Buffalo Soldiers

[ls317]

I just finished watching a docmentary about the history and the legacy of the buffalo soldiers.This unit was one of the most proflic fighting units in the history of any branch of the military of the United States. As I am watching the program I am wondering why is there story finally being told more than 70 plus years later.I am shocked and surprised that no one has attempted to tell there story on the big screen(besides the movie Glory)Look thru most school history books( HS and Middle School) there isnt any mention of them at all along with the Tuskegee Airman.


During the American Civil War, the U.S. government formed regiments known as the United States Colored Troops, composed of black soldiers led by white officers. After the war the Congress reorganized the Army, authorizing the formation of two regiments of black cavalry with the designations 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry, and four regiments of black infantry, designated the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st Infantry Regiments (Colored). The 38th' and 41st were reorganized as the 25th Infantry Regiment, with headquarters in Jackson Barracks in New Orleans, in November 1869. The 39th and 40th were reorganized as the 24th Infantry Regiment, with headquarters at Fort Clark, Texas, in April 1869. All of these units were composed of black enlisted men commanded by white officers such as Benjamin Grierson, Ranald S. Mackenzie and, occasionally, black officers such as Henry O. Flipper.

[China_cat]

1. It has been done...and well

Glory

http://imdb.com/title/tt0097441/

Awards page:
http://imdb.com/title/tt0097441/awards

[ls317]

2. Its a movie

Great movie without a doubt,but I am thinking that more can be done that.. Look thru most middle school or HS books there is a strong chance that you might not see a mention of them at all.

[China_cat]

3. You said that you wondered why nobody had done it

on the 'big screen'. I just showed you that they had. To me 'big screen' means movie, not plasma tv.

[RoyGBiv]

5. Buffalo Soldiers

_Glory_ is not about the "Buffalo Soldiers."

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

4. Have you seen the movie "Sgt Rutledge"?

It's a good one..........

Plot Synopsis by Karl Williams
The first big budget Western to feature a black hero, this military courtroom drama from director John Ford starred his long-time stock player Woody Strode. When a cavalry commander and his daughter are discovered murdered, racism amidst the 9th Cavalry immediately leads to suspicions that Sergeant Braxton Rutledge (Strode), a black man, is responsible for the crime. Arrested by Lieutenant Tom Cantrell (Jeffrey Hunter), Rutledge escapes from captivity during an Indian raid but voluntarily returns to warn his fellow cavalrymen that they are about to face an ambush by hostiles, saving the detachment from certain doom. At first among those who accept Rutledge's probable guilt, Cantrell and his love interest Mary Beecher (Constance Towers) become two of the accused man's scarce defenders as he is put on trial and faces testimony from prejudiced "witnesses

[Sherman A1]

8. That was always one of my favorites.

But, to answer the O/P, the history is out there, sometimes you have to look a bit. I had a good friend that worked at the St. Louis Gateway Arch in the museum years ago and took reenact-or training for his presentations as a soldier on the frontier of the late 1800's
He included discussions of the 9th & 10th Cavalry along with the 24th & 25th Infantry. There are several books, but the titles escape me and I recall at least one movie that included a couple of the guys who were on Hill Street Blues.

[Sequoia]

6. Check this out will you:

Buffalo Soldiers, A Tale Lost

A powerful, eighteen hundred period theatrical release: Buffalo Soldiers, A Tale Lost triangles the lives, struggles, and conflicts of the Negro Cavalry, Army Officials, and fearless Indian Warriors, while a lone courageous soldier risks his life to convince his comrades that fighting in a war where there are no victors is wrong.

This classy, new, original production breathes life into a forgotten, but crucial chapter in American history. Through dramatic encounters and action filled plots; Buffalo Soldiers, A Tale Lost, displays a clash between three cultures... The White Officers, who are steadfast in their superiority, the Indians, who are vibrant in their refusal to sign a peace treaty, and the Negro soldiers, whose complexities range from house slave to field slave, from heroes to killers, from proud service to insubordination.

The characters in the play comprise an all-male cast that consists of sixteen different roles. Derived from actual events. It's intense, it's original, it's powerful, Buffalo Soldiers, A Tale Lost seeks to break new ground in American theatre.





http://www.buffalosoldiersplay.com/

[TheDebbieDee]

7. There's Buffalo Soldiers' Monument at Fort Leavenworth, KS.....

It's a beautiful monument. I was stationed at Fort Leaevenworth when it was dedicated in 1990 or '91.

I don't know how to paste images but I've copied an address to a photo of the monument below.


ETA: I guess I can't copy address after all. Anyway, you can Google an image - it's a beautiful monument.

[northofdenali]

9. The Alcan would not have been built without black soldiers -

BLACK VETERANS MEMORIAL BRIDGE

LOCATION: Bridge number 520 on the Alaska Highway spans the Gerstle River at Milepost 1392 of the Alaska Highway, 30 miles southeast of Delta Junction.

PURPOSE: The Gerstle River Bridge was re-named Black Veterans Memorial Bridge in 1993 by a bill sponsored by Rep. Bettye Davis of Anchorage. Naming of the bridge, built in 1944, recognizes and commemorates the black soldiers of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for their contribution in constructing the Alcan Highway, now known as the Alaska Highway, during World War II.

The construction of the 1,522 miles of road from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada, to Fairbanks, Alaska, through rugged, unmapped wilderness was heralded as an almost impossible feat. Despite incredible odds through a cold and punishing winter, the Alcan Highway was completed in a record time of 8 months and 12 days. The black soldiers of the 93rd, 94th, 95th, 97th, and 388th Engineer General Service Regiments, numbered 3,695 soldiers of a total troop strength of 10,607. They were rarely mentioned or praised for their important contribution to the construction of the Alcan Highway.

More:http://www.ak-prepared.com/vetaffairs/blackveterans.htm

I've been over that bridge hundreds of times. Some of those "old soldiers" stayed here till they passed away.

They had more hardship, worked longer hours in worse conditions, and in much more danger than the white soldiers, but they got the job done with minimal problems. There's more info at http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1497/Alcan_Highway_constr

And a great documentary, including a segment about the black soldiers, is from PBS (of course): http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alaska/filmmore/index.html

Let's also never forget the Tuskeegee Airmen.

Thanks, every one of you :patriot:

[Just Ole Bruce]

10. Buffalo Soldiers of AZ

FORT HUACHUCA of AZ, having great amount of history relating back to the Buffalo Soldiers days.Very interesting.Thanks!