The 27th Cavalry

Buffalo Soldier

The War Department decided in the fall of 1942 to reactivate its 2nd Cavalry Division as an all black division. This led to the 27th Cavalry being constituted on November 10, 1942. With the impending activation of the 2nd Cavalry Division in 1943, new units had to be organized to provide the division with its full complement of units: the 27th and 28th Cavalry regiments were two of these units. The 9th Cavalry was stationed at Fort Clark, Texas where a cadre was used to form the 27th. The unit’s history is short. After training in West Texas and transport to Northern Africa, the 27th was relieved from the 2nd Cavalry Division and inactivated at Oran, Algeria on March 27, 1944. Soldiers had the choice of duty with service units or volunteering for combat with the loss of all rank. The unit was disbanded on December 12, 1951.