At left is the featured guest speaker, MSGT – US Army Retired, Darrel Nash. Darrel described the history of his beloved Buffalo Soldiers in the US Army, which of course included their tenure right here in Columbus, and their famous battle exploits during the Punitive Expedition out of Columbus deep into the adjoining state of Chihuahua, Mexico back in 1916 and 1917.

In his address, Sgt. Nash spoke to the audience for just 10 minutes (see video below), but his words were well-chosen and highly educational.  Some more than 150 assembled visitors and special guests (which included a large group of Buffalo Soldier Motorcycle Club enthusiasts from several nearby states, including Arizona and Texas) enthusiastically applauded his inspirational message. The event was opened by Columbus Mayor, Philip Skinner.

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The annual Raid Day Memorial Services are held in Columbus, NM, and are conducted each year by the Columbus Historical Society (CHS) at the drill grounds immediately behind their popular tourist attraction, the “Depot Museum.”  These services are held on March 9, each year.  The same date on which the infamous 1916 Raid took place by the Mexican Villistas, under the command of the Mexican Revolutionary, General “Pancho” Villa.  As a result of this wanton act of terror, President Wilson ordered American General “Black Jack” Pershing to lead the “Punitive Expedition” into Mexico to capture Villa, “dead or alive.”  Although the Expedition was terminated 11 months later, in 1917, just prior to the entry of the U.S. into the fiery holocaust of WWI in Europe, the Buffalo Soldiers maintained their presence in Columbus until 1922, five years later.

The Army units that would come to be known as “Buffalo Soldiers” were created during the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era. On June 28, 1866, Congress passed legislation that allowed Black men to enlist in the peacetime army. Officially called “An Act to Increase and Fix the Military Peace Establishment of the United States,” Two regiments of all-Black cavalry and four regiments of all-Black infantry, commanded by white officers, were subsequently organized and equipped.

What Is a Buffalo Soldier?

The original Buffalo Soldiers came from these units. The U.S. Army’s 9th and 10th Cavalry were the first. Then came the four infantry units. The 38th U.S. (Colored) Infantry Regiment and the 41st U.S. (Colored) Infantry Regiment, were eventually consolidated into the 24th Infantry Regiment. The 39th and 40th (Colored) Infantry Regiments were consolidated into the 25th Infantry Regiment.

They weren’t the first Black men to serve in defense of the United States. Black men served in the Continental Army and state militias during the Revolutionary War. Black troops served in the War of 1812, and freedmen and former slaves fought in the Civil War for the Union Army. The 1866 legislation was the first to call for specific units composed of Black troops and recruited from Washington, Louisiana, Kentucky, Kansas, and Missouri.

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