BENNETT.891       P 4


Pecos Bill and the Buffalo Soldiers

by Joseph E. Bennett, MPS

Southwestern United States - specifi-
cally Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona -
became a historical stage for the Negro
soldier following the Civil War. It is a
rather obscure story, known primarily to
a handful of scholars and researchers
who have displayed an interest in that
segment of the country's development.
A few white officers shared the history
with black troops, for the simple reason
that only white men held army commis-
sions. One of those was William R.
Shafter of Galesburg, Michigan. Shafter
did not command black soldiers through
any burning desire to achieve racial eq-
uity for them; it was just a matter of
circumstances. Notwithstanding, the
history of the Buffalo Soldier and that of
General Shafter are inextricably en-
twined.

At the end of hostilities in April, 1865
the total of Negro fatalities in the United
States Army stood at 33,000. During the
course of the Civil War, some 180,000
Negroes were in military service. Lin-
coln' s Emancipation Proclamation in
1863 opened the door for large numbers
of former slaves eager to take up arms
against the Confederacy. Racial preju-
dice was a more formidable enemy than
any rebel. Discrimination, distrust, and
contempt for his ability as a fighting man
was a part of the daily diet of the black
soldier. Slowly, however, the Negro
scratched out a niche for himself in the
military, albeit one yielding little glory or
publicity.

Two renowned Union generals, George
Gordon Meade and William Tecumseh
Sherman, paraded a quarter of a million
northern veterans down Pennsylvania
Avenue in Washington in grand review
in May, 1865. One year later, the
strength of the U. S. Army stood at
56,641. Although the Confederacy was
no longer a military problem, a very
serious situation existed on the western
frontier with uncontrolled Indian depre-
dations.

Congress and the War Department
addressed the Indian problems by
authorizing the formation of six Negro
regiments for frontier service, two of
cavalry and four infantry. This action
opened two decades of Negro military
activity emanating from a chain of small
forts scattered throughout the southwest.
The four regiments that eventually
evolved as "Buffalo Soldiers" were the
9th and 10th Cavalry, plus the 24th and
25th Infantry. Colonel Benjamin Grier-
son and Colonel Edward Hatch, two
Civil War heroes, were tapped to com-
mand the cavalry units. In the spring of
1867, Colonel Ranald Slidell MacK-
enzie was ordered to recruit an all-Negro
infantry regiment, the 41st, at Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. MacKenzie's second
in command was to be Lt. Colonel Wil-
liam R. Shafter.

The record of the formation of the 10th
Cavalry is a litany of misery. At Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, Colonel Grierson
began to staff the all-black regiment. His
personnel requirements were so
demanding that the process of recruiting
suitable enlistees was painstakingly slow.
The $13 a month pay, with clothes, food
and lodging, constituted one of the few
opportunities available to the young
Negro male in 1867, and Grierson had
no lack of applicants. Military service
was no bed of roses at Leavenworth for
the black trooper. They were assigned to
the most undesirable quarters by a
bigoted post commander, who would not
even allow the black soldiers to parade
with white troops.

Somehow, Grierson assembled his com-
mand, and moved into the field by
August, 1867. Headquarters for the 10th
Cavalry were established at Fort Riley,
Kansas. Equipment issued to the black
soldiers was the poorest in the entire
army, and continued to be so throughout
their long stay on the frontier. Worn out
harness, wagons, and camp equipage,
along with obsolete weapons and wind-
blown horses - some over 15 years old -
were issued to the 9th and 10th Cavalry
to subdue the formidable Indian.

The 9th Cavalry, recruited and head-
quartered at Greenville, Louisiana,
suffered about the same hardships, but
with one difference. Colonel Hatch did
not have the same views as Grierson in
regard to qualified recruits, thus he filled
the ranks quickly. Many were enlisted
who really were unfit for military duty.
Similar activity was taking place at
Baton Rouge where Colonel MacKenzie
and Lt. Colonel Shafter were assembling
the 41st Infantry Regiment.

William Rufus Shafter was born on a
farm near the present town of
Galesburg, Michigan, on October 16,
1835. He was the eldest of four children,
three boys and a girl, born to Hugh
Morris Shafter and Eliza Sumner. Hugh,
of Welsh ancestry, brought his young
bride to their wilderness homestead in
1833. A farmer and a surveyor by voca-
tion, he would later become an ardent
abolitionist .

Young William gained the nickname
"Bull" during his early school years. He
was somewhat of a bully, and domineer-
ing by nature. He was also a good stu-
dent who was able to obtain a teaching
position at the completion of his public
school education without benefit of col-
lege. He did so well that he moved into a
better teaching job and entered a school
offering a teaching degree and creden-
tials. The Civil War interrupted
Shafter's academic pursuits.

