Soldiers
Portrait of Elijah Madison
Unknown artist, late 19th century
Charcoal drawing on paper
Gift of Gloria White
MHS Collections
2002 083 0001
(Top)
Born a slave, Elijah Madison earned his freedom by enlisting and fighting in the American Civil War. He was promoted to the rank of corporal, Co. F, 68th in the U.S. Colored Infantry at the end of the war. Madison returned to west St. Louis County, where he and his descendants continued to live. This portrait, along with his promotion and discharge papers, was donated by his great-granddaughter.
To wear the American military uniform, with all of its pomp and decorative flourishes, has traditionally meant embracing an identity as a defender of freedom; yet, for those who historically have been marginalized within American political and cultural life, the uniform has always been a complicated symbol. For African American soldiers, this was probably never more so than during the period between the U.S. Civil War and the Spanish American War—when Jim Crow segregation was in effect. As many formerly enslaved people donned the official dress of the Union Army and Buffalo Soldiers (or black regiments) risked their lives throughout the nineteenth century, they boldly claimed access to American rights and liberties; and they wore the uniform with great pride.
10th Cavalry Officer’s Uniform
ca. 1890-1898
Felt, wool, horsehair, braid, metal (helmet); broadcloth,
wool, metal, braid,
brass (coat); broadcloth (trousers)
Gift of Nanine Thomas
MHS Collections
1976 037 0000, 0003, 0005
(Bottom)
African American soldiers made significant military contributions while fighting for the Union during the Civil War. After the war, the U.S. Army created four black regiments—the 24th and 25th Infantry and the 9th and 10th Cavalry—as part of the Regular Army. These units were assigned to bases across the West, where they pursued outlaws, protected uneasy settlers and railroad workers, and clashed with American Indians. More famously known as Buffalo Soldiers—a name which originated with the Indians—the units mirrored the culture of the time by being segregated from white regiments with one exception—their officers were almost always white.
The Buffalo Soldiers were among those called when America went to war with Spain in 1898. The 10th Cavalry served with distinction in Cuba as part of the force that captured San Juan with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. This uniform dress coat, trousers, and helmet belonged to Lt. William Harvey Smith, who was killed during the battle.
Organized by the Virginia Historical
Society with additional support from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter
Foundation and the
Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Changing Exhibitions Fund, American. Support
in St. Louis is provided by The Stanley and Lucy Lopata Foundation
This exhibition has been made possible in part
by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Great Ideas Brought to Life.
