On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldier

On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldier presents carefully documented biographical information on thousands of black servicemen, giving the researcher not only glimpses of individual lives but also documentation of the variety of African-American experiences within and outside the army. Dr. Frank N. Schubert has combed both official military reports and unofficial documents in seeking information on 'buffalo soldiers' (as African Americans who served in the U.S. Army were commonly called). His sources include annual reports of the secretary of war, weekly papers serving black audiences, the journal of the NAACP, and Veterans Administration files. The data he uncovered for this work include dates and places of birth, details of service and retirement, occupations prior to and following military service, commendations for bravery, 'character,' unusual causes of death, and circumstances prior to emancipation. The entries are here arranged in alphabetical order by the soldiers' last names, with sources cited throughout. They range in length from a brief statement documenting an individual's sole appearance in written records to several pages of text on a better-documented figure. Also included are an essay on the sources and the kinds of information they contain, a bibliography of sources used, and a list of abbreviations.