Bull enlisted with the 7th Michigan
Volunteer Cavalry, over his father's vi-
olent disapproval. His aptness for mili-
tary life gained promotion from private
to first lieutenant in about a month.
Before long he was in Washington with
the 7th Michigan and part of General
McClellan's Army of the Potomac.
Shafter participated in the Peninsular
Campaign in 1862, and received a seri-
ous hip wound at the Battle of Fair Oaks
for which he refused medical assistance
for 56 hours. He also acquitted himself
with valor during that action, and was
eventually awarded the Congressional
Medal of Honor - although it was in
1895. Shafter was an able leader and a
talented organizer. These traits earned
him steady promotion, but his rough
personality made him the terror of his
subordinates .

Shafter took time out to marry Harriett
Grimes while on leave at Galesburg in
September, 1862 . The honeymoon was a
short one as he was given a promotion to
major and transferred to the new l9th
Michigan Infantry, and immediate duty
in the area of Nashville, Tennessee. In
constant action in that theater, he was
eventually taken prisoner during the
Battle of Franklin when his brigade com-
mander surrendered his entire force. A
miserable march to Libby Prison in
Richmond ended with Shafter being part
of a prisoner exchange, ending his two-
month ordeal. He was returned to duty
in the Nashville area and chosen to or-
ganize an all-Negro regiment, the 17th
U.S. Infantry. With his new command
and the rank of colonel, Shafter partici-
pated in the Battle of Nashville in
December, 1864. His regiment distin-
guished themselves during the action,
gaining further high regard for Shafter' s
ability as a commanding officer.

He also became a Mason in 1864, while
on leave in Galesburg. He received the
degrees in Prairie Lodge No. 92 and
began a life-long membership in the
Fraternity. His release from the army
following the end of the war was delayed
until November, 1866. He was assigned
occupational duty in Nashville, and did
such a fine administrative job that he was
offered the position of Commissioner of
Police in the city. He politely declined
and returned to Galesburg.

Civilian life was tedious and burden-
some for Shafter, and he looked again to
the military. Even though the army was
undergoing a severe reduction in force,
he was awarded a regular commission as
lieutenant colonel in January, 1867,
thanks in a large measure to his success
with black troops in the Civil War. As
previously stated, he reported to Baton
Rouge and the 41st Infantry Headquar-
ters.

When the regiment was assembled, the
41st moved into new headquarters at
Brownsville, Texas, to begin about 30
years of constant Indian warfare and
peace-keeping activity. The 9th and 10th
Cavalry, plus the surviving infantry regi-
ments, the 24th and 25th, were scattered
throughout Texas for many years. They
manned posts along the Rio Grande at
Forts Duncan, Ringgold, Clark, and
Quitman. The Butterfield-Overland
roads were guarded by Fort Stockton and
Fort Davis, farther north. In the Hill
Country and even farther north, the
Forts of McKavett, Concho, Mason,
Lancaster, and Griffin were refurbished
and staffed by Buffalo Soldiers. Shafter
was constantly involved in the activity of
most of these posts at various times
during his two decades on the frontier.
He commanded many actions against
the fierce Comanche, Kiowa, Lipan, and
Apache during those years at the head of
both cavalry and infantry Buffalo Sol-
diers .

Among Shafter's great accomplish-
ments was to chart the Staked Plains in
the Texas Panhandle and the desolate
White Sands of western Texas. In his
dogged pursuit of fleeing Indian raiders,
he pushed to the Pecos River, thereby
earning the sobriquet he would have the
rest of his life. The Indians had named
the Negro troopers "Buffalo Soldiers"
because of the similarity between their
curly, black hair and that of the sacred
buffalo. It was a proud title the Buffalo
Soldiers retained through the Spanish-
American War.

Shafter was not loved by his troops. He
was too hard and demanding. He did
have their respect. His tactless manner
eventually landed him in Washington to
explain his actions on the Rio Grande,
where he had followed Indians into Mex-
ico repeatedly, and was accused of trying
to ferment a war between the two coun-
tries. He was also accused of cowardice
and immorality by a disgruntled
lieutenant and 23 enlisted men. Shafter
defended his actions before a
Congressional committee, then
demanded a court of inquiry. The pro-
ceedings cleared Shafter of all charges,
and the unhappy lieutenant, Edward P.
Turner, was soon obliged to resign his
commission. Shafter' s esteem among the
army's highest command was as sound
as ever.

