PAYMENT FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIER, LIKELY A FORMER SLAVE, WITH SERVICE IN INDIAN TERRITORY

Partly printed document completed in manuscript. Signed mark of Cpl. Edward Townsend, Co. E, 10th U.S. Cavalry. N.p., 6 May 1872. 2 pages, 8 1/2 x 11 in. 

A pay form made out to Cpl. Edward Townsend of the famed 10th U.S. Cavalry, one of the Buffalo Soldiers regiments. He was requesting pay for his service in March and April 1872, including his salary of $14 per month, as well as the pay for traveling from his home in Helena, Arkansas, to Fort Sill, Indian Territory. The total amount requested was $119.94, which was recorded as having been paid on 6 May 1872. 

Not much is known about Townsend's life; however, for him to have been a Buffalo Soldier no doubt cements his legacy in a significant time in military history. While it's uncertain how the term "Buffalo Soldier" became commonplace, it derived from these regiments of all Black soldiers and has since stuck. The 10th Cavalry was one of the first Buffalo Soldier regiments established, having been organized in 1866 initially for duty on the Western frontier. Townsend was discharged from the 10th Cavalry early in its history, but the regiment lasted several decades longer — it fought in the Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, Mexican Revolution and both World Wars until its deactivation in 1944. The regiment was reactivated in 1958 as an integrated combat unit, with soldiers serving in Vietnam and the Middle East. 

[USCT, United States  Colored Troops, Glory, 54th Massachusetts, Buffalo Soldiers, Black Soldiers] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]

Some separation at creases.