BUFFALO SOLDIER, UNITED STATES, CO. I, 25TH INFANTRY REGIMENT
CARD MOUNTED PHOTO $1200. USD
There are crossed rifles on his hat. The number "25" is above, and the letter "I" is below. This soldier is from Company I, 25th U.S. Infantry Regiment, which was one of the original Buffalo Soldier units.
PHOTOGRAPHER INFORMATION. Stamped on back: "LORD PORTRAIT CO. 331 Deaderick Street, NASHVILLE, - - TENN."
SIZE. Photo: Approximately 4 15/16 x 3 3/8 inches. Mount: Approximately 6 3/16 x 4 1/4 inches.
CONDITION. Photo: Circular stain on his chest. Spots and marks. Mount: Unevenly trimmed. Front has wear at lower left corner, discoloration, and a few spots. Back has wear around edges and at corners, soiling, 3 scuff marks at top, old paper affixed, and the number "50" at upper left (the "5" looks stamped, the "0" looks written).
APPEARANCE. Masterful lighting on his face. Good tones. Sharp details.
25TH INFANTRY REGIMENT. "When the U.S. Army was reorganized on July 28, 1866 for peacetime service after the American Civil War, six regiments were set aside for black enlisted men. These included four infantry regiments, numbered 38th through 41st. The 25th Infantry was created during a reduction in March 1869 by merging the 39th and 40th. The consolidation took place at New Orleans, Louisiana, and the regiment was sent to Texas... The regiment stayed in Texas until 1880. Then it moved to the northern plains, and served in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Montana until the late 1890s. At the beginning of the 1890s it became involved in the Pine Ridge campaign. Later in the decade it served in labor disputes that pitted owners against the Western Federation of Miners, notably the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Mining War of 1892. The regiment also protected railroad property during the strike of 1894. Its units were dispersed at several posts, until 1897, when all the companies of the regiment were assigned together for the first time, at Fort Douglas, outside Salt Lake City, Utah... Like the other black regiments, the 25th went to Cuba in 1898. The regiment fought at El Caney, just north of San Juan Hill, on July 1, losing ten enlisted men and two officers. One of its men, Corporal Thomas Butler, was credited by eyewitnesses with capturing the Spanish flag at the blockhouse... " (source: Blackpast website)