldiers

10th Calvary Charging, c. 1874

Buffalo Soldier regiments were stationed at Texas forts stretching from

the Panhandle to the Valley.

Major General William T. Sherman, commander of the 24th Infantry unit,

reported to Congress in 1874 that it was probably a good idea to keep

Buffalo Soldier troops in Texas because "that race can better stand the

extreme southern climate than our white troops.“

.

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Buffalo Soldiers

That same year, the 9th and 10th

Cavalries mounted up at Fort Griffin and

rode into the now legendary Red River

War with the southern Plains Indians

(Comanche, Kiowa, southern Cheyenne,

and southern Arapaho).

.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers in Dress Uniforms c. 1879

In addition to protecting frontier settlements, all Buffalo Soldiers

regiments surveyed and mapped the vast Texas plains.

They built and repaired dozens of forts, strung thousands of miles of

telegraph lines, and escorted countless wagon trains, stagecoaches,

railroad trains, and cattle herds across the southwest.

.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers Regiment Parade c. 1879

The name “Buffalo Soldiers” has become

interesting lore in itself. There seem to be

three possible reasons for the name.

One, it is said that the curly hair of the soldiers

reminded them of the Buffalo.

Two, they were given the name because their

fierce, brave nature reminded them of the way

buffalos fought.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldier Officer c. 1899

Third, it may have been because they wore

thick coats made from buffalo hide during

winter.

Whatever the reason, the term was used

respectfully and with honor.

The four infantry units were reorganized in

1868 as the 24th and the 25th infantry.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldier Officer c. 1899

Black soldiers enlisted for five years

and received $13.00 a month, far

more than they could have earned

in civilian life.

The 10th cavalry was formed at Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas, and recruited

soldiers from the northern states.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers in San Francisco on the Way to the

Philippine War c. 1900

Colonel Benjamin Grierson was selected

to command the 10th cavalry.

Colonel Edward Hatch was selected to

command the 9th cavalry and he recruited

soldiers from the south and set up his

headquarters in Greenville, Louisiana.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Civil War Infantryman c. 1864

Henry Ossian Flipper

For every Buffalo Soldier, regardless of

regiment or rank, there were always two

enemies waiting to strike: prejudice and

discrimination.

Most often, those partners holed-up with

the white civilians outside the fort. But at

least once, in Henry O. Flipper's case,

they showed up right at home, which

almost made it worse.

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Buffalo Soldiers

West Point Cadet Henry O. Flipper

Henry Ossian Flipper was born into

slavery in Georgia on March 21, 1856.

He was described as “a sturdy, well-built

lad, a mulatto,” who was “bright, intelligent

and studious.”

While a freshman at Atlanta University in

1873, Flipper received an appointment to

the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

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Buffalo Soldiers

2nd Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper

https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/discover/campfire-stories/buffalo-soldier

May 20th, 1873! Auspicious Day!

In his published memoir, The Colored

Cadet at West Point, he writes

“ From the deck of the little ferry-boat that

steamed its way across from Garrison's

on that eventful afternoon, I viewed the

hills about West Point...”

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Buffalo Soldiers



“ With my mind full of the horrors of the

treatment of all former cadets of color, and

the dread of inevitable ostracism, I

approached tremblingly yet confidently.”

Flipper was right to feel some dread about

his impending West Point experience.

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Buffalo Soldiers



During his four years as a cadet, he was

harassed, ignored, insulted, isolated, and

threatened.

But by 1877, Flipper was West Point’s first

African American graduate as well as the

first commissioned black officer of the

regular U.S. Army.

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Buffalo Soldiers



2nd Lieutenant Flipper began his

military service in 1878 as a 10th

Cavalry Buffalo Soldier at Fort Sill,

Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

In 1880, after many frontier

skirmishes with American Indians,

Lt. Flipper and his 10th Cavalry

Buffalo Soldiers headed for service at

Fort Davis, Texas.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Negro Soldiers in France,, World War I. c. 1918

Henry O. Flipper's story is just one of

many in the history of the Buffalo Soldiers.

35


Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldier Regiment c. 1879

After leaving the Texas forts in

the 1890s, Buffalo Soldier

cavalry and infantry units went

on to serve with distinction in the

Spanish-American and

Philippine wars, the U.S.-Mexico

border wars, and both world

wars.

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Buffalo Soldiers

369th Infantry (Harlem Hell fighters, World Wars I and II

The Last Hurrah

The last African American

Buffalo Soldier regiment was

deactivated during the Korean

War in response to President

Truman's Executive Order

#9981 to desegregate military

units.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldier Regiment, c. 1875

By 1951, all Buffalo Solider troops

were integrated into other U.S. Army

regiments.

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Buffalo Soldiers

10th Calvary Soldiers,

St. Mary’s, Montana. c. 1894

"We are home now though our flame

flickers low. Will you fan it with the

winds of freedom, or will you smother it

with the sands of humiliation?”

“Will it be that we fought for the lesser

of two evils? Or is there this freedom

and happiness for all men?“

James Harden Daugherty,

World War II Buffalo Soldier,

92nd Army Infantry Division

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Buffalo Soldiers

To preview FREE workshops, historical pictures and events, click on the “blue workshop links” to go to our website.

Enjoy!

1. The Southern Plantation System

2. The Civil War (and other wars)

3. The Emancipation Proclamation

4. Moving Up North

5. Negroes in the Military

6. Jim Crow Laws

7. City Living

8. Rural Living

For more details call us at ( 910 ) 679-4319.


Buffalo Soldiers

POWER POINT - 19th Century Negro Life History - Rural Life.pdf

41

The 19th Century Negro

Life History

To preview FREE workshops, historical pictures and events, click on the “blue

website link” to go to our website:

https://www.dharoldgreene.com/newsletter-by-d-harold
https://www.dharoldgreene.com/newsletter-by-d-haroldhttps://www.dharoldgreene.com/newsletter-by-d-haroldhttps://www.dharoldgreene.com/newsletter-by-d-haroldhttps://www.dharoldgreene.com/newsletter-by-d-haroldhttps://www.dharoldgreene.com/newsletter-by-d-haroldhttps://www.dharoldgreene.com/newsletter-by-d-haroldhttps://www.dharoldgreene.com/newsletter-by-d-harold

i thought this might be a good deceased family members and...wars. 36 the 19th century negro life...

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