WORD OF THE DAY

After the Civil War, Black regiments serving in the Western U.S. were nicknamed buffalo soldiers.

While many African Americans fought for the Union during the Civil War, the buffalo soldiers were the first peacetime all-Black Army regiments. Members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, formed in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1866, were the original buffalo soldiers. Historians disagree on exactly where these troops got their name, but many believe it was bestowed on the Black soldiers by their Native American adversaries in the American Indian Wars.