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Mexico is in the midst of a revolution. Relations with the United States are tense. And the Mexican-American border is rife with danger. African-American officer, Captain Gilmore, is called upon by Colonial Hayward with a special assignment of a prisoner exchange: Mexican prisoners for American prisoners. He is accompanied by long-time friend, Jenkins Craves, a former buffalo soldier of the Tenth Calvary who is revered for his history of combat. Gilmore and Craves and a small platoon traverse through the dangerous, war-torn terrain of Mexico. Along the way, they meet the beautiful and vulnerable Adrian, a young black woman who is heading south to retrieve the belongings of her brother killed in action while serving in the American army. The three of them face Federales, turncoats, bandits, revolutionaries, and rapists in the face of uncertainty and change, as they gain a renewed appreciation for the price of freedom.
Buffalo Soldiers is a novel deep with history. William C. Moton brings us to the forefront of the violent and politically charged landscape during the Mexican Revolution, infusing it with the complex and personal histories of his protagonists, the United States, and Mexico. Readers will no doubt be reminded of classic and modern Westerns with their journey in Moton's fictionalized account of little known historical events. Moton touches on themes of political and social change while featuring the importance of black men and women and their role in shaping America's past and present. History enthusiasts and lovers of the Western genre will savor this novel.