2nd Squadron - 9th Cavalry Regiment
As of January 2006 the 2nd Squadron 9th Cavalry Regiment of 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, was participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom as part of the larger Task Force Band of Brothers which was led by 101st Airborne Division commanding general, Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner. The 3rd Brigade's mission included training the Iraqi Security Forces, assisting in the rebuilding of the Diyala Province infrastructure as well as continuing to root out the anti-Iraqi forces that inhabit the region.
History
August 13, 1866, (Louisiana) Gen. Phillip Sheridan, commander of the Military Division of the Gulf, was authorized to raise one regiment of "colored" cavalry that was to be designated the 9th Regiment, pursuant to General Order 56 of August 1, 1866. A recruiting office was established in New Orleans, Louisiana and later that fall, a second office was opened in Louisville, Kentucky. Of the original recruits, the majorities came from these two states and were veterans of the Civil War. Enlistment was for five years, with recruits receiving thirteen dollars a month, plus room, board, and clothing.
September 21, 1866 (Louisiana), the 9th Cavalry Regiment was activated at Greenville, Colonel Edward Hatch commanding March 13, 1867 (Louisiana), 9th Cavalry ordered to Texas, with HQ in San Antonio.
There it was charged with protecting stage and mail routes, building and maintaining forts, and establishing law and order in a vast area full of outlaws, Mexican revolutionaries, and raiding Comanches, Cheyennes, Kiowas, and Apaches. Despite prejudice and the almost impossible task of maintaining some semblance of order from the Staked Plains to El Paso to Brownsville, the 9th established themselves as one of the most effective fighting forces in the Army.
Early July 1867 (Texas) Headquarters and Companies A, B, E and K were dispatched to re-activate Fort Stockton, Texas which had been abandoned by the Northern Armies during the Civil War. Companies C, D, F, G, H and I, with Lt. Colonel Wesley Merritt commanding, were dispatched to Fort Davis, Texas.
October 1, 1867 (Texas), A revenge-bent party of Kickapoos drew first blood from the Buffalo Soldiers. They ambushed and killed Corporal Emanuel Wright and Private E. T. Jones of D company, as they escorted the mail from Camp Hudson to Fort Stockton, at Howard's Wells. 26 December, 1867 (Texas) A force of Kickapoos, Lipans, Mexicans and some white renegades, estimated at nine hundred strong, attacked the bivouac of Captain William Frohock and K Company at Fort Lancaster, some seventy-five miles (as the crow flies) east of Fort Stockton. This was the Buffalo Soldiers first opportunity to face their foes "toe to toe". It turned into a vicious three- hour fight, leaving K Company in possession of the field. Their victory was twenty dead and a large number wounded. But they had also suffered the loss of three herd guards.
September 1868 (Texas) A detachment from Fort Davis composed of troopers from Companies C, F and K, 9th Cavalry, under the command of 1st Lieutenant Patrick Cusack, met with more success. In pursuit: of a band of about 200 Apaches, who had been raiding near Fort Stockton, the lieutenant and his men came upon the Indians just north of present day Big Bend National Park. Two of Cusack's men were wounded in the attack. Indian casualties numbered between 20 and 25 warriors with as many wounded. The soldiers captured over 200 head of stock and all of the Indians' provisions and equipment .
May 19 and 20, 1870 (Texas), at Kickapoo Springs, Sergeant Emanuel Stance with five men of Troop F, surprised and attacked a small village, wounding four Indians and capturing two white boy prisoners and 15 horses. For this action, Sergeant Stance was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
1872 (New Mexico/Arizona) Apache Indian scouts first recruited.
September 26-27, 1874 (Texas), Near Fort Blanco, Adam Paine and three scouts fight off a band of Indians. 1 Medal of Honor was given for this engagement.
April 25, 1875 (Texas) Pecos River, Scouts under Lt. Bullis engage a band of Indians. 3 Medals of Honor were received as a result of this action.
The 9th was transferred to the District of New Mexico during the winter and spring of 1875 and 76. Over the next six years they were thrust into what had been a 300-year struggle to subdue the fiercely independent Apaches. In 1874 - sparked by pressure from greedy contractors supplying the reservations, and by cattlemen, lumber men, and settlers hungry for Apache land - Washington approved a policy of concentrating the Apaches on a select few reservations. Unfortunately, the main reservation was at San Carlos, Arizona, a desolate wasteland despised by the Apache. The independent lifestyle and culture of the Apaches and their hatred of the San Carlos reservation insured the hostilities that were to come. The renegade Apaches that periodically fled the reservations were highly skilled horsemen with a superior knowledge of their ancestral lands. Under the command of skilled warriors like Skinya, Nana, Victorio, and Geronimo, the Apaches proved to be an illusive and worthy adversary for both the troopers of the 9th and later the 10th Cavalries. As 1881 came to a close, the battle-weary Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th Cavalry had been serving continuously on the Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona frontiers for 14 years.
