THE BRAZOS WITH THE 10th CAVALRY. THE REGIMENT THAT WON THE WEST

The greatest horsemen of the West were the black soldiers of the 10th who had, singlehandedly since their entry into the American Civil, war beaten back the Rebels in every engagement they had fought with them. After the war  they came to the west were America was born and where, notwithstanding their obliteration from history books , the black soldier again made america safe for the white man. All this is not hearsay and even abe Lincoln said as much after black troops turned the losing battles into winning ones.

Not the sea but a dry salt lake

In 1875 Lieutenant Colonel William Shafter, led an expedition to the Llano Estacado region for two purposes: to clear the Llano Estacado of renegade Comanches and make a detailed map of the region. One of the reasons the Llano Estacado provided a refuge for the Comanches was its vast and hostile expanse. The expedition included troops from the 24th Infantry, 10th Cavalry, one company from the 25th Infantry, and two companies of Indian scouts.Lt.-Colonel William Shafter,  The Llano Estacado is part of the High Plains, straddling the Texas - New Mexico border between Interstate 40 on the north and Interstate 20 on the south, or, roughly, between Amarillo and Midland-Odessa, Texas. It is bounded on the west by the Pecos valley, and on the east by the red Permian plains of Texas. Its extent is, therefore, about 250 mi. north to south, and 150 mi. east to west, an area of 37,500 sq. mi. The Llano is a very flat, semiarid plateau, ranging in elevation from 5000' on the northwest to less than 3000' on the southeast, sloping more or less uniformly to the east-southeast at a rate of at least 10' per mile. The slope is imperceptible to an observer on the plateau. The Llano is dry and treeless, the prevailing wind is from the southwest, and mirages are a frequent occurence under the hot sun.

Llano

"The expedition departed Fort Concho 2 months later and headed north to the Fresh Fork of the Brazos River where a supply camp was established. While the Cavalry and Indian scouts set out to the west, chasing Comanches and destroying Native villages, the Infantry remained for the most part at the supply camp." "A few detachments of infantry were sent out to the southwest on scouting patrols. After being in the field for nearly 5 months, Shafter's expedition returned to Fort Duncan in late November 1875. By demonstrating that the Llano Estacado was not impenetrable, Shafter - with the help of the African American soldiers - destroyed a sanctuary for the Comanches and opened that region to settlement by whites. The map that resulted from the 1875 expedition became the standard for more than 30 years .
In the Spring of 1876, the Army received tacit authorization to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico when in pursuit of raiders. Kickapoo and Lipan Indians were the first to suffer from this new policy. Throughout the rest of 1876 and into 1877, the U.S. Army crossed the Rio Grande repeatedly

fight on the rio grande against mexican lancers

  the best horsemen of the U.S Cavalry and the best fighters, many were from the ACW and had on their entry into the conflict won the war for Lincoln in a very short time and he himself acknowledged this, the fact was black soldiers with modern arms were supreme warriors, they had natural grace in movement and struggle and sacrifice had made them hungry for advancement.. Many later historians negate through unconscious rascist negation the role of the blacks in the war. It is without doubt that the most feared indians in the west were put out of action due to the efforts of the black cavalry.

In the Summer of 1876, Shafter organized an expedition of troops of the 8th and 10th Cavalry and companies of the 24th and 25th Infantry to cross the Rio Grande above the Pecos into Mexico, in search of Native American villages. The role of the infantry on this campaign was to guard the railroad crossing over the Rio Grande. The expedition did manage to destroy some villages but also enraged the Mexican citizens. The United States troops recrossed the Rio Grande with the Mexican Army virtually on their heels.

The history of the ten years' service in Texas is the record of a continuous series of building and repairing of military posts, roads and telegraph lines; of escort and guard duty of all descriptions; of marching and counter-marching from post to post, and of scouting for Indians which resulted in a few unimportant skirmishes."

Typical Duties. The main function of the infantry on the western frontier was to provide support to the cavalry. The infantry was not well suited or equipped to fight Native Americans. Even the cavalrymen had trouble catching them; the infantry had no chance. On occasion the infantrymen were mounted and assigned to scouting patrols, but mostly their duties consisted of guard and fatigue details, fort repair, and escort assignments.

Llano

One of the black troops' most frequent tasks was guarding the stage lines' remount stations located on the roads between the forts and frontier towns. Remount station guard duty was generally quiet, and a welcome relief from the routine of garrison life. Most of the stages carried mail and freight, but if there were white passengers, stationmasters frequently refused to allow off-duty black infantrymen to board the stage.

this is one of the models I sell it is priced unpainted at 12.95. This is a version of a mounted US cavalryman in the 1840's. We will be seeing this period soon.

This discrimination led Colonel William Shafter, one of the officers of the 24th Infantry, to threaten the stage companies with the removal of the guards if they continued to mistreat his troops. Government supply trains and survey parties also relied on the protection of the infantry. Constructing roads and stringing telegraph lines were duties that often fell to the infantrymen.

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