By April Lehmbeck
C & G Staff Writer

HARPER WOODS — School officials breathed new life into a history lesson about the Buffalo Soldiers when they invited today’s version of the soldiers out to the Harper Woods Secondary School to speak to students on Oct. 24.

While the actual Buffalo Soldiers — black men, many of them freed slaves or former North soldiers during the Civil War, who fought in battles and wars for America mainly on the frontier in the late-1800s, along with escorting settlers and cattle herds during the nation’s westward expansion — are long gone from our landscape, there was something special about the Buffalo Soldiers who visited Harper Woods besides their historical garb and accompanying horse. One of the group members has a special tie to the historic soldiers on horseback — his great-uncle was a Buffalo Soldier who died in the Spanish-American War.

“When we have a direct lineage of one of the Buffalo Soldiers come out and talk to the kids … it makes history come alive,” American History teacher Daniel Wagberg said.

Sgt. Major Jimmy Buchanan of the group lives in Detroit and travels to different schools to teach about what was once a little known part of American history. Despite being a direct descendent of the Buffalo Soldiers, Buchanan said he didn’t find out about them until he happened to hear about the heroic soldiers during a last-minute horseback ride one week when he was 23 years old.

A man told the group that “if you guys were in uniform, you’d look like Buffalo Soldiers,” Buchanan said, admitting that he didn’t know at the time who they were. “This was a man from Canada who knew more about my history.

“I try to let other people know before they turn 23 years old,” he said.

After doing research, the group was formed, and there are now many more across the country, as well as more information about the soldiers than was known several decades ago.

Now, people can easily find out about these soldiers and the fact that, for example, one of the earliest black men to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor was a Buffalo Soldier who heroically saved his fellow soldiers during an attack.

Buchanan may not have known about his ancestry involving Buffalo Soldiers until he was in his 20s, but he picked up horseback riding when he was a very young child because he lived on his grandfather’s farm in Tennessee.

When Wagberg was teaching the lesson on the Buffalo Soldiers, Principal Peter Newman decided to invite the group from the Buffalo Soldiers Heritage Center out to the district.

The group talked to the students about how the Buffalo Soldiers received their name, and they showed off the style of uniform they wore and what life might have been like for these soldiers.

“They’re going to give you a unique perspective of what life was like in the United States in the 1860s,” Newman said.

The lesson may helped give students a better understanding than just text books or watching videos on the soldiers would have given them, according to 10th-grade student Shannon Lucas.

“We were allowed to ask questions, pet the horse, look at their authentic weapons and learn about some of the things they went through,” Lucas said. “We even learned about a woman who wanted to be part of the Buffalo Soldiers, so she disguised herself as a man. Nobody ever suspected her until she was sick and needed medical attention. 

“Overall, I have a better understanding of the Buffalo Soldiers, their experiences, achievements and how they’ve overcome many obstacles. All because of a hands-on learning experience,” Lucas said.

You can reach Staff Writer April Lehmbeck at alehmbeck@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1043.