The inclusion of the Ninth Cavalry and three other African American regiments in the post-Civil War army was one of the nation's most problematic social experiments. The first fifteen years following its organization in 1866 were stained by mutinies, slanderous verbal assaults, and sadistic abuses by their officers. Eventually, however, a number of considerate and dedicated officers, including Major Guy Henry, Captain Charles Parker, and Lieutenant Matthais Day, in cooperation with capable noncommissioned officers such as George Mason, Madison Ingoman, and Moses Williams, created an elite and well-disciplined fighting unit that won the respect of all but the most racist whites.

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This study documents the Ninth Cavalry Regiment's history from its creation on July, 28 1866 through its deployment west in March 1867. Previous historians have not chronicled, in detail, the early history of the Ninth Cavalry Regiment. This study fills part of the gap. The Ninth Cavalry was one of six Black Regular Regiments created by the Reorganization Act of 1866. This study Focused on the mustering, formation, and training of that regiment. The regiment was garrisoned in New Orleans, Louisiana. All officers assigned to the new regiments had to meet strict screening requirements. Most of the recruiting for the regiment's Black soldiers was done in the southwest portion of the United States. The unit's officers often complained that the troops were illiterate and difficult to train. The thesis concludes there were not enough officers available to supervise or train the enlisted soldiers properly. Literacy was not the unit's biggest problem. Despite the lack of officers, the Ninth Cavalry Regiment was the first of the Black Regular Regiments to deploy, en masses, as a part of the peacetime United States Army.