Buffalo Soldiers and Officers of the Ninth Cavalry, 1867-1898; Black and White Together

Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. x, 384, [6] pages. Includes 13 black and white illustrations, and 4 black and white maps. Also includes Introduction, The Regiment and Its Commander, Years of Crisis, Years of Glory, 1879-91, Honor and Dishonor: Episodes from the Barracks and Officer's Row; and Racism Resurgent. Also includes Notes, Bibliography, and Index. Charles Kenner completed has education earning a Ph.D. from Texas Tech University in western US history. He was the author of two books on western history as well as numerous articles, papers, and reviews. He taught at Arkansas State University for 30 years, arriving the year before ASU became a university in 1966. The inclusion of the Ninth Cavalry and three other African American regiments in the post-Civil War army was one of the nation's most problematic social experiments. The first fifteen years following its organization in 1866 were stained by mutinies, slanderous verbal assaults, and sadistic abuses by their officers. Eventually, however, a number of considerate and dedicated officers, including Major Guy Henry, Captain Charles Parker, and Lieutenant Matthais Day, in cooperation with capable noncommissioned officers such as George Mason, Madison Ingoman, and Moses Williams, created an elite and well-disciplined fighting unit that won the respect of all but the most racist whites. Charles L. Kenner's detailed biographies of officers and enlisted men describe the passions, aspirations, and conflicts that both bound blacks and white together and pulled them apart. Special attention is given to the ordeals of three black officers assigned to the Ninth: Lieutenants John Alexander and Charles Young and Chaplain Henry Plummer. The subjects of these biographies-blacks and whites alike-represent every facet of human nature. The best learned that progress could only be achieved through trust and cooperation. The author gives special attention to the ordeals of the three black officers assigned to the Ninth Cavalry, Lieutenants John Alexander and Charles Young, and Chaplain Henry Plummer, whose presence directly challenged the doctrine of white supremacy. Kenner's book is an excellent narrative which chronicles the actual experiences of the buffalo soldiers and the white officers who served with them. The book is a pleasure to read because it goes beyond the dates and battles, opting instead to recreate their foibles and shortcomings as well as their valor and heroism.