Black Disability Politics in Black Military Service: A Perspective from Nineteenth-Century Fort Davis, Texas

This article considers the role of the military in debilitating Black soldiers, focusing on the men who served in the Western Frontier immediately following the end of the Civil War, with particular attention to the men who served at Fort Davis, one of a string of posts located in West Texas. We frame this archaeological and archival research with critical disability studies to show how these men were motivated by what has recently been termed “Black Disability Politics,” acting both individually and collectively for their community’s care. The men, popularly known as the “Buffalo Soldiers,” occupy an important space in heritage narratives around citizenship rights, valor, and masculine achievement among African-descended people. Understanding fully the circumstances they endured and overcame contributes nuance and dimensionality to that history, while also providing a lens through which to understand the challenges faced by women and Black and Indigenous People of Color in the military today.