Person

Charles Faulkner

Silhouette of man in hat in a frame, with a golden crossed sabers underneath, with H and 10.

NPS/ K. Pontius & E. Grover

Quick Facts
Significance:
Buffalo Soldier
Place of Birth:
Garrett County, KY
Date of Birth:
1850
Place of Death:
unknown
Date of Death:
unknown
Place of Burial:
unknown
Cemetery Name:
unknown

Charles Faulkner had a lengthy military career which took him across the western United States to Cuba, and the Philippines. He retired as a Sergeant Major, at the Presidio San Francisco, but not much is known about his personal life. He may have been married twice—first to Julia, and then to Mollie Brown.

Faulkner always held the rank of Sergeant, Quartermaster Sergeant, or Sergeant Major throughout his 30 years in the 10th Cavalry. He added his name to a stone monument made by Buffalo Soldiers stationed in Bonita Canyon, Arizona, during the Indian Wars. Forrestine Cooper Hooker, daughter of Captain Charles Cooper, 10th Cavalry, Troop H, wrote a memoir, Child of the Fighting Tenth, which includes her time in Camp Bonita, with her father and mother. She included an anecdote about Faulkner. He was left at the camp to take care of an injured mule, while the rest of the troop was out on patrol. Forrestine, her mother, and their cook Jenny Miller, the wife of another soldier, were the only other ones at camp. In the morning, Faulkner discovered tracks of unshod ponies, likely belonging to Apaches, and he realized they had had a narrow escape. When the rest of Troop H returned, Captain Cooper made his family leave for safety. 

Based on his enlistment records, Faulkner served in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, and he re-enlisted at sea, on the USA T[transport] Thomas, near the Philippines.  He also spent time in the following places:

For a man who served in the Army for 30 years, very little record of his life is left. Much of what we know was first compiled in Warriors of Color, by Harold Ray Sayre. If you have any information about Charles Faulkner, please share it with us. Until then, this summary, and others like it, will be incomplete and imbalanced.

Chiricahua National Monument, Presidio of San Francisco

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Last updated: June 8, 2022