Chapter 1: Life After Custer

Sgt. Mack Shaft sat on his hoSgt. Mack Shaft sat on his horse knowing that his days in the Union Army were almost over. His Capt., Adders Custer, had spent the last seven months trying to make the lives of the Buffalo Soldiers as miserable as he could every day since he inherited them. Capt. Custer hated the Buffalo Soldiers because of the color of their skin first of all, and that they seemed to get things done when ordered to, was just another reason to hate them all the more. Because they were segregated they suffered no large losses of life like some of Capt. Custer’s other troops. Capt. Custer made no secret that he hated the Buffalo Soldiers, so much so that he tended to be near them to supervise what he called their lazy ass actions, from what he thought was a somewhat safe distance of course. Sometimes causing more work, having to save the sorry Captain from his own stupidity. Though he rarely said word one to Sgt. Shaft, after he learned the hard way Sgt. Shaft knew how to handle his men in both battle and at rest, his own way.

Capt. Custer had fined Sgt. Shaft repeatedly anyway, and every which way that he could. He was sure they were slacking off while in battle, and this dumb-ass thinking had nearly got him and a few others killed more than once. As he became a target that had to be saved for trying to be just that nosy as to the actions of the Buffalo Soldiers, even though most of their missions were sometimes almost suicidal like in the things that were asked of them. For the most part they still managed to accomplish most of these missions.

When there was a loss of one of the Buffalo Soldiers they buried their own with no help from any of the regular soldiers. Most of their fellow soldiers respected these men, as they stayed to themselves and traded most of their leave from camp with others for a small fee with others who could actually enjoy the time in the towns they would be near. They always volunteered for KP duty. Most of their fellow soldiers thought volunteering for Kitchen Patrol, and turning down weakend leave were just too stupid to be described with words. What most very smart officers, and soldiers didn’t realize was that the Buffalo Soldiers were the most fed, best dressed and outfitted units in the whole company. Plus they were aware of every piece of equipment the company had at all times, this really became useful after the company arrived at Fort Washington.

Some soldiers were wondering if they were indeed gay, as they kept to themselves so much. They went out of their way not to cause trouble, but after those who caused them trouble ended up hurt badly soon after whatever happened, folks let them be in non-battle situations. As they proved they were a top flight fighting force you just wanted to be near to help them fight, as they didn’t leave any survivors in their wake, and they always had ammo when nobody else did.

When Sgt. Shaft was questioned about how they managed to have so much extra ammunition, he said. “We have practiced enough to hit what we aim at, as we all want to be alive and well when this damn war ends. When the shooting starts we always seem to be where the action is, I have learned the more you kill with one shot, the less ammo you need. But we never fail to draw our share of ammo. It is better to have and not need, than to need and not have, Sir.”

“Shaft, that uniform that you are wearing looks as though it is brand-new Sgt. Shaft, how is that so? More importantly Sgt., you and your group seems to have either grown in size, and not shrunk down like some others have around here, do you have a ready answer for this also?” Capt. Custer asked.

“Sir, my men, and I wash our uniforms more carefully than others, and we all know how to sew very well to repair our uniforms. Lastly, Sir, you have us working when others are not, plus we don’t make use of most of our leave time as we don’t smoke or drink alcohol. You know we can’t go into the saloons by your own orders, Sir.” Sgt. Shaft said. (What Sgt. Shaft failed to mention is they often switched out repaired uniforms for new uniforms, by volunteering for KP duty they ate before, during and after the meal. Shaft’s men used to bitch and moan about KP duty until he was able to show them the benefits of a full stomach. They also bitched about giving up off time until they seemed to get little things from the supply depot, and nobody was there to bother them about working too hard, either. So other than being trapped in the Fort they were on leave also.

Sgt. Shaft had bought three big Conestoga wagons that a grateful settler willingly sold to him cheaply along with a team of eighteen young and strong Missouri mules after the Buffalo Soldiers saved his little wagon train from some bad men intent on robbing and killing anyone that they came across. It was only partially loaded with supplies that Sgt. Shaft was glad that he found when he and his men thoroughly checked the three wagons out. Sgt. Shaft used the foodstuffs at the Fort knowing he could replace the foodstuffs in the remaining few months he had left in the Army, plus add to his wagon’s load courtesy of the U.S. Army during this time.

Thanks to Sgt. Shaft they were ordering much more ammunition among other things, more than necessary for the Fort’s needs. But as the Sgt in-charge of supply, Sgt. Nixon was just marking the days until he mustered out as well, in addition, Sgt. Nixon was doing the same thing on a smaller scale for different reasons than Sgt. Shaft. Shaft’s activities were going for the most part unbeknownst to Sgt. Nixon, as he couldn’t see the real big picture as to Shaft’s activities.

