The regiment was constituted 21 July 1866 in the Regular Army as Company d, 9th Cavalry. On 3 August 1866, Major General Philip H. Sheridan, commanding the Military Division of the Gulf, was "authorized to raise, among others, one regiment of colored (African-American) cavalry to be designated the 9th Regiment of U.S. Cavalry".[1]
The regiment was organized on 21 September 1866 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and mustered between September 1866 and 31 March 1867. Its first commanding officer was Colonel Edward Hatch. The men enlisted for five years and received $13 per month, plus room, board and clothing. Later, they were dubbed "Buffalo Soldiers". The regiment's motto was, and remains, "We Can, We Will".
The mustering, organized by Maj. Francis Moore, 65th U. S. Colored Infantry, formed the nucleus of the enlisted strength, and was obtained from New Orleans and its vicinity. In the autumn of 1866 recruiting began in Kentucky, and all the men of the 9th were obtained from that state and Louisiana. The horses were obtained at St. Louis, Missouri. About the middle of September all recruits were assembled in New Orleans, where empty cotton presses were used as barracks. An epidemic of cholera caused the camp to be moved to Carrollton, a suburb of New Orleans. By the end of March 1867, the 9th Cavalry was at nearly full strength with a total of 885 enlisted men, or an average of over 70 to a troop, and was ordered to San Antonio, Texas, where it arrived early in April for three months of training. However, Troops L and M went directly to their duty station at Brownsville, Texas.
Service[edit]Indian wars[edit]Captain and troopers of the 9th Cavalry, 1880. A Signal Corps sergeant is in the foreground.
In July 1867 the 9th Cavalry was ordered to western and southwestern Texas, to maintain law and order between the Rio Grande and Concho Rivers from Fort Clark to El Paso. Regimental Headquarters and Troops A, B, E and K, under Col. Hatch, were stationed at Fort Stockton; Troops C, D, F, G, H and I, under Lt. Col. Wesley Merritt were at Fort Davis. Troops L and M under 1st Lt. Hamilton had previously been sent to Brownsville. The 9th remained in Texas for eight years, nearly all of it in the field.
The regiment went to New Mexico Military District, which covered parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, and participated in the Apache Wars from 1875 to 1881. That service included the Battle of Tularosa with Chiricahua Apache warriors led by Victorio in May 1880.
The 9th Cavalry was transferred to Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1881, and to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in 1885.
On 5 November 1887, Company H, of the 9th Cavalry fought at the Battle of Crow Agency during the Crow War, at Crow Agency, Montana.
