OklahomaBand History
Menu

Military and Veterans Bands

10th Cavalry Regimental Band

Also documented as: 10th Cavalry Band

Fort Sill1870 documentedU.S. Army regimental band
Documented history with gaps
Master record224

Image status

No cleared image selected

This history is presented without substituting an unrelated or unverified photograph.

How image decisions work

Documented overview

A Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum marker states that Col. Benjamin H. Grierson organized a twenty-member 10th Cavalry Regimental Band and that quarters for the band were built at Fort Sill in 1870.

Documented history with gaps. The record supports a public history, with important limitations stated on the page.

History

Identity and chronology

A Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum marker states that Col. Benjamin H. Grierson organized a twenty-member 10th Cavalry Regimental Band and that quarters for the band were built at Fort Sill in 1870.

Leadership

Grierson selected literate soldiers, arranged instruction, and sometimes conducted. The marker does not provide the regular bandmaster succession.

Sponsorship and participation

The band was part of the U.S. Army’s 10th Cavalry, one of the Black regiments later known as Buffalo Soldiers. After 1876, cavalry regimental-band support could include regimental collections and subscriptions.

Military personnel.

Activity

The band supported parades, guard mount, retreat, and the departure and return of troops. Cavalry bands could perform mounted, often on white or gray horses.

Why this band matters

Earliest securely dated Fort Sill regimental-band institution located in the research.

Evidence timeline

What the sources establish

  1. Documented evidence

    A Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum marker states that Col. Benjamin H. Grierson organized a twenty-member 10th Cavalry Regimental Band and that quarters for the band were built at Fort Sill in 1870.

    Source 1

Current research decision

What the wording does—and does not—claim

The 1870 quarters date is direct evidence of institutional presence, not necessarily the exact date of the first rehearsal or formal activation.

What remains unknown

The first bandmaster, detailed roster, and exact reorganization or departure dates remain open.

Evidence

Sources

The marker transcription attributed to Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum was checked on 2026-09-03.

  1. Hmdb sourcehttps://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=190952

Help strengthen the record

Have a correction or a better source?

New evidence is checked against the controlling record. Submission does not guarantee publication, and images remain private until ownership, date, permission, and credit are resolved.

Read the correction process