"Buffalo Soldiers: From Slave to Soldier" 

 

Wellington, Kansas – On Saturday, September 25th at 2:00 p.m. at the Raymond Frye Complex, 320 N. Jefferson, the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society in Wellington will host the presentation “From Slave to Soldier” presented by members of the Alexander/Madison Chapter of Kansas City Missouri, National Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association: J. R. Bruce, Donna Madison, and George Pettigrew. 

Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Wearing masks is recommended but not required, and because some who attend may have health issues, please practice social distancing.

For questions or more information, contact the SCHGS at schgs@sutv.com, call Jane at: 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161, or check out the website at http://ks-schgs.blogspot.com/p/programs.html for more information. 

J. R. Bruce, President of the Alexander/Madison Chapter of Kansas City Missouri, National Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association, (BuffaloSoldiersKC.org), stated that the group will show a short film, and share three presentations. 

John Bell, Sr., and Jr. Randall, who served with the 10th Cavalry in World War II, are relatives of Bruce, who portrays a Sergeant Major from the 10th Cavalry in the Spanish-American War up to the Korean War. George Pettigrew’s great-grandfather was an original Buffalo Soldier, and Pettigrew will speak about his grandfather’s service, and the early service of the Buffalo Soldiers. The only known female Buffalo Soldier, Cathay Williams, will be portrayed by Donna Madison. The National Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association was begun in 1966 on the one-hundred-year anniversary of the founding of the black regiments that were created in 1866. 

According to History.com, after Congress passed the Army Organization Act in 1866, six all-Black cavalry and infantry regiments were created. They protected settlers from Native Americans, caught cattle rustlers and thieves, and guarded wagon trains, stagecoaches, and the workmen building the railroads. 

On May 6th, 1867, former slave Isaac Johnson joined the 38th Infantry, Company K, as a private. Johnson was Pettigrew’s great-grandfather. Pettigrew’s mother was a family historian and genealogist and had discovered during her research that her grandfather had served as a Buffalo Soldier following the Civil War. Her research was recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives. 

 “He was born in 1846 in North Carolina, but he came out of Montgomery, Alabama,” Pettigrew said, “He is the one who went from slave to soldier.”

For nearly twenty years, since the early 2000’s, Donna Madison has portrayed Cathay Williams, former
slave and female buffalo soldier. 

“My dad showed me an article about Cathay Williams at the 9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Reunion at Ft. Leavenworth in 1992,” said Donna Madison, adding that she began to research Williams and decided to commemorate her memory and service.

“Cathay Williams was born a slave sometime between September and November of 1842 in Independence, Missouri,” Madison said, “in 1860, her master moved from Independence, Missouri to Jefferson City, Missouri.” 

According to Madison, Williams was just a tall, skinny teen-ager when she was taken off of her master’s farm by Union Troops. 

Later, she enlisted as William Cathay and served with the 38th for five years. She was able to hide her identity until she contracted smallpox and was hospitalized several times. When her identity was discovered, she was given an honorable discharge. 

Private Cathay Williams was the first African American woman to enlist and was the only documented woman to serve in the United States Army as a Buffalo Soldier while disguised as a man during the Indian Wars. 

Williams died in Trinidad, Colorado circa 1893.