The Rev. Robert Walter Dixon Sr., 103, the last surviving Buffalo Soldier who trained cadets in horsemanship at West Point, died near Albany on Nov. 15.
During World War II, Dixon and other Black members of the Ninth Cavalry Regiment trained cadets in horseback riding and mounted tactics. The regiments, created after the Civil War and active in the Western expansion, were nicknamed “Buffalo soldiers” by Native Americans because the troops served west of the Mississippi River. The cavalry also fought in Cuba during the Spanish-American war. Detachments were assigned to West Point in 1907 and served until 1946.
Dixon was born Sept. 11, 1921, in Manhattan, the son of Benjamin and Louise (Hammond) Dixon. He enlisted in the Army in 1941 and was assigned to West Point. After the war, he worked for IBM in Poughkeepsie until his retirement in 1977. For nearly 20 years, he was a pastor at Central Baptist Church in Salt Point.
After he married his second wife, Georgia, in 1977, they moved to Albany, where he became pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church. He held that position for 36 years until his retirement in 2013.
Dixon returned to West Point at age 101 to visit a monument erected to honor the Buffalo Soldiers on the field where they had trained cadets. (Created by sculptor Eddie Dixon, the statue was based on a photo of Sgt. Sanders “Matty” Matthews, a Buffalo Soldier who served on base from 1939 to 1962 and in his retirement was a bus driver for the Haldane school district.)
Along with his wife, Dixon is survived by his children, Robert Dixon Jr. (Barbara), Terry Dixon (Angela), Carolyn Suber (Jesse), David Dixon (Vibeka), John Dixon (Kari) and Jacqueline Dixon; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His son, Gerald, died earlier.
A funeral service was held Nov. 25 at the Metropolitan New Testament Mission Baptist Church in Albany.
