Benjamin Grierson Benjamin Henry Grierson ( July 8 , 1826 – August 31 , 1911 ) was a music teacher , then a career officer in the United States Army . He was a cavalry general in the volunteer Union Army during the Civil War and later led troops in the American Old West . He is most noted for an 1863 expedition through Confederate - held territory that severed enemy communication lines between Vicksburg , Mississippi and Confederate commanders in the Eastern Theater . After the war he organized and led the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry Regiment from 1866 to 1888 . Early life and career . Grierson was born in the borough of Allegheny , Pennsylvania , today a section of Pittsburgh . He was the youngest of five siblings . Grierson became afraid of horses when at age eight he was kicked and nearly killed by a horse , after which he hated horses - ironically , he would become a great " Cavalry " commander . In 1851 , he became a music teacher and band leader in Jacksonville , Illinois . He married Alice Kirk of Youngstown , Ohio on September 24 , 1854 . The couple had seven children , four of whom survived to adulthood . Civil War . With the outbreak of the Civil War , Grierson enlisted as a volunteer aide - de - camp to Maj . Gen . Benjamin M . Prentiss . Promoted to major on October 24 , 1861 , he joined the 6th Illinois Cavalry and was promoted to colonel of that regiment on April 13 , 1862 . His regiment was engaged in a number of small skirmishes and raids on railroads and facilities in Tennessee and Mississippi that spring and summer . In November , he became a brigade commander in the Cavalry Division of the Army of the Tennessee . In December , he participated in the pursuit of Confederate Earl Van Dorn after his Holly Springs raid against the supply lines of General Ulysses S . Grant . In the spring of 1863 , he led Grierson ' s Raid , a major diversionary thrust deep into the Confederacy , ordered by Grant as part of his Vicksburg Campaign . Grierson departed from La Grange , Tennessee , on April 17 , in command of 1 , 700 men of the 6th and 7th Illinois and the 2nd Iowa Cavalry regiments . Over 17 days , his command marched 800 miles , repeatedly engaged the Confederates , disabled two railroads , captured many prisoners and horses , and destroyed vast amounts of property , finally ending in Baton Rouge on May 2 . Historian John D . Winters in " The Civil War in Louisiana " ( 1963 ) reports that Grierson ' s raid " struck fear in the hearts of the citizens and somewhat demoralized the Confederate forces who failed to stop the move . " More importantly , Grierson diverted the attention of the Confederate defenders of Vicksburg away from General Grant ' s main thrust . Gen . Sherman considered Grierson ' s raid " the most brilliant expedition of the war . " He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers in June . While ending his raid in Louisiana he was able to take part in Nathaniel P . Banks ' siege of Port Hudson as commander of the XIX Corps cavalry . In June 1864 Grierson returned to command a cavalry division in the Army of the Tennessee during William T . Sherman ' s Meridian Campaign . He was still in division command during Samuel D . Sturgis ' ill - fated encounter with Nathan B . Forrest at the Battle of Brice ' s Crossroads . Shortly after that battle Grierson was transferred to command the Cavalry in the District of West Tennessee . He was attached to Andrew J . Smith ' s XVI Corps and fared much better against Forrest at the Battle of Tupelo . Between December 21 , 1864 , and January 5 , 1865 , Grierson led an expedition of two brigades of the Cavalry Division against the Mobile and Ohio Railroad . On Christmas Day he surprised and captured Forrest ' s dismounted camp at Verona , Mississippi , and on December 28 engaged a train carrying an " ad hoc " Confederate force of approximately 1 , 200 men at Egypt Station , Mississippi , south of Aberdeen , capturing more than 500 troops , including 253 former Union prisoners who had enlisted as " Galvanized Yankees " in the 10th Tennessee Regiment . For this expedition Grierson received a brevet promotion to the rank of major general . In the spring of 1865 , he took part in Canby ' s successful campaign to capture Mobile , Alabama . Postbellum service in the West . Grierson decided to remain in the Regular Army after the war and received the rank of colonel . His lack of West Point credentials made him suspect to many fellow officers . He organized the 10th U . S . Cavalry , one of two mounted regiments composed of black enlisted men and white officers , called the Buffalo Soldiers . This assignment also made him unpopular with other officers , including his superior , General Philip Henry Sheridan , because of his support for and trust in his troops . His sympathy and courtesy to Native American tribes also led to questions about his judgment . Postbellum command history . His wife , Alice , died August 14 , 1888 ; Grierson later married Lillian Atwood King , a widow , on July 28 , 1897 . During his life , he had homes in Jacksonville , Illinois , Fort Concho , and a summer home at Omena , Michigan . In 1907 he suffered a debilitating stroke ; he died on August 31 , 1911 , in Omena , Leelanau County , Michigan , and is buried in Jacksonville East Cemetery in Jacksonville , a town in Morgan County , Illinois . Grierson in media . Colonel Grierson is a prominent figure in Turner Network Television ' s documentary , " " Buffalo Soldiers " " . The part of Colonel Marlowe , played by John Wayne in the movie " The Horse Soldiers " , is loosely based on Grierson .