Buffalo Soldiers is the story of Sergeant Major Augustus Sharps of the 10th Cavalry, one of the six African-American regiments authorized by Congress in July 1866. He and other former slaves had proven that they could fight valiantly for their freedom, but in the West they were to fight for the freedom and security of white settlers who often despised them. The Cheyennes thought the hair of this new kind of soldier resembled buffalo hides and so the men of the 9th and 10th Cavalry became known as "buffalo soldiers". Serving with General Custer, and scouts like "Buffalo Bill" Cody and "Wild Bill" Hickok, these exemplary soldiers endured lower pay and fewer privileges than their white counterparts, in addition to the other hardships of the frontier. The perseverance and devotion to duty of these troopers carried them through the bloody battles with the Mescalero Apache and the capture of Geronimo - and even to the charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba with Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders. These men, and other volunteers with the Rough Riders, were the first African-Americans to serve on foreign soil.