Buffalo Soldiers: Honoring the Legacy of America’s First Peacetime Black Troops

F Company, 24th Infantry, at Fort Bayard, New Mexico, 1892 (Original Image Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration), Image courtesy of The Buffalo Soldiers Heritage Association The sound of horses galloping, kids laughing, and a Blues band playing fills the air at Detroit’s Rouge Park, where a vibrant crowd gathers each year to honor the proud legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers. In front of a pictorial display at the Buffalo Soldiers Heritage Association, 83-year-old First Sgt. James Mills is a living guardian of this history, as the association president reflecting on a legacy that began when African Americans first served in the U.S. military during the colonial era. But it was the formation of the Buffalo Soldiers, former slaves, freemen, and Black Civil War veterans that marked a historic shift. After Congress passed landmark legislation in 1866, they became the first to serve in the U.S. Army during peacetime. As Sgt. Mills speaks, acres of the park come alive with the echoes of stories that span generations, a reminder of the courage and sacrifice of the all-Black regiments whose legacy continues to inspire. “What we have here is not a museum, but a display of things that we partake in...