Mr Smith:
Be precise in your use of quotes. The words in your message "Some of these trail-weary nags died within days of reacing the post" are from Leckie (see p. 5l of his, The Buffalo Soldiers). They are not, as your message seems to suggest, from a report by Capt. Carpenter

Carpenter did write, and you quote accurately:
"since our first mount in l867 this regiment has received nothing but broken down horses and repaired equipment.." (again cited on p. 5l of Leckie)

You conclude with the comment that you do not believe that Carpenter's complaint "was an isolated incident"

Allow me to refer you to the "revised edition" (2003, as opposed to the l967 original) of the Buffalo Soldiers, by William H. and Shirley A. Leckie, recently released by the Univeristy of Oklahoma Press. On page 29l they write in their revision:

"Dobak and Phillips [a reference to The Black Regulars, l866-l898, by William A Dobak and Thomas D. Phillips, University of Oklahoma Press, 200l] also disclose on the basis of their painstaking examination of the records that black regiments were not discriminated against in terms of their allocation of horses and weaspons and equipment. Had the army done so, they persuasively argue, a large portion of its military would have been seriously handicapped in its ability to perform its funcition. There were problems, but they point out that all regiments suffered from poor mounts and inadequate weapons at variois times. Thus, the problem that Grierson and Hatch [and here I might add, Carpenter] identified as arising from discrimination were those that occasionally plagued all commanders."

Tom Phillips