An official website of the United States government Here's how you know

Fort Leavenworth observes Buffalo Soldiers Day with ceremony, tours

By Prudence Siebert - Fort Leavenworth Lamp EditorAugust 1, 2024

George Pettigrew, executive vice president of the Alexander/Madison Chapter - Greater Kansas City/Leavenworth Area 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association, provides guided tours of the Buffalo Soldier Monument and the Circle of Firsts in the...
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – George Pettigrew, executive vice president of the Alexander/Madison Chapter - Greater Kansas City/Leavenworth Area 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association, provides guided tours of the Buffalo Soldier Monument and the Circle of Firsts in the Buffalo Soldier Commemorative Area as part of the Buffalo Soldiers Day observance July 26, 2024, on Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp (Photo Credit: Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp) VIEW ORIGINAL
Flanked by Buffalo Soldier portraits and displays, Training and Doctrine Command Commanding General Gen. Gary Brito delivers remarks during the Buffalo Soldiers Day ceremony July 26, 2024, at the Frontier Conference Center at Fort Leavenworth,...
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Flanked by Buffalo Soldier portraits and displays, Training and Doctrine Command Commanding General Gen. Gary Brito delivers remarks during the Buffalo Soldiers Day ceremony July 26, 2024, at the Frontier Conference Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The ceremony was followed by guided tours at the Buffalo Soldier Commemorative Area and the Frontier Army Museum and self-paced tours of the Wayside Points across post. Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp (Photo Credit: Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp) VIEW ORIGINAL
Training and Doctrine Command Commanding General Gen. Gary Brito delivers remarks during the Buffalo Soldiers Day ceremony July 26, 2024, at the Frontier Conference Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Training and Doctrine Command Commanding General Gen. Gary Brito delivers remarks during the Buffalo Soldiers Day ceremony July 26, 2024, at the Frontier Conference Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp (Photo Credit: Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp) VIEW ORIGINAL
John Bruce, president of the Alexander/Madison Chapter - Greater Kansas City/Leavenworth Area 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association, provides guided tours of the Circle of Firsts in the Buffalo Soldier Commemorative Area as part of the Buffalo...
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – John Bruce, president of the Alexander/Madison Chapter - Greater Kansas City/Leavenworth Area 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association, provides guided tours of the Circle of Firsts in the Buffalo Soldier Commemorative Area as part of the Buffalo Soldiers Day observance July 26, 2024, on Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp (Photo Credit: Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp) VIEW ORIGINAL

The Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth observed Buffalo Soldiers Day July 26 with a ceremony featuring music by the 312th Army Band, artifacts on display and remarks at the Frontier Conference Center; guided tours at the Buffalo Soldier Commemorative Area and Frontier Army Museum; and self-paced tours along the Wayside Points across Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Chaplain (Col.) Sean Wead, Combined Arms Center senior command chaplain, set the stage for the event with his opening prayer.

“Almighty God, the internal strife of the Civil War fractured families, communities and states across this great nation to answer the moral question: ‘Are all people endowed by You with unalienable rights?’ This question was answered in the blood, with the death of over 700,000 lives,” Wead prayed. “This wound cleansed a path to a future hope, as the people of the United States strived to understand your challenge to love our neighbor. It was in such a hope and promise that the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments, the Buffalo Soldiers, were formed.”

Speaker George Pettigrew, executive vice president of the Alexander/ Madison Chapter - Greater Kansas City/Leavenworth Area 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association, said the term “Buffalo Soldier” is about character, not physical characteristics. He read an unattributed quote explaining that black soldiers were coined “Buffalo Soldiers” by Native Americans because they shared attributes associated with the buffalo, such as being courageous.

Pettigrew described the Battle of the Saline River of August 1867, one of the first recorded battles between black soldiers from Company F, 10th Cavalry, and Cheyenne warriors, and noted that the battle location in northwest Kansas has been confirmed in recent years with several artifacts discovered.

“Given what we now know, (that battle) proves why we were the first and only soldiers given the nickname Buffalo Soldiers — first time in a battle and outnumbered 2.5 to 1, (with) no reinforcements, with losses of their six to our one.”

Pettigrew reemphasized that “Buffalo Soldier” is derived from character, not characteristics.

“If they say it is the hair, remind them of what they did under that hair. Character makes the difference,” he said. “The popular story about the name ‘Buffalo Soldier’ having roots in the appearance of our skin tone and hair denies the courage in the Battle of the Saline River and many others in the years to come. Focusing on the characteristics of these brave soldiers, many fresh out of being enslaved, denies the actions and character of those brave soldiers underneath that hair.”

The July 26 ceremony coincided with the anniversary of the desegregation of the Army in 1948. July 28, when the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments were established in 1866, is the designated date for Buffalo Soldiers Day.

“It is absolutely an honor to be here to celebrate this remarkable legacy of Buffalo Soldiers in our United States Army, which goes back many, many decades, in fact, centuries, as most of us know today,” Training and Doctrine Command Commanding General Gen. Gary Brito said. “And they are clearly represented by you, friends and descendants also, some of the most heroic soldiers that our Army has seen.”

Brito said that the original Buffalo Soldiers left a legacy for current soldiers to emulate.

“These men made up the initial regiments of the Buffalo Soldiers, and today continue to give us all an example to strive for.”

Brito said the Army values of 1866 might not have been described as they are today, but the Buffalo Soldiers embodied the principles of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage, and were committed to values of patriotism.

Brito said members of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments went on to teach horse-mounted drills and tactics at the U.S. Military Academy. He said they were the right people at the right time to strengthen and protect the nation and train its future leaders.

Brito highlighted some accomplishments of Buffalo Soldiers who earned the Medal of Honor, including Pvt. Fitz Lee, member of the 10th Cavalry Regiment who is buried in the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery and for whom the Post Theater (Fitz Lee Hall) and Lee House on Organ Avenue, home of the Mission Command Training Program, are named. He said soldiers like Sgt. George Jordan — who was born into slavery, enlisted in 1866 and served with the 9th Cavalry Regiment — were paid only a few dollars a month, but the Army offered African Americans opportunities, as well as hope that they would be respected and recognized as Americans.

“Often stationed in only company-sized units, Buffalo Soldiers, as mentioned by Mr. Pettigrew, conducted missions that proved critical to the security and expansion of our fledgling country, as well as repairing military telegraphs, constructing new roads, guarding essential water holes, escorting wagons and survey parties, those little less-desirable missions that clearly made our Army serve well and created that western expansion we needed.”

Brito said the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers continues to inspire today’s Army.

“Lineage from the Buffalo Soldiers regiments is carried on in the 1st Cavalry Division, the 4th Infantry Division and the 25th Infantry Division as recognition of their instrumental role in the success and the building of the Army ... and our country as well.”