AD HOC
Committee Members

Bobby Hayden
Chairman

Patricia D. Ford
Vice Chairman

Alex C. Harrison
Treasurer

Sheila Anderson
Secretary

Jeanette Alexander
Archivist

Darryl L. Gilliam
Historian

Sheree Humphries
Education Consultant

Gary Leopold
Historian
This group of soldiers was established after the Civil War when Congress
passed a bill to establish a peacetime military unit. Provisions in this bill
two cavalry (on horseback)-of about 1,000 men each. Many of them were
freed slaves who enlisted in what was organized as the 9th and 10th
Cavalries.

Although there are several theories, the Buffalo Soldiers actually got their
name from their enemies, the American Indians, who admired the colored
troopers' fearlessness and courage (qualities also found in the buffalo).
The Native Americans also believed that the soldiers' hair resembled the
tuft between the horns of the bison. Thus, the name Buffalo Soldiers stuck
and the soldiers wore it with pride.

The Buffalo Soldiers served at Wounded Knee and with Teddy Roosevelt
in Cuba, battled Crazy Horse, helped capture Geronimo and Billy the Kid
and strung telegraph lines across the West. Buffalo Soldiers endured and
overcame tremendous social and environmental obstacles for more than
twenty-five years.

After the return of all black units from the Spanish American War in 1898,
many of the troops from the 10th Cavalry were assigned to Camp Albert G.
Force in Huntsville, Alabama. These soldiers were encamped on the
present-day site of the Academy for Academics at Arts at Cavalry Hill.
Huntsville petitioned Congress to have the soldiers who fought in the
Spanish American War to come to Huntsville to recuperate from battle
wounds and malaria and other diseases contracted during the war. The
campsite was located off Pulaski Pike between University Drive and
Oakwood in the Cavalry Hill community. Cavalry Hill Elementary and the
Cavalry Hill Friendship Neighborhood Center are named in recognition of
these brave troops who were also honored by President Roosevelt and
Commander "Black Jack" Pershing for their valor and contribution to
America.
The U.S. 9th and 10th Cavalry (Buffalo Soldiers)
Buffalo Soldier AD HOC Committee

The Ad Hoc Buffalo Soldier Committee raises awareness & funding
for the Buffalo Soldier Memorial to be built on the front grounds
of the Academy for Academics & Arts. The committee is seeking
donations for the memorial's construction as well as family stories
& memorabilia from the time of the Buffalo Soldiers encampment
in Huntsville on the site of the Academy from 1898-99. For more
info, call (256) 535-4350.