So Sgt. Nixon didn’t need any extra attention for what he was up to in the supply depot coming to light, as this unwanted attention would end his sideline job, as well as his freedom. Sgt. Nixon had put away a few things for himself and for a few fellows he had that had been paying him for few extra things from supply over the last year or so. Sgt. Nixon was unaware of everything extra that was being ordered in his name, as he enjoyed ordering Sgt. Shaft around after the Buffalo Soldiers took the time to straighten out the supply depot after Capt. Custer ordered them to do so as a form of punishment. And to further his ability to freely order supplies, Shaft was very subservient to Sgt. Nixon who had been a Sergeant for much longer than Shaft, who just attained the rank of Sergeant within the last three months. Sgt. Nixon referred to Sgt. Shaft as his flunky, as in the role of flunky Shaft was ordered take the new order forms to Capt. Custer personally. And when the new supplies would come in the lowly Buffalo Soldiers would be required to put away the new supplies. Which they did, and after lights out while others were sleeping, they moved the supplies they wanted to the wagons quietly. The Captain was happy with this arrangement, as both of the Sergeants were as well, though for vastly different reasons. Shaft was the happiest of the three men, as he needed the other two to help him and his men.

Now for the truth about the wagons, the Buffalo Soldiers were forced by the good Capt. Custer to escort a small wagon train for a seven-day trip to meet up with the rest of the their wagon train. When the robbers met their bloody end, the last one was gut shot and in exchange for some mercy he told where to find the spoils of their gang. He forgot to mention the two men guarding the camp in the woods, though, for this little omission he may have been still painfully alive that night, when the scavengers showed up for the free meals left for them to enjoy. The two of the three wagons there were stuffed to almost overloading, with one almost empty Shaft marked the one he wanted. It took the remaining sixteen days they were gone to inventory the contents of all of the things within all of the wagons and divvy it all up. As there was a large strong box filled with double eagle coins, many of the young men chose to be paid rather than fight over the many items. Shaft didn’t argue with them, he only asked for $500 out the $15,000 in the strong box. Shaft told his men “If you brag about this it will be taken from us, we have to hide it in plain sight until we can all muster out of the Army.” As hard as it seemed, there was not much loose talk about the wagons because each man understood that greed was as much a weapon as any of the guns that they faced in battle. Since none of these men believed in drinking alcohol, it was a lot easier to keep their mouths closed about their situation. That is if Capt. Custer didn’t get them killed with his desire for greatness.

Sgt. Shaft always just looked so pissed off, mumbling all the way to the Captain’s office. By the time Capt. Custer had yelled at Sgt. Shaft as to why he was standing in his office, amongst other things he blindly signed invoices to put the orders through. Custer was thinking that by browbeating Shaft he was on top of everything going on within the fort. After a few times of this, Sgt. Shaft tuned the Captain out as he knew the whole routine by now, and had no troubles getting what he wanted. Sgt Nixon was under the impression that the Conestoga wagons in question belonged to the Captain, and the Captain thought the wagons were part of the supply depot, so neither went near it because Sgt. Shaft said the order came from the Captain, Shaft knowing the short-timing Sgt. Nixon didn’t want any trouble about how he ran the supply depot, as he was leaving the same day as both Sergeant’s Shaft and Rodgers. Capt. Custer was so arrogant he hardly left his office unless it was something so necessary that he had to, thus the wagons sat untouched by anyone other than those who were loading them, which occurred more and more now the end was so near. The Buffalo Soldiers not on guard duty all quietly helped to load the wagons the last two nights before the morning they would be mustering out.

Capt. Custer knew enough to know those Buffalo Soldiers alone, had a lot to do with the Captain’s bars resting on his shoulders, although he would never admit this fact to himself, let alone anyone else. Capt. Custer’s latest issue was that he himself had six more months of active duty, but Sgt. Shaft and the rest of the Buffalo Soldiers were due to leave in just a few days. He had no mission to send them on as most of them just came in off patrol. But it was his intention to get them out next week as soon as the replacement troops arrived. The replacements were a week overdue.