By 1880, Colonel Shafter was suffering
from a number of physical problems.
Always of large build, he had become
obese, and was suffering from gout,
along with varicose veins. His old un-
tended hip wound was a constant aggra-
vation. His disposition, never pleasant,
soured even more than usual. This was
Shafter's state as commanding officer of
Fort Davis in June, 1881, when he was
obliged to become involved in an inci-
dent involving Second Lieutenant
Henry Ossian Flipper, the first Negro
graduate of West Point.

Flipper had been stationed at Fort Con-
cho, where he became friendly with a
white female resident at the post, Mollie
Dwyer. He aroused the ire of two white
officers, and the incident led to his trans-
fer to Fort Davis, where he was assigned
the duty of Commissary Officer. A short-
age of $1, 500 was discovered in his com-
missary fund soon after Flipper took
over, resulting in a charge of embezzle-
ment. His ill-advised actions in trying to
remedy the situation made matters
worse. Shafter was obliged to convene a
general court martial and try him on the
charges . Flipper was acquitted of the em-
bezzlement charge, but judged guilty of
conduct unbecoming to an officer. The
penalty was a dishonorable discharge.

Flipper lived a long and productive life
as a civilian, passing away in 1940. In
1976, relatives and friends, were success-
ful in having his record altered to reflect
"honorable discharge" - lowering the
curtain on a sad affair.

Shafter spent the next few years per-
forming his normal garrison duties and
spending some time in the territories of
New Mexico and Arizona, where
Apache problems had demanded a con-
centration of military personnel. The
Buffalo Soldiers were well represented in
those activities. In some 900 engage-
ments with hostile Indians in the south-
western frontier after 1865, Shafter and
the Buffalo Soldiers were involved in
more than almost any other segment of
the military. They were burdened during
President U.S. Grant's administration
with the "Quaker Policy" regarding In-
dians. That meant that shooting was to
be avoided if at all possible, and that the
army's primary task was to herd the
Indians back on government reserva-
tions. The policy was abandoned even-
tually, and a more realistic attitude re-
placed it. Force was permitted when
deemed appropriate.

Since direct confrontation was not the
way the Indian raider normally chose to
fight, the army's role generally meant
pursuing the perpetrators' cold trail.
The Buffalo Soldiers' inferior mounts
prevented overtaking the Comanche and
Kiowa raiders. In addition to each brave
riding a good horse, he generally led a
spare to mount when his first became
tired. Destroying supplies and recover-
ing stock, plus the constant harassment
of pursuit, were the tactics that defeated
the Indian and forced him back to the
reservation .

Shafter's two decades with the Buffalo
Soldiers ended when he was transferred
to the First Infantry, with headquarters
at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. His
Indian-fighting days were over with the
exceptions of brief duty in the Dakota
Territory during the great Sioux uprising
of 1890-91. His role was minor in that
action .

President Grover Cleveland ordered
Pecos Bill and the First Infantry to in-
tercede the railway strike in 1894. Postal
workers had joined the strike and the
mail was interrupted at Los Angeles.
Shafter moved quickly to restore order,
and the mail was rolling within a couple
of days. Considerable public acclaim
came to the old soldier for his swift and
efficient compliance to orders.

There was time now to build a retire-
ment home next to his daughter Helen's
large ranch in Bakersfield. Shafter now
tipped the scales at 300 pounds, and
suffered constant agony from gout and
varicose veins. Retirement offered an
appealing prospect. In May, 1897,
Shafter was promoted to brigadier
general. Tragedy struck, though, blunt-
ing the happy anticipation of a peaceful
retirement. Bill's beloved wife, Harriet
died, and was laid to rest at the Precidio
in San Francisco before she had the
chance to know that the old soldier had
received the second star of a major
general on May 4, 1898.

General Shafter's promotion to two-
star rank was in line with his new assign-
ment to head the invasion forces
scheduled to attack Cuba. In mid-Febru-
ary, 1898, the battleship Maine was
blown up in Havana harbor, with heavy
loss of life. A war-minded country now
demanded action, and a reluctant Presi-
dent McKinley recommend it to Con-
gress. The United States was historically
unprepared for war, with the exception
of the navy. They had been strengthen-
ing the fleet for several years, primarily
due to the urgings of Assistant Secretary
of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt. The
army had no more than 50,000 ill-
equipped regulars. Once more, the
country must depend on a volunteer
army.

