1866July 28 - The U.S. Army is reorganized by the Army Reorganization Act of 1866 into 45 infantry and 10 cavalry regiments. The act authorizes six regiments for African Americans - two cavalry (9th and 10th) and four infantry (38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st). September 21 - 10th Cavalry commanded by Col. Benjamin Grierson is organized at Fort Leavenworth and begins training. Initially, recruits are drawn from veteran enlistees in the Departments of the Missouri, Platte, and Arkansas but the bulk of enlistees are from eastern cities and arrive later. |
1867February 18 - Troop A is organized under the command of Captain Nicholas Nolan with Lieutenants G. W. Graham and G. F. Raulston. August 2 - Battle of the Saline River. This is the first major combat for units from the 10th Cavalry. Company F shows the quality of their training and discipline and maintains a defensive “hollow square” while retreating from a larger force of Cheyenne. The company reaches Fort Hays with only a single trooper killed.
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1867 - 1868Winter - Several companies of the 10th are part of the force Gen. William Sherman uses in his winter campaigns against the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Comanche. Units of the 10th block the retreat of the Cheyenne to the northwest, allowing the 7th Cavalry to defeat them in battle near Fort Cobb, Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).
September 1868 - Companies H and I under the commande of Captain Louis H. Carpenter rescue the force under Lt. Col Forsyth whose party of 48 white scouts had been attacked and surrounded by a force of about 700 Indians on a sand bank up the North Fork of the Republican River. The action would later be known as the Battle of Beecher Island.
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1869January 2 - The cavalry stables at Fort Larned burn under suspicious circumstances. Company At is transferred to Fort Zarah in the aftermath of the fire. |
1870sThe companies of 10th spends the first part of this decade at various posts throughout Kansas and Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). They help guard workers on the Kansas and Pacific Railroad, string miles of new telegraph lines, and mostly build Fort Sill. Along with those duties they are also constantly patrolling the reservation and engaging with Indians to help keep them from raiding into Texas. |
1875April 17 - The regimental headquarters for both the 9th and 10th Cavalries are transferred to Fort Concho in the northwest part of Texas. This move reflects the shifting focus of the western Indian Wars. With the Indians on the Central Plains mostly pacified and on reservations the Army begins concentrating on the Southwest and Northern Plains. |
1877July - Buffalo Soldier Tragedy of 1877, also known as the “Staked Plains Horror”. Captain Nicholas Nolan, in command of a combined force of Buffalo Soldiers and buffalo hunters, ends up lost in the Llano Estaco region of northwest Texas. The command wanders for five days in this almost waterless region. Four soldiers and one civilian die before the rest of the group returns. |
1879 - 1880Campaign in New Mexico and Texas against Victorio’s Apache bands. The 10th Cavalry play an important role in the campaign to keep Chief Victorio from returning to New Mexico after escaping from his New Mexico reservation. Victorio and the warriors who followed him raid throuhout the southwest as they make their way down to Mexico. |
1885Campaign in Arizona against Geronimo’s Apache bands. The 10th Cavalry's headquarters were transferred to the Department of Arizona in 1885. The regiment was involved once again in the pursuit of Apaches in the rough Arizon territory. This time the Apaches who left their reservation were led by Geronimo, Nana, Nachez, Chihuahua and Magnus. |
1890March 7 - Battle of the Salt River. This engagement is one of the last battles of the Apache Wars. A detachment from the 10th took part in an expedition against the remaining Apache Indians. The battle is fought in area north of Globe, Arizona. Sergeant William McBryar is awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in pursuit of Apache warriors after the battle. |
1891 - 1898Regiment transfers to the Department of Dakota. After serving twenty years at various posts in the Southwest, the 10th Cavalry was transferred to the Department of Dakota. Under the command of Col. John Mizner the regiment serves at vrious posts in Montana and the Dakotas. |
1898April 21 - A US imposed embargo on Cuba as a result of tensions between the two governments after the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor on February 15. July 1 - Defends Kettle Hill during the Battle of San Juan Hill with the 3rd Cavalry and the 1st Volunteer Cavalry (the "Roughriders"). |
1898 - 1902Action in the Philippines - At the end of the Spanish-American War the 10th Cavalry is sent to the Philippines to help put down what is called "Philippine Insurrection" at the time, but will later be known as the "Philippine-American War. |
1902 - 1908Late 1902 - Trasferred back to the Southwest where they spend their time at various posts throughout the region. The majority of their time they are engaged in the routine of patrols and garrison life. |
1909 - 1913July 28 - Transferred to Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont. This is the first East Coast garrison duty for the regiment since their formation in 1866. |
1913November to December - transferred back to the Southwest due to rising tension along the Mexican-American border. Their new regimental headquarters are at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. |
1916 - 1917March 14, 1917 to February 7, 1917 - Take part in the Mexican Expedition, also known as the Punitive Expedition. This is an unsuccessful campaign against Francisco "Pancho" Villa and his paramilitary forces as retaliation for his attack on the village of Columbus, New Mexico.The 10th is part of a 5000 man force under now General John J. Pershing who enters Mexico in purusit of Villa and his men. Fighting during the campaign is mostly minor skirmishing with small bands of Mexican rebels. |
1917April 6 - US Congress declares war on Germany and formally enters World War I. Although the 10th spends World War I in the United States they are still engaged in some combat during this time period in the United States. |
1918January 9 - Engages in a firefight with Yaqui Indians west of Nogales, Arizona. The Indians are intercepted by E company on their way to help the Yaqui Indians of Sonora who are fighting the Mexcians. |
1941 - 1944December 8, 1941 - Congress declares war on Japan and the US formally enters World War II. The regiment did not see any combat service until the end of World War II.
1941 - The regiment is on garrison duty at Fort Leavenworth at the start of the war. 1942 - Transfers to Camp Lockett, California as a replacement for the 11th Cavalry, whose duty has been the southern defense of the Western Defense Command under Lt. Gen. DeWitt. 1943 - During the summer the 10th and 28th Cavalry fight wildfires in the Cleveland National Forest. 1944 - The entire 2nd Cavalry Division, of which the 10th is a part, is shipped to Oran, North Africa. March 9, 1944 - The 2nd Cavalry Division is deactivated and the soldiers reorganized as combat support and combat service support units despite their combat training. This was effectively the end of the 10th Cavalry as a fighting unit.
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1958The 10th Cavalry is reactived, although the unit is now integrated, as is the rest of the army. The unit wears the buffalo symbol on their uniforms to this day.
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Last updated: June 22, 2017