They wear black cowboy hats and trench coats, and when they strolled into Wesley Clark’s S.C. campaign headquarters recently, workers said it was like the cavalry had arrived.

Three Buffalo Soldiers began working for Clark’s S.C. campaign last month, and two more are expected soon.

Named for the band of black U.S. soldiers who fought the Indians in the 1870s, these soldiers are black politicos with close ties to former President Bill Clinton. And they’re fighting to help Clark win South Carolina’s Feb. 3 Democratic presidential primary.

“If you’re going to be a soldier, you have to work for a four-star general,” said Blair Talmadge, 41, a political consultant who has worked seven campaigns as a Buffalo Soldier.

The loosely knit band organizes local supporters in black communities. The soldiers have helped win some key races for Democratic candidates, including Clinton and former Houston Mayor Lee Brown in 2001, though not all of their efforts have been as successful. For example, their candidate lost the 1993 Arkansas lieutenant governor’s race.

Another 40 or so are working with Clark’s campaign in other primary election states, including Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia.

In South Carolina, black voters might cast up to half the ballots Feb. 3, so candidates are competing for their votes. Almost all the campaigns have grass-roots organizers in black communities.

But the Buffalo Soldiers stand out because of their military-style uniforms.

The Buffalo Soldiers have split the state into four regions, where each spends hours talking to black preachers, politicians and business owners. They’re also building networks of people who will support Clark and help get out the vote.

The Buffalo Soldiers are led by Carol Willis, one of Clinton’s law students from Arkansas, who in 1982 helped Clinton win the most black votes of any previous gubernatorial candidate in the state.

“There was almost continuous communication between folks in the community and the organizers,” said Jay Barth, a political expert at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., who worked for Clinton in 1990.

After 1982, Willis built a band of black organizers, whom he calls to work during campaigns. They eventually called themselves Buffalo Soldiers and adopted the original Buffalo Soldiers’ crossed sabers insignia, which they wear on their hats.

Willis, a lawyer who works in Little Rock, Ark., and Washington, has collected a houseful of memorabilia from the original Buffalo Soldiers, Talmadge said. On special occasions, he dons a blue hat with gold trim and tassels.

“If you see that hat, you know it’s campaign season,” Talmadge said.

The soldiers say Willis decides who gets to wear the sword insignia. Getting the pin is called being “barred.”

The relationship between Clinton and the group is tight, yet who is in charge is hazy. Some say the former president designates which campaigns they work.

Willis could not be reached for comment.

While talking about Clark, Michael McCray, 35, a Buffalo Soldier from Arkansas, said: “We’re just glad President Clinton asked us to work for the right guy.”

But Talmadge quickly added that Willis is the one who calls them. “If I got a call from Clinton, I’d tape the call,” he said, adding later, “I can’t say Bill Clinton asked us to come down and do this.”

Clinton has said he will not publicly back a candidate, but pundits often note the gaggle of Clinton allies and former staffers advising Clark.

Barth, the Arkansas political scientist, said it’s unclear whether the Buffalo Soldiers will be as effective for Clark as they were for Clinton.

Willis and the Buffalo Soldiers built relationships for Clinton, but Clinton cemented them, Barth said.

In races where candidates weren’t as charismatic, the Buffalo Soldiers haven’t been as successful, he said.

“Clark has appeal because of his military years,” Barth said. “But Clark has not necessarily had as much comfort” in black communities.

Clark’s connection to Clinton may have some weight, however. Other candidates yearn for the kind of support Clinton still has among African-Americans.

Visiting a downtown Columbia barbershop Tuesday morning, Talmadge and Thomas Blanton, 52, another Buffalo Soldier, handed owner Catherine Kelly a Clark sticker. She wore it, but was hesitant about letting the campaign put a sign in her window.

But when told by a reporter that Clark’s organizers also worked for Clinton, her face brightened.

“There was nothing he wouldn’t do to make the economy better,” she said of Clinton. “He did (right) by the people.”

Reach Talhelm at (803) 771-8339 or jtalhelm@thestate.com.