The US 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st infantries (first called “buffalo soldiers” by the American Indians they fought in the West) were authorized as the first peacetime all-black regiment in the regular US Army.
Buffalo soldiers were members of African American calvalry regiments of the US Army who served in the American West between 1867 and 1896. Buffalo soldiers were charged with escorting and protecting trains and western settlers on the frontier from American Indians as well as outlaws. They often clashed with Indians of the Plains and Southwest and took part in nearly 200 engagements. They earned the repuation of brave and disciplined members of the Army.