Twenty-Fifth Infantry Wreckers

The baseball team representing one of the famous all-black 'Buffalo Soldiers' regiments, the Twenty-Fifth Infantry Wreckers, along with the All Nations team, were a direct ancestor of the Kansas City Monarchs.

The Twenty-Fifth was formed in 1866 to fight the Indian Wars, and served in many locations. The baseball team was formed some time in the 1890s, and it achieved its highest level of play between 1914 and 1918 at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu, Hawaii and 1919-20 at Fort Stephen D. Little near Nogales, Arizona. During that period it boasted Hall of Famer Wilber "Bullet" Rogan as its leading pitcher and hitter, along with Oscar "Heavy" Johnson, Walter "Dobie" Moore, Hurley McNair, and Lem Hawkins, who would help form the core of the great Monarchs teams of the 1920s, along with a number of other good Negro League players including Branch Russell and Bob Fagan.

In Hawaii the team played year-round against local semi-pro and college opposition, along with a regular competition with the other Army regiments stationed on the island, and occasional series against Pacific Coast League teams on post-season tours.