What’s in a name?
A name provides insight into a thing or individual and how others view the named. It’s intriguing how things and people earn their names.
The Bible is full of names with religious and historical meanings: Adam – ground, Esau – hairy, Peter – rock, Sarah – laughter, etc.
Many contemporary names evolve from a certain visible characteristic or oddity. You would suppose that a person nicknamed ‘chicken legs’ has skinny, bony legs. Then again, the significance of a name may not always be visible. And more often than not, the namer is the first to know the real reason or story behind the given title.
What about the name ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ given to the members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the U. S. Army, a black regiment? At face value, one might ask, did they ride buffalos?
Who would give the black soldiers such a name, and why?
According to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, the name origin lies with the Cheyenne Indians. And the original translation was ‘Wild Buffalo.’ Other sources contribute the naming to the Comanche. The Apache is also referenced as having called the black soldiers’ Buffalo Soldiers’ because their hair was curly and kinky like bison hair. Another source said it was because the black soldiers wore bison coats during the winter.
This naming of the black soldiers as ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ seems right in line with Native American tradition who used nature to describe people and things. This is not unlike some nature-derived American names: Pearl, Ruby, Olivia (olive), Lily, and many others.
This nickname ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in the Indian Wars. In addition to the many European soldiers, the Buffalo Soldiers fought the Indians who so named them. And often, there is a story derived or associated with the naming. Here is one such tale cited by Wikipedia.
“In September 1867, Private John Randall of Troop G of the 10th Cavalry Regiment was assigned to escort two civilians on a hunting trip. The hunters suddenly became the hunted when a band of 70 Cheyenne warriors swept down on them. The two civilians quickly fell in the initial attack and Randall’s horse was shot out from beneath him. Randall managed to scramble to safety behind a washout under the railroad tracks, where he fended off the attack with only his pistol and 17 rounds of ammunition until help from the nearby camp arrived. The Cheyenne beat a hasty retreat, leaving behind 13 fallen warriors. Private Randall suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder and 11 lance wounds, but recovered. The Cheyenne quickly spread word of this new type of soldier, “who had fought like a cornered buffalo; who like a buffalo had suffered wound after wound, yet had not died; and who like a buffalo had a thick and shaggy mane of hair.”
Congress established the “Buffalo Soldiers” as the first peacetime all-black regiments in the regular U.S. Army.
23 Buffalo Soldiers received the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars.
Happy Black History Month.
Be safe.