REGULAR ARMY INDIAN COMPANIES
War Department General Order No. 28, issued March 9, 1891, authorized Native Americans to be enlisted in the Regular Army and serve in Indian Companies within Regular Army infantry and cavalry regiments. The order stipulated that Company I of Infantry Regiments (excluding the 24th and 25th) and Company L of Cavalry Regiments (excluding the 9th and 10th) would contain Indian soldiers. Each existing regiment of cavalry and infantry, except the Buffalo Soldiers (black regiments), would contain one Indian Regiment. A maximum of 55 Indians were authorized for each company or troop. This change was not well received by the Army, and although the general order authorized a maximum of 1,485 Indians for Regular Army service, the actual number of recruits only reached a little over half that number at 780. The Indian Company "experiment" proved to be a complete failure in the eyes of the Army, and the men of Company L of the Seventh Cavalry were the only Indian soldiers who served out their entire enlistments, serving until 1895.