January 24, 1877 (New Mexico) A scouting party from Fort Bayard commanded by Lt. Henry Wright, with six men of Company C and three Navajo scouts, was surrounded by a party of 40 to 50 Chiricahuas in the Florida Mountains, near Deming, New Mexico. Weapons were fired and then used as clubs. In the center of the melee Corporal Clinton Greaves fought like a cornered lion and managed to shoot and bash a gap through the swarming Apaches, permitting his companions to break free .... For this heroic action, Corporal Greaves was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Commendations go to Pvt.'s Richard Epps, Dick Mackadoo, John Adams and Scout Jose Chaves.
18 September 1879 (New Mexico) Troopers from Companies B, C, E and G of the 9th Cavalry were ambushed by Victorio, War Chief of the Warm Springs Apaches, at Las Animas Creek in the Black Range of New Mexico. Conflicting reports put the number of troopers killed at either five or six, along with either two or three Navjo scouts. Several troopers were awarded Congressional Medals of Honor, having saved the wounded troopers.
October 2 and 3, 1879 (Colorado) Milk River, Troop D went to the relief of Thornburg’s command and succeeded in reaching it, losing all its horses. 1 Medal of Honor was given as a result of this action.
May 14, 1880 (New Mexico) near old Fort Tolerosa, Sergeant Jordan with 25 men repulsed a force of more than a hundred Indians under Victorio. 1 Medal of Honor resulted from this action.
August 12, 1881 (New Mexico) in Carizo Canon, 19 men of Troop K, under Captain Parker, 2 men killed. 1 Medal of Honor resulted from this action.
August 16, 1881 (New Mexico)Cuchillo Negro Mountains, Troop I, Lieutenant Valois, 2 men wounded. 3 Medals of Honor were awarded as a result of this engagement.
August 19, 1881 (New Mexico)At Cavilare Pass, detachment of Troops B and H, Lieutenant Smith, 3 men and one citizen killed, 3 men wounded. 1 Medal of Honor resulted from this action.
That November the headquarters of the 9th was transferred to Fort Riley, Kansas, with portions of the regiment assigned to Fort Sill, Fort Supply, and Fort Reno in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Over the next four years, the troopers were primarily concerned with the unpleasant task of evicting white settlers known as "Boomers," who were attempting to settle on Indian land. The 9th's unpopular duty continued until the regiment was transferred to Wyoming in June of 1885. From here companies were stationed at Fort Robinson and Fort Niobrara, Nebraska, and Fort Duchesne, Utah. In 1891 the 9th was called on to assist in subduing the Sioux in what became known as the Ghost Dance Campaign. Once rulers of the northern plains, the Sioux were desolate and poverty stricken on their North and South Dakota reservations. In 1889 word spread of a messiah - a Paiute named Wovoka - who had seen through a vision that the ghosts of Plains Indians would return, bringing with them the buffalo herds slaughtered by the whites. The new "religion" swept through the Indians, alarming Dr. D. F. Royer, the newly appointed agent at the Pine Ridge reservation. Royer over-reacted, pleading for troops to protect him and his staff. By the end of November, one-half of the U.S. Army was concentrated on or near the reservations. The Army's show of force was intended to scare the Sioux into submission. However, many Indians, fearing a massacre, bolted from the reservations and fled into the Badlands. The subsequent actions of the Army to pacify and return the Sioux to their reservations culminated in the massacre of 146 men, women, and children at Wounded Knee on December 29th. The 9th played no role in the slaughter. This was to be their last campaign on the frontier.
June of 1885 (Kansas) 9th Cavalry transferred to Wyoming. From here companies were stationed at Fort Robinson and Fort Niobrara, Nebraska, and Fort Duchesne, Utah.
February 18, 1890 (Arizona) A 9th Cavalry detachment escorting a payroll was ambushed. 1 Medal of Honor resulted from this action.
December 30, 1890 (South Dakota) Troop D, under Captain Loud, was attacked while escorting a wagon train near Pine Ridge Agency, losing one man killed. Later in the same day Troops D, F, I and K, under Major Henry, were engaged near the Drexel Mission with no casualties. 1 Medal of Honor was received as a result of this action.
