Military Facts and Legends Cathay Williams: Slave to Buffalo Soldier

Tensions between the North and the South over states' rights versus federal authority, westward expansion and slavery were formed early in the nation's history and eventually came to a head in the late 1850s, early 1860s when these smoldering tensions exploded into the American Civil War in early April 1861, becoming America's bloodiest that would determine the survival of the Union or independence for the Confederacy.

For years prior to the outbreak of the war, Union forces occupied many parts of the South as well as states bordering the South. One such border state where Union soldiers were stationed was Missouri, an independent state that sent men, armies, generals, and supplies to both opposing sides, had its star on both flags, had separate governments representing each side, and endured a neighbor-against-neighbor intrastate war within the larger national war. On the issue of slavery, most of the population was in favor of preserving it. But as the war went on, views on slavery in Missouri changed, much as they did in the rest of the country. It became clear that slavery would not survive the war. In the meantime, however, slaves were considered contraband by the Federal forces, and able-bodied ones were pressed into service supporting the U.S. military.

Among the slaves put into service was 17-year-old Cathay Williams, a house servant from a nearby plantation on the outskirts of Jefferson City, Missouri. She traveled with an infantry regiment through many states as cook and washerwoman, and was present at the Battle of Pea Ridge, the Red River Campaign, and served briefly under General Philip Sheridan. She was working at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, when the bloody war ended when Gen. Ulysses S. Grant accepted Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender at the McLean House in Appomattox, Virginia, on May 9, 1865. The long, painful process of rebuilding a united nation free of slavery began. 

For the freed slaves, however, it introduced a new and unfamiliar crisis: employment opportunities, which were scarce for many African-Americans, especially in the South. Many of them looked to military service, where they could earn not only steady pay but also education, health care, and a pension. Cathay Williams had a cousin and a friend who enlisted, and she decided that in order to earn a living, she would enlist too.

Women were prohibited from serving in the military at that time, so Cathay disguised herself as a man and switched her first and last names, using the pseudonym William Cathay. Cathay was tall at 5'9" and somehow passed the physical exam on November 15, 1866. Apparently, it was superficial, at best since attending physician missed the male appendage necessary for service.

Declared fit for duty, she was assigned to Company A of the 38th Infantry, one of four all-black units newly formed that year. Only her cousin and her friend, who were enlisted in the same regiment, knew her secret. Orders soon came down, transferring the troops to the western war arena, where they would join the Army's fight with the Indians.

Cathay's military career was short-lived. She contracted smallpox soon after enlisting and was frequently hospitalized in the following years. During all these hospitalizations, her gender was never discovered. Finally, in October of 1868 - almost two years after she enlisted -,, the post surgeon discovered she was a woman and informed her commanding officer.

Cathay was immediately given a disability discharge. Her commanding officer, Captain Charles E. Clarke, stated that Cathay was "feeble both physically and mentally, and much of the time unfit for duty. The origin of his infirmities is unknown to me."

At the time, she had been stationed in New Mexico territory, so she went to work as a cook in Fort Union, New Mexico, under her original name. She briefly married, but the Union ended when he stole her money and horses, and she had him arrested. Later she moved to Trinidad, Colorado, where she became known as Kate Williams. She subsisted on odd jobs as a cook, laundress, and seamstress.

Cathay's poor health continued suffering from neuralgia (at the time a catch-all term for various illnesses) and diabetes. She had several toes amputated due to diabetes, forcing her to use a crutch to get around. She also spoke of suffering from rheumatism and deafness. In 1891, at the age of 47, she applied for a disability pension for her military service. After examining her, the doctor decided she didn't qualify for disability payments, and her application was rejected.

It's unknown exactly when Cathay died. She's not listed in the 1900 census for Trinidad, Colorado. Given her poor health and the fact that she was probably having a hard time financially since she applied for a pension, it's probable that she died sometime between 1892 and 1900.

There's no way to know how many women posed as men to enlist during the American Civil War, but it's been estimated in the hundreds. Many were never discovered, and some were found out only because they required hospital treatments. Cathay is one of the very few women whose enlistment was well-documented. She was a woman simply trying to earn a living in a difficult time, never knowing she was making a mark on history as the only documented female Buffalo Soldier, and as the only documented African-American woman who served in the U.S. Army prior to the 1948 law, which officially allowed women to join the Army.