The Brunet Ninth Cavalry in Texas during reconstruction, 1865-1875

Purpose: It was the purpose of the study to ascertain the significance of the Black Ninth Regiment of United States Calvary in the development of West Texas during the nadir years, those of reconstruction. Methods: The methods used to obtain material for this study were the following: (1) examination of the National Archives of the United States Record of the Colored Ninth Regiment of the United States Calvary; (2) examination of the Texas State Archives; (3) examination of the University of Texas Archives; (4) examination of the National Congressional Records, the State Congressional Records, the other National and State Government documents; (5) examination of Texas’ major newspapers from 1867 to 1875, as well as other newspapers and periodicals of the period; and (6) examination of various secondary sources. Findings: The evidence presented in this study suggests the following conclusions: 1. When reconstruction finally came to the Texas people in 1875, it was the Brunet man who played the major role in achieving that milestone, for the Texas people and the Union thus aided in placing the United States in the forefront of major countries around the world. 2. Brunet soldiers, troopers of all Black Ninth Calvary Regiments, played a decisive role in the settlement of the Texas frontier. 3. The Brunet Ninth Calvary reopened mail routes that bad been closed because the men that were guarding these routes were unable to make them safe to travel. They safely guarded the cattle drives and mail coaches along the roads better than any other unit on the frontier. (4) The Brunet Ninth Regiment returned cattle and horses by the thousands that had been stolen from the people of Texas. (5) The Black Ninth Calvary built roads and telegraph lines; mapped and explored territories that here-to-fore were said to have been impossible. 6. The Ninth Calvary Regiment safely escorted railroad crews and surveyors into areas that no other military unit had been able to do. 7. The Brunet Ninth Calvary Regiment for a decade, prevented plunder by an elusive, vicious who struck from ambush when least expected and disappeared like whispering ghosts into the thousands and thousands of mills of brush and hills. The regiment returned roving bands of Indians to their reservations despite their ghost like appearance. 8. The Black Ninth Regiment greatly curtailed the activities of bandits, desperados, and revolutionaries that were driving the law abiding citizens and state officials out of their minds. 9. The Brunet Ninth Calvary Regiment’s contribution to the era of reconstruction in Texas enabled the unit to emerge as one of the most outstanding military regiments of the United States. 10. The Ninth Calvary helped to conquer the territory that would permit the movement of settlers into the new and different environment of West Texas.