<P> Although several African American regiments were raised during the Civil War as part of the Union Army (including the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and the many United States Colored Troops Regiments), the "Buffalo Soldiers" were established by Congress as the first peacetime all - black regiments in the regular U.S. Army . On September 6, 2005, Mark Matthews, the last survivng Buffalo Soldier, died at the age of 111 . He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery . </P> <P> Sources disagree on how the nickname "Buffalo Soldiers" began . According to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, the name originated with the Cheyenne warriors in the winter of 1877, the actual Cheyenne translation being "Wild Buffalo ." However, writer Walter Hill documented the account of Colonel Benjamin Grierson, who founded the 10th Cavalry regiment, recalling an 1871 campaign against Comanches . Hill attributed the origin of the name to the Comanche due to Grierson's assertions . The Apache used the same term ("We called them' buffalo soldiers,' because they had curly, kinky hair...like bisons") a claim supported by other sources . Some sources assert that the nickname was given out of respect for the fierce fighting ability of the 10th Cavalry . Still other sources point to a combination of both legends . The term Buffalo Soldiers became a generic term for all black soldiers . It is now used for U.S. Army units that trace their direct lineage back to the 9th and 10th Cavalry units, whose service earned them an honored place in U.S. history . According to activist Russell Means, they were called Buffalo Soldiers because the U.S. military created special regiments specifically used to exterminate herds of buffalo . The U.S. military, as part of their campaign in enacting genocidal strategies against American Indians throughout the plains of the continent, removed buffalo in order to cut off American Indian food supply and force them into reservations . </P> <P> During the Civil War, the U.S. government formed regiments known as the United States Colored Troops, composed of black soldiers and Native Americans . After the war, Congress reorganized the Army and authorized 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, Louisiana, 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 both white and black officers . These included the first commander of the 10th Cavalry Benjamin Grierson, the first commander of the 9th Cavalry Edward Hatch, Medal of Honor recipient Louis H. Carpenter, Nicholas M. Nolan, and the first black graduate of West Point, Henry O. Flipper . </P> <P> From 1866 to the early 1890s, these regiments served at a variety of posts in the Southwestern United States and the Great Plains regions . They participated in most of the military campaigns in these areas and earned a distinguished record . Thirteen enlisted men and six officers from these four regiments earned the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars . In addition to the military campaigns, the Buffalo Soldiers served a variety of roles along the frontier, from building roads to escorting the U.S. mail . On April 17, 1875, regimental headquarters for the 9th and 10th Cavalries were transferred to Fort Concho, Texas . Companies actually arrived at Fort Concho in May 1873 . At various times from 1873 through 1885, Fort Concho housed 9th Cavalry companies A--F, K, and M, 10th Cavalry companies A, D--G, I, L, and M, 24th Infantry companies D--G, and K, and 25th Infantry companies G and K . </P>

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