The Great Bicycle Experiment: The Army's Historic Black Bicycle Corps, 1896-97

In 1896 Lt. James Moss, second lieutenant at Fort Missoula, Montana, had a revolutionary idea: that bicycles, a relatively new innovation, could be employed by the military to replace cavalry horses for certain operations. Bikes did not need food, water, or rest; they would not die; they would never disobey their rider; and they were nearly noiseless. The eager young lieutenant set out to test this idea and prove the worth of the bicycle in army campaigns.

Stationed at Fort Missoula at the ...