First, one needs to consider the periods, missions and adversaries.

UNITED STATES COLORED TROOPS

PERIOD: 1862 - 1867 (NOTE: The name or title "United States Colored Troops" was not used until 1863. The Louisiana Native Guards were the only Black soldiers officially mustered into the Union Army in 1862.

MISSION: Reunite the nation and eradicate slavery.

ADVERSARIES: Soldiers of the Confederate States of America

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BUFFALO SOLDIERS

PERIOD: 1866 - 1898

MISSION: Western expansion and protect the settlers

ADVERSARIES: American Indians (Cheyennes, Comanches, Sioux, Mescalero Apaches, Chiricahua Apaches and others)

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