black troops nicknamed the "Buffalo Soldiers" since the Indian Wars. The armed services were racially segregated until 1948, when President Harry S. Truman issued executive order, which took some years to complete. Marriage and family Young married Ada Mills on February 18, 1904, in Oakland, California. They had two children: Charles Noel, born in 1906 in Ohio, and Marie Aurelia, born in 1909 when Young and his family were stationed in the Philippines. Military service Young began his service with the Ninth Cavalry, from 1889 to 1890 he served at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, and from 1890 to 1894 at Fort Duchesne, Utah. In 1894, he was assigned to Wilberforce College in Ohio, an historically black college (HBCU), to lead the new military sciences department, established under a special federal grant. A professor for four years, he was one of several outstanding men on staff, including W. E. B. Du Bois, who became his close friend. When the Spanish–American War broke out, Young was promoted to the temporary rank of major of volunteers on May 14, 1898. He commanded the 9th Ohio Infantry Regiment which was, in the terminology of the day, a "colored" (i.e. African-American) unit. Despite its name, the 9th Ohio was only battalion sized with four companies. The war ended before Young and his men could be sent overseas. Young's command of this unit is significant because it was probably the first time in history an African-American commanded a sizable unit of the United States Army and one of the very few instances prior to the late 20th century. He was mustered out of the volunteers on January 28, 1899, and reverted to his Regular Army rank of first lieutenant. He was promoted to captain in the 9th Cavalry Regiment on February 2, 1901. National Park assignments In 1903, Young served as captain of a black company at the Presidio of San Francisco. He was then appointed acting superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant national parks, becoming the first black superintendent of a national park. (At that time the military supervised all national parks.) Because of limited funding, however, the Army assigned its soldiers for short-term assignments during the summers, which made it difficult for the officers to accomplish longer-term goals. Young supervised payroll accounts and directed the activities of rangers. Young's greatest impact on the park was managing road construction, which allow more visitors to enjoy it.