"Cathay William" (September 1844-1892)

Was an American Solider.She is the first African American female to enlist,and the only

documented to serve in the United States Army posing as a man under the pseudonym William Cathay.Cathay was born in Independence, Missouri to a free man of color,and a woman in bondage making her legal status also that of a slave.During her a adolescence,Cathay worked as a house servant on the Johnson plantation on the outskirts of Jefferson City,Missouri.In 1861 Union as "forces occupied Jefferson City in the early stages of the Civil War.At that time,captured slaves were officially designated by the union as "contraband,"and many were forced to served in military support roles such as cooks,laundresses,or nurses.At age seventeen,Cathay was impressed into serving of 8th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment,commanded by Colonel William Plummer Benton.For the next few,years Cathay travelled with the 8th Indiana,accompanying the soldiers on their marches through Arkansas,Louisiana,and Georgia.She was present at the Battle of Pea Ridge and Red River Campaign.At one time she was transferred to Little Rock,where she would have seen uniformed African-American men serving as soldiers,which may have inspired her own interest in military service.Later, she was transferred to Washington D.C.,where she served with General Philip Sheridan's command.When the war ended,Cathay was working at Jefferson Barracks.Despite the prohibition against women serving in the military,Cathay,enlisted in the United States Regular Army on November 15 1866 at St.Louis,Missouri for a three year engagement,passing herself off as a man.Only two others are known to have been privy to the deception,her cousin and a friend,both of whom were follow soliders in her regiment.Shortly after her enlistment,Cathay contracted smallpox,was hospitalizedand rejoined her unit,which by then was posted in New Mexico.Possibly due to the effects of smallpox,the New Mexico heat,or the cumulative effects of years of marching,her body began to show signs of strain.She was frequently hospitalized.The most surