shared a memory from February 12, 2015.
Black History Month, Day 13
We Salute: Cathay Williams
When Congress passed an act authorizing the establishment of the first all Black units of the military, later to become known as "Buffalo Soldiers," Cathay Williams, a former slave, wanted to join the Army.
On November 15, 1866 women were not allowed to serve as soldiers, so she enlisted in the Army as a man. Cathay was tall at 5’9” (175 cm) and had no problem enlisting since a medical exam wasn’t required. Cathay Williams disguised herself as a man and reversed her first and last names, using the pseudonym William Cathay. She lived as a male soldier for three years. She is the only African American woman to enlist in the U.S Army as a Buffalo Soldier and the only documented to serve as a man when women were prohibited to enlist.
Due to her being frequently hospitalized due to strain and smallpox, the post surgeon discovered that Cathay Williams was a woman. He reported this information to the post commander and on October 14, 1868, Captain Charles Clarke discharged her honorably from the military.
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.
What happened to Cathay Williams afterwards is unknown, but it appears that she may have died sometime between 1892 and 1900 as her name no longer appeared on Census rolls from 1900. What she didn’t realize was that she was carving out her own mark of American History.
Black History Month, Day 13
We Salute: Cathay Williams
When Congress passed an act authorizing the establishment of the first all Black units of the military, later to become known as "Buffalo Soldiers," Cathay Williams, a former slave, wanted to join the Army.
On November 15, 1866 women were not allowed to serve as soldiers, so she enlisted in the Army as a man. Cathay was tall at 5’9” (175 cm) and had no problem enlisting since a medical exam wasn’t required. Cathay Williams disguised herself as a man and reversed her first and last names, using the pseudonym William Cathay. She lived as a male soldier for three years. She is the only African American woman to enlist in the U.S Army as a Buffalo Soldier and the only documented to serve as a man when women were prohibited to enlist.
Due to her being frequently hospitalized due to strain and smallpox, the post surgeon discovered that Cathay Williams was a woman. He reported this information to the post commander and on October 14, 1868, Captain Charles Clarke discharged her honorably from the military.
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.
What happened to Cathay Williams afterwards is unknown, but it appears that she may have died sometime between 1892 and 1900 as her name no longer appeared on Census rolls from 1900. What she didn’t realize was that she was carving out her own mark of American History.
