On Wednesday,
July 28, Fort Concho will celebrate the 155
th anniversary date of
the 1866 Act of Congress that created the all-Black infantry and
cavalry army regiments. The celebration will begin at 5:30
p.m. with a retreat ceremony on the fort’s parade ground followed
by a special program by the Buffalo Soldiers of the Arizona
Territory group inside the
fort’s Commissary building.
Members
of the U.S. Army’s 344
th Military Intelligence Battalion
at Goodfellow Air Force Base will assist the Fort Concho Living History program
volunteers in lowering the flag and firing the evening gun during the
retreat ceremony.
Buffalo
soldiers served throughout the West after the Civil War, with
all four regiments serving at Fort
Concho. One regiment – the 10
th Cavalry – made the
fort its headquarters between 1875-1882. Over Fort
Concho’s 22-year history, half of its enlisted soldiers
were Black.
For
more information, please call Fort Concho at
(325) 481-2646 or
check the website at
fortconcho.com.