Capt. Custer had begun to pressure all the men to reenlist, but the Buffalo Soldiers were his real targets. The Captain really wanted the Buffalo Soldiers to reenlist for another tour, as he felt that his position would have much, more, safety involved, for his six remaining months, if the Buffalo Soldiers, were still enlisted in the Union Army. While he did get some takers on his offer to reenlist, none of the men reenlisting was any of the black Buffalo Soldiers. None of the Buffalo Soldiers would willingly reenlist. Capt. Custer was thinking that none of these men had no clue when they were supposed to be mustering out of the Army, so he told them there was a mix up, and their mustering out date, was really six months later. By telling the men of this new wrinkle, Capt. Custer finally began to relax, about these last six months. Capt. Custer smiled, knowing he had finally put one over on Sgt. Shaft, as Shaft had proven to be as smart as a West Point Lawyer sometimes. The big hitch in Capt. Custer’s get along was the fact his Company was so near Washington D. C. a General Will Palmenter had ordered Capt. Custer into his office the morning that most of Custer’s company was mustering out, and his new faces that were overdue finally arrived that morning as Capt. Custer was leaving to meet Gen. Palmenter. “Adders, how did your black soldiers work out? There are more than a few wanting to know if they were good soldiers to take south to finish breaking up the last of the Confederate thinking.” General Palmenter asked as Capt. Custer sat down in his office. “My darkie soldiers have done what was told of them without any trouble, and then some. They blindly listen to me, just to stay on my good side.” Captain Custer said, laughing.

“When are they due to get out, Captain?” the General asked.

“They are really due to get out this morning in fact, but I told them their out date was pushed back six months. They have not asked to see their papers, and the chances of them having their original papers are slim to none, it is not like they can read them anyway.” Captain Custer said.

“Good, good, come with me, I want to show you where to bring the men in the morning. The sooner we get them away from here, the less likely they will catch onto your mistake. I want to use them to help take the south apart. That is the new job I am giving you to do, you can keep whatever spoils you can find. But you know I didn’t say that, thus you didn’t hear that either. Plus this outfit will be led by a cousin of yours, a General George Custer, he asked for you based on some letters you two have been exchanging. When you and your men sign in or make their mark in the next week, you and your men will become part of the 7th Cavalry.” General Palmenter said. “Your new term will be for two years.”

Capt. Custer was a little nervous about the new enlistment, but his cousin George had always been so lucky. The Captain could see replacing the Captain’s Bars with the Stars belonging to generals if he teamed up with his cousin George.

The two officers went to lunch, and discussed what the Captain’s new duties were going to be. By the time the Captain returned to the base camp he was more than a little tipsy. He took a nap that lasted until he was awakened for dinner, so he still had no idea what all has happened since he was enjoying his day with the General. First of all, Sgt. Rodgers convinced Sgt. Nixon to stick around another day, even though today was his last day. But as Sgt. Nixon had more than a few dollars waiting to be issued waiting in the payroll the new company of men brought unknowingly. They thought they were bringing mostly resupplies. If it had been common knowledge it would never have made it to the Fort. Sgt. Nixon needed to stay close at hand to ensure that he got his money, and staying an extra day as an active soldier was just the ticket he needed. In addition to all this sudden good luck, Sgt. Rodgers agreed to cover for him today as long as he covered for Sgt. Rodgers tomorrow. Everyone was very happy. Sgt. Rodgers mustered out all of the Buffalo Soldiers as they had the correct papers in hand to do so, along with all the rest the men who were out in the morning. The Buffalo Soldiers left with two of their wagons, the other one would leave as soon as Sgt Shaft could complete his business with the good Captain Custer. Even though Captain Custer had no idea they had business to attend to, yet. This may be where the ole saying ‘You snooze you loose’ started.

“How did things go around here while I was meeting with General Palmenter, Sergeant Rodgers? I hope your last day was an easy one, with no issues to report?”

“Captain, everyone was orderly with today’s transitions. I was hoping you could sign my papers, as I can’t sign myself out and the new Sgt. won’t be here until tomorrow afternoon. I would like to get any early start in the morning.” Sgt. Rodgers said.

After thinking about it he willingly signed both sets of papers, one of them being his copy, and he hoped in two years his getting out of the Army would be just as smooth. “Sergeant Buck Rodgers, it has been a pleasure serving with you. I hope you can put this war behind you. I sure do hope that in two years from now my exit will be as smooth as yours is in the morning. I wish I was getting out with you, these last two years are going to last forever until it is my turn to leave the Army.” Capt. Custer said.

“Capt., I would like to leave at first light in the morning, as Sgt. Nixon said that he is not leaving until tomorrow afternoon as he is enjoying his last night in town, and I am covering for him tonight. He is in town enjoying his last night here with his friends who got out today, Captain.” Sergeant Rodgers said.