Under Fire with the Tenth U.S. Cavalry

"The 10th Cavalry...took a prominent part in the campaigns against Geronimo, Apache Kid, and other Indian chieftains of the southwest." -The Billings Gazette, Apr. 13, 2003

"Under Fire with the Tenth Cavalry...written about the Buffalo Soldiers." -El Paso Times, Jun. 15, 1998

"Devoted to the conduct of the negro soldier...recounting exploits performed by the Ninth and Tenth cavalry...under the general editorship of Herschel V. Cashin." -Great Falls Tribune, Oct. 25, 1899

"Herschel V. Cashin was the first black lawyer in Alabama...the chief architect of Reconstruction." -The Agitator's Daughter (2008)

Did African-American soldiers participate in the Indian Wars and invasion of Cuba?

In 1899, African-American author Herschel Vivian Cashin (1854 - 1924) published a book of collected testimonies of the "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 10th Cavalry and the 9th Cavalry, detailing their heroic acts in the Indian Wars and the invasion of Cuba. This book, "Under Fire with the Tenth U.S. Cavalry," of one of few contemporary histories of the Buffalo Soldiers.

In introducing his book, Cashin writes:

"Because of the fact that the Negro...is already the subject of slight, parsimonious notice in the histories which were largely made by its deeds of valor, this work is presented to the reading public. There are no charms in the unspeakable horrors of war...but history demands that all events in human affairs shall be carefully recorded; and, some historians allow their narrow prejudices to enter into the execution of their intellectual tasks, it is to be seriously regretted that great injustice is often done to the most worthy."

About the author:

Herschel Vivian Cashin was a lawyer, state legislator, and public official in the United States. He was born in the state in Georgia to a white Irish father and a free "mulatto" woman. He served in the Alabama House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era. Charles Spencer Smith, his colleague in the Alabama House, described him as a friend. Theodore Roosevelt nominated him to be Receiver of Public Monies in Huntsville, Alabama. He was the lead author of Under Fire With the Tenth Cavalry about "the Negro's Participation in Wars of the United States" and the Spanish-American War in particular. Several of his descendants were active in civil rights advocacy including grandson John L. Cashin Jr. And great-granddaughter Sheryll Cashin.

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