Find a CBT Therapist
Search through our directory of local clinicians.
Commemorating Black History Month

Commemorating Black History Month
At the end of the American Civil War, 2,129,000 men had served under the federal flag; of them, 179,000 were Colored troops.
America had gone from 16,000 total men under arms to more than 2 million; the Army Reorganization Act of 1866 brought this number down to about 50,000, with 45 infantry regiments and 10 cavalry regiments. Of these, 4 regiments of infantry were colored troops, the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st; and 2 were cavalry regiments, the 9th and 10th Cavalry. The troops all served in the West, in part because that’s where there was greatest need and in part to keep those troops outside of cities, where they would not necessarily be welcomed by the same population that had just fought to give them their freedom.
A second reorganization act in 1869 reduced the number of Colored infantry regiments to 4, reorganized as the 24th and 25th Infantry, but kept the original cavalry regiments intact. The 25th would remain a segregated unit until 1951.
The 10th Cavalry would serve with distinction. It is thought that the term “Buffalo Soldiers” came from the indigenous warriors who they were sent to fight; it was a term of respect, and the troopers wore the name with pride.