McKinley called initially for 125,000
volunteers and Shafter was tapped to
prepare them for an invasion of Cuba. A
bumbling Secretary of War, Russell
Alger, and a meddling War Department
staff, selected the port of embarkation for
the invasion force. It was Tampa, Florida
- totally inadequate to accommodate the
necessary vessels to transport the inva-
sion force, and to provide adequate
facilities for the horde of arriving volun-
teers, national guard units, and the reg-
ular army. Supplying the vast throng was
a logistical nightmare over which Shafter
had little control. The invasion date,
originally projected for the fall of 1898,
after the rainy and Yellow Fever season,
was moved up toJune. Conflicting poli-
cies and constant meddling from Wash-
ington added to the confusion. The
horde of newsmen which had attached
itself to the expedition was likewise of
little comfort to Shafter.

General Shafter was a brittle-tempered
man, devoid of any charm, when he felt
well. He was in an evil mood during the
trial at Tampa. In addition to the
catastrophic situation prevailing at the
port of embarkation, he was in agony
from gout. Two puffing privates were
needed to hoist him aboard his horse.
The questions of the newsmen were
gruffly turned aside, and Shafter' s public
image took a beating in the press. When
he sharply rebuffed Richard Harding
Davis, a celebrated newsman with a
national following, Pecos Bill was flayed
in print.

Shafter was the most maligned military
figure in our country's history and his
success in Cuba was deemed by the press
to be a bumbling happy accident.
Nevertheless, 17 ,000 men and their sup-
plies were loaded on 32 ships at Tampa,
and transported to the coast of Cuba,
departing onJune 22nd. They landed on
Daquiri Beach, west of the harbor of
Santiago de Cuba, with little resistance
and worked their way toward the city
through a steaming jungle. The major
military action of the war occurred at the
San Juan Heights, two hills that were
heavily fortified by the Spanish army.
The Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th
Cavalry and the First U.S. Cavalry (the
Roughriders), led by Lt. Colonel Theo-
dore Roosevelt assaulted Kettle Hill.
Dismounted, the intermingled com-
mands worked their way up the hill to
secure a tenuous victory, and clear the
way to Santiago.

The surrender of the Spanish forces was
accepted by Shafter on July 17, 1898,
following a couple of weeks of negotia-
tion. Commodore Winfield S. Schley
added his substantial effort to the
Spanish defeat onJuly 1st by destroying
their fleet, bottled up in the harbor at
Santiago. The Philippines had been
taken by Admiral Dewey's defeat of the
Spanish fleet at Manila harbor, and
General Nelson A. Miles took Puerto
Rico in a bloodless invasion. The
Spanish-American War was over in a
matter of weeks. Shafter and his invasion
troops were back in New York by August,
having been relieved.

The War Department decision to in-
vade in June and July had resulted in-
directly in the death of 5,000 men trom
typhoid, Yellow Fever, and malaria. A
direct result of invading C uba during the
July rainy season. Combat deaths stood
at 379. Shafter had been chosen to lead
the Cuban campaign over younger and
fully-qualified senior officers for the
simple reason that he presented no politi-
cal threat to the administration. Pecos
Bill had no political ambition, General
Miles and some others did.

After a round of triumphal appear-
ances, many with President McKinley,
General Shafter returned to San Fran-
cisco, and assumed command of the De-
partment of California. He passed the
balance of his active duty quietly and
retired onJuly 1, 1901 to his Bakersfield
home. He became a speaker of consider-
able accomplishment and kept busy with
public activity until he contracted pneu-
monia and passed away on November 6,
1 906 .

As the work of the Buffalo Soldiers
came to a conclusion on the western fron-
tier, so had the career of William R.
Shafter, America' s most-maligned of-
ficer. They had shared many grim ex-
periences together and received little ac-
claim or recognition for their efforts.
History will not forget the Buffalo Soldier
nor Pecos Bill Shafter. The pride of
Galesburg, Michigan, masked his devo-
tion to duty, and love of country behind
a rough exterior. His profane and dom-
ineering manner alienated some, but not
those who mattered. Shafter was a man
of unswerving loyalty to God, country,
and family. We are proud to call him
brother !
References

John S. Bowman, (Editor), The Civil WarAlmanac,
World Almanac Publications New York, 1983.
Bruce Catton, Terriole Swift Sword, Doubleday and
Company, Garden City, New York, 1963; Neuer

Call Retreat, Doubleday and Company, Garden
City, New York, 1965.

Donald Barr Chidsey, The Spanish American War,
Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1971.

William R. Denslow, 10,000 Famous Freemasons,

Volumes I and IV, Transactions of the Missouri
Lodge of Research, 1960.

John Cameron Dierks, A Leap to Arms, J. B. Lip-
pincott Company, Philadelphia and New York,
1970.

Col. R. Ernest Dupuy, USA (Rct.), The Compact
Histor5y opf the United States of America