08 June 1898 (Cuba) Elements of the 9th Cavalry Regiment traveled from Fort Robinson, Nebraska to Tampa, Florida and embarked for Baiquiri and Siboney, Cuba.
1 July 1898 (Cuba) One of the first units to go ashore, the 9th Cavalry fought as dismounted infantry alongside the Rough Riders of Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt at the Battle of Santiago in the gallant fight for San Juan Hill.
1903 (California) The Buffalo Soldiers were assigned to patrol the National Parks in California, including Yosemite, General Grant, Sequoia and the Presidio. The Buffalo Soldiers continued to patrol the parks until the National Park Service was created in 1916.
May 3, 1903 (California) The 9th Cavalry, which served with Theodore Roosevelt in Cuba, was designated as his Honor Guard escort during a rare visit, as President, to the Presidio. This was the first time black regular cavalry soldiers had served as an escort for a President of the United States.
(The 9th Memorial Cavalry was honored thus again, by serving as Honor Guard for President G. W. Bush on Memorial Day of 2001 in Mesa, Arizona).
1916 (Mexico) The 9th Cavalry Regiment returned to the United States to fight once again; this time with General John J. "BlackJack" Pershing in his Punitive Expedition against the Mexican rebel Pancho Villa. It was there that the regiment, along with the 7th Cavalry Regiment, took part in the last American cavalry charge of the modern era conducted against an armed enemy (until the war in Afghanistan).
World War One The 9th was scattered across the Western United States. Some men served in California as the first park rangers, other patrolled the border with Mexico from California to Texas.
01 March 1933 Assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Division.
10 October 1940 The Ninth Cavalry was relieved from the 3rd Cavalry Division, reassigned to the 2d Cavalry Division and prepared for overseas deployment.
1941 (Kansas)The 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments were formed into the 4th Cavalry Brigade, commanded by General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., at Camp Funston, Kansas.
July 1942 (Texas)Due to overcrowding at Fort Riley, the regiment transfers to Fort Clark, Texas, where it continues training for combat in Europe. The War Department decides a second cavalry division unnecessary for victory and directs the division to deploy to the Mediterranean theater and inactivate to provide replacements to critical logistical organizations.
9 February, 1944, (North Africa) The 9th Cavalry arrives in North Africa.
7 March, 1944 (North Africa) The horse cavalry regiments are disbanded. The 9th Cavalry is inactivated at Assi-ben Okba, Algeria, and the regiment's soldiers are transferred to support units. Men were offered the opportunity to volunteer for combat duty under the condition that they give up all rank. Many did and serve in the 92nd Infantry Division in Italy, and Germany.
20 October 1950 Converted and redesignated as Company "A", 509th Tank Battalion; concurrently the 9th Cavalry relieved from the 2nd Cavalry Division.
01 November 1950 Activated at Camp Polk, Louisiana.
10 April 1956 Inactivated at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
15 October 1957 Redesignated as Troop "A", 9th Cavalry.
01 November 1957 Redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, 9th Cavalry; concurrently consolidated with 16th Reconnaissance Company (see annex); assigned to 1st Cavalry Division and activated in Korea.
01 September 1963 Reorganized and redesignated as 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry.
01 July 1965 Transferred (less personnel and equipment) from Korea to Fort Benning, Georgia and reorganized.
16 October 1986 Inactivated at Fort Hood, Texas and relieved from assignment to the 1st Cavalry Division.
16 March 1987 Assigned to the 9th Infantry Division and activated at Fort Lewis, Washington.
15 February 1991 Relieved from assignment to the 9th Infantry Division.
16 February 1991 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry reorganized as Troop "A", 9th Cavalry and assigned to the 199th Infantry Brigade. (organic elements concurrently inactivated).
16 July 1992 Troop "A", 9th Cavalry relieved from assignment to the 199th Infantry Brigade.
16 December 1992 Reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry and assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. (organic elements concurrently activated).
In 1993 a memorial park was dedicated to honor the memory and contributions of the Buffalo Soldiers. The memorial is at Ft Leavenworth, Kansas, home of the original 10th Cavalry. The memorial was dedicated by General Colin Powell and on hand was many of the Buffalo Soldiers who had served in the Korean War, or World War II, and there was also James Morgan who had run away from home at a young age and joined the Army. He was with the Buffalo Soldiers (24th Infantry) when they took San Juan Hill, before Teddy Roosevelt's "Rough Riders" arrived.
