Cathay Williams

The Only Known Female Buffalo Soldier

Cathay Williams, as depicted on a lithograph of a painting by Frank Spivey. Courtesy of the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures.

Cathay Williams was a black female who enlisted in the United States Army by posing as a man and using the pseudonym William Cathay. She made history by becoming the first black American woman to join the United States Armed Forces. An act of Congress established the first all-black military units collectively dubbed the “Buffalo Soldiers”—a nickname given out of respect by Native Americans. Women were not allowed to enlist as soldiers in the Army at the time, and Cathay was considered contraband since she was a captured slave. But she saw an opportunity to achieve a level of independence as a young single female and happily volunteered her service to the Army in 1866.

Cathay Williams was born in Independence, Missouri in 1844. Her father was a free man but her mother was still a slave, which meant that Cathay was also a slave. She was raised on the Johnson plantation near Jefferson City, Missouri, where she became a house slave to William Johnson in adolescence and served him until he died. When Union forces besieged and occupied Jefferson City in 1861 at the outset of the Civil War, captured slaves—who were officially labeled contraband—were forced into military service as support staff. They became cooks, nurses, and laundry workers.

Portrait of General Philip Sheridan. Courtesy of Wikipedia. In the public domain.

The 13th Union Army Corps took Cathay along to Little Rock, Arkansas when she was 17. Cathay became an Army cook and laundress, for which she eventually received both freedom and pay. In this capacity, she traveled with her infantry throughout the South and saw several Civil War battles, such as the one at Pea Ridge in March 1862. Cathay proved so capable in her service as a supporting staff member she was sent to Washington to work for General Philip Sheridan and his men. During her time with General Sheridan, Cathay witnessed his Shenandoah Valley raids in 1864.

After the war, Cathay’s services were no longer needed, but as an unmarried black woman in the post-Civil War South, job opportunities were virtually nonexistent. She also faced a high level of discrimination and inequality. One sure way to secure financial freedom and gain access to healthcare, proper education, and other benefits during this period was to join the Army. Cathay planned to sidestep Army regulations and pose as William Cathay to enlist. On November 15, 1866, Cathay, aged 22, stood before a recruiting officer in her new guise and said she was an experienced cook. She was described as 5 feet 9 inches, and her hair, eyes, and complexion were listed as black.

Though Cathay was examined by an Army surgeon, medical examinations were not as thorough as they are now, so she was quickly determined fit for active duty. Cathay was assigned to Company A of the 38th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri. She was thereafter stationed with her infantry in New Mexico Territory, and they patrolled the transcontinental railroads which were under construction at the time. Cathay was trained as a soldier. She learned to march, handle muskets, and other military disciplines. While in the West, the 38th Infantry took up the fight against Native Americans during the Indian Wars. They were ordered to protect pioneers bound for California as they made the dangerous trek through Cooke’s Canyon. In the January 2, 1876 issue of the St. Louis Times, Cathay told her life story. In it she revealed:

“The regiment I joined wore the Zouave uniform and only two persons, a cousin and a particular friend, members of the regiment, knew that I was a woman. They never ‘blowed’ on me. They were partly the cause of my joining the Army. Another reason was I wanted to make my own living and not be dependent on relations or friends.”

Cathay also spoke of the health problems she faced during her enlistment. Shortly after joining the Army, she contracted smallpox and was hospitalized. After recovering, she joined Company A in the West. But her health issues resumed in New Mexico and she was sent to the hospital on several occasions. In the summer of 1868, Cathay was admitted to Fort Bayard hospital, where she was diagnosed with neuralgia—a broad term used for acute pain brought on by nerves. This hospital visit, Cathay admitted, exposed her secret. She told the St. Louis Times:

“The post surgeon found out I was a woman and I got my discharge. The men all wanted to get rid of me after they found out I was a woman. Some of them acted real bad to me.”

Disability discharge certificate issued to Cathay Williams. Courtesy of the U.S. Army. In the public domain.

She was honorably discharged at Fort Bayard in October 1868, on the grounds of disability, as well as physical and mental feebleness. It was also stated that these conditions existed before Cathay’s enlistment. Years later, in 1891, that particular point was raised to deny her application for an Army pension. Her service in the Army was also invalidated when it was discovered that Private William Cathay was a woman.

After being discharged, Cathay found work as a cook for an Army colonel at Fort Union, New Mexico. She held that position from 1869 to 1870 and then relocated to Pueblo, Colorado, where she was briefly employed as a laundry worker. She finally settled in Trinidad, Colorado in 1872. She earned money working as a laundress and nurse until her health issues resurfaced. Cathay spent over a year in the hospital beginning in 1890, and emerged penniless, hence her attempt to file for a pension based on her two years of military service. Cathay’s trail runs cold following this point, and without a means to support herself, it is doubtful she lived to see the twentieth century. She is thought to have died sometime between 1892 and 1900 since her name disappeared from Census rolls after 1900.

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This article appears in 45 People, Places, and Events in Black History You Should Know.

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