The 24th Infantry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army, active from 1869 until 1951, and since 1995. Before its original dissolution in 1951, it was primarily made up of African-American soldiers.
History
The 24th Infantry Regiment (one of the Buffalo Soldier regiments) was organized on 1 November 1869 from the 38th U.S. Infantry Regiment (formed 24 July 1866) and the 41st U.S. Infantry Regiment (formed 27 July 1866). All the enlisted soldiers were black, either veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops or freedmen. From its activation until 1898, the 24th Infantry served throughout the Western United States. Its missions included garrisoning frontier posts, battling American Indians, protecting roadways against bandits, guarding the border between the United States and Mexico.
Medal of Honor: Wham Paymaster Robbery, Arizona Territory 11 May 1889 Sergeant Benjamin Brown, Corporal Isaiah Mays Black Seminole: United States Scouts, Canyon Blanco, Staked Plains, Texas (Red River War) Private Adam Payne Black Seminole: United States Scouts, Pecos Texas 25 April 1875 Sergeant John Ward, trumpeter Isaac Payne, private Pompey Factor
Spanish–American War
The year 1898 saw the 24th Infantry deployed to Cuba as part of the U.S. Expeditionary Force in the Spanish–American War. Elements of the 24th participated in the storming of the Spanish fortress in the Battle of El Caney. At the climactic Battle of San Juan Hill under the command of Emerson H. Liscum, supported by intensive fire from the Gatling Gun Detachment, units of the 24th Infantry accompanied by elements of the 6th and 13th Infantry Regiments, assaulted and seized the Spanish-held blockhouse and trench system atop San Juan Hill.
Vancouver Barracks
Company B arrived on 3 April 1899 at Vancouver Barracks, the first African American regiment to serve as part of the garrison there.
Philippine–American War
In 1899 the regiment deployed to the Philippines to help suppress a guerrilla movement in the Philippine–American War. The regiment returned to the Islands in 1905, 1907, and 1911. Though the 24th fought a number of battles in the Philippines, one of the most notable occurred on 7 December 1899, when nine soldiers from the regiment routed 100 guerrillas from their trenches. Notable commanders during this period included Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Henry Blanchard Freeman and Colonel Charles L. Hodges, who commanded in the Philippines in 1907 and retired as a major general in 1911.
Mexican border
In 1916 the 24th Infantry guarded the Mexico–United States border to keep the Mexican Revolution from spilling onto U.S. soil. When it did, the 24th joined the "Punitive Expedition" under General Pershing and entered Mexico to fight Pancho Villa's forces. In 1919, rebels and troops of the Mexican government fought in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, which borders the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas. The 24th Infantry crossed over again to engage the rebels, ensuring that no violence erupted across the U.S. border.
Pre-World War I and the Houston Riot
During the nadir of American race relations and just months after America's entry into World War I, the soldiers of this historic all-black unit had been dispatched to guard the construction of Camp Logan, a military facility in Harris County, where they met animosity from local white civilians. When white police beat and arrested a black private who tried to intervene during a violent, daytime arrest of a black washer woman, the woman, Sarah Travers, and the soldier, Pvt Alonso Edwards, were jailed. A black corporal sent to inquire after the private, was pistol-whipped, chased and shot at, before being dragged out from under a bed and arrested. After untrue rumors of the corporal's murder spread to other soldiers, hostility boiled over.