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Unit Histories
"The 9th Regiment of Cavalry" (1) (2) (3) 4
1880
January 12, on the Rio Percho, Troops B, C, D, F, H and M, under Major Morrow, were again engaged, losing one man.
January 17, in the San Mateo Mountains, Troops B, C, F, H and M, under Major Morrow, were again engaged, losing one officer (Lieutenant French) killed, and one man wounded; January 30, in Caballo Mountains, detachment of Troops B and M, under Captain Rucker, loss 3 men wounded; February 3, in the San Andreas Mountains, Troops B, C, F, H and M, under Major Morrow, were engaged, losing 4 men wounded; February 28 and again on April 5, in the San Andreas Mountains, Lieutenant Confine with Troop A was engaged, losing one man and one citizen wounded; April 6, in the mountains, Troops A, D, F and G, under Captain Carroll, were engaged, Captain Carroll and 6 men being severely wounded; April 7, Major Morrow with Troops H and L continued this affair; May 14, near old Fort Tolerosa, Sergeant Jordan with 25 men repulsed a force of more than a hundred Indians under Victoria; June 5, Cook’s Canon, Troop L, loss 2 men; May, in the San Francisco Mountains, Troop C and detachment scouts, 2 men killed and one wounded; June 11 and 12, near Fort Cummings, Troop B; September 1, in the Sacramento Mountains, 11 men of Troop G, 2 men wounded.
1881
In February and again in April, a detachment under Lieutenant Maney, 15th Infantry, was engaged in southern New Mexico, one man wounded; July 25 at White Sands, July 26 in the San Andreas, and August 3 at Santa Minica, 20 men of Troop L were engaged.
In August there were a number of engagements - in Carizo Canon, 19 men of Troop K, under Captain Parker, 2 men killed; in the San Mateo Mountains, detachments of Troops B and H, under Lieutenant Taylor; in Cuchillo Negro Mountains, Troop I, Lieutenant Valois, 2 men wounded; in Cavilare Pass, detachment of Troops B and H, Lieutenant Smith, 3 men and one citizen killed, 3 men wounded.
October 4, in the Dragoon Mountains, Troops F and H, 3 men wounded.
1887
November 5, Crow Agency, Montana, Troops D and H.
1890
December 30, Troop D, under Captain Loud, was attacked while escorting a wagon train near Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota, losing one man killed. Later in the same day Troops D, F, I and K, under Major Henry, were engaged near the Drexel Mission, South Dakota, no casualties.
In June 1881, the regiment was moved from New Mexico to Kansas and Indian Territory, where it remained until 1885. Most of these years were spent in garrison, though the intruders upon the Oklahoma Territory which at that time was not open for settlement, kept a number of troops busy moving over that country and patrolling the northern portion of Indian Territory and southern Kansas.
In the summer of 1885 the regiment was moved to the Department of the Platte, where it enjoyed a well-earned rest after the many scouts and campaigns of the preceding eighteen years. The only campaign worthy of mention is that of 1890-91, during the uprising of the Sioux, when the regiment was the first in the field in November, and the last to leave late in the following March, after spending the winter, the latter part of which was terrible in its severity, under canvas. The 9th was sent to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation after the 7th Cavalry Regiment’s engagement on Wounded Knee Creak. The duty was difficult since the men of the 7th seemed intent on taking their revenge for the Sioux’s devastating victory on the Little Bighorn River in 1876.
In February, 1895 the regiment was commanded by Colonel James Biddle and eight troops garrison the post of Fort Robinson, Neb. Troops B and F, under Major Randlett, are at Fort Duchesne, Utah; while Troops L and M are continued with a skeleton organization.
Ten years later, in 1898, the 9th took part in the charge up Kettle Hill and San Juan Heights in Cuban during the Spanish American war. They fought side-by-side with Teddy Roosevelt’s RoughRiders. Their key role in the attack is often overlooked, but never the less without their presence, the charge would have been much more difficult, if not impossible. They also hunted rebels in the Philippines.
During WWI the 9th was scattered across the Western United States. Some men served in California as the first park rangers, other patrolled the border with Mexico from California to Texas. The unit was basically fragmented during WWII. Men were offered the opportunity to volunteer for combat duty under the condition that they give up all rank. Many did and fought in the 92nd Infantry Division in Italy, and Germany.
In the early 1960’s the unit, now fully integrated, served in Vietnam. As an Air Cavalry, Airmobile outfit, the 9th received various decorations for service from 1965 to 1972, including four Presidential Unit Citations.
