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Buffalo
Soldiers: Heroes of the American West
by Brynn Baker
c.2016, Capstone Press
$26.65 / higher in Canada
32 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
Your family is filled with people to whom you look up.
There’s Grandpa, who served in the war. Grandma, who raised
many children with little money. Your uncle, another veteran
overseas; and both your parents, who keep you fed and safe.
You look up to all of them but imagine how high you’d have
to look if they were on horseback, and then read
Buffalo Soldiers: Heroes of the American West by Brynn
Baker.
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At the beginning of the Civil War, many freedmen and
recent-runaway slaves tried to enlist in the Army to fight
for the North. There were laws against that kind of thing
then, but after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the
Union Army was open to former slaves, who fought in
segregated units.
Says Baker, “By the time the war ended in 1865, about
186,000 black soldiers had joined the Union army.”
Twenty-five of them were awarded the Medal of Honor for
bravery in battle and so, seeing that African Americans made
fine soldiers, Congress “reorganized the army” to create six
“all-black regiments” (later reduced to four) and sent them
to patrol the Western territories on foot or by horse. They
were called Buffalo Soldiers, although nobody knows exactly
why.
Segregation was still the law of the land then, but being a
Buffalo Soldier was a way to make a living while also
gaining “the respect of white men.” Riding on horseback,
the Buffalo Soldiers kept the peace in a lawless Western
frontier. Relations between settlers and Native Americans
were shaky, and the soldiers helped eliminate disputes. They
were assigned to fix forts, help local sheriffs uphold the
law and guard mail carriers. While doing their jobs, they
mapped the new territories and took note of the wildlife
they often encountered.
There was adventure, but the job was “challenging,” too:
housing was usually poor, food was sometimes lacking, while
battle and disease also took its toll. Buffalo Soldiers
often worked with second-rate equipment and broken-down
horses. Still, they “took their jobs seriously and served
with honor” and eight states can thank their existence, in
part, to “the Buffalo Soldiers’ service to their country.”
Dates and names. Does your child think that history consists
just of those two sometimes-boring things? Show him that
there are lively stories behind those names and dates by
giving him Buffalo Soldiers.
With plenty of pictures and sidebars, author Brynn Baker
puts history into perspective by explaining, in
child-friendly terms, how black men (and at least one
woman!) helped settle the West at a time when African
Americans sometimes struggled for the chance to own property
themselves. Baker furthermore shows how Native American
history is intertwined with that of the oldiers, and it’s
told in an engaging, almost story-like way that I think kids
will enjoy.
For nine-to-12-year-olds, this is a great introduction to a
sometimes-overlooked facet of history and it might spur them
to delve even further into the topic. History-minded
children, especially, may want to read Buffalo Soldiers
for pleasure, too, so go ahead – look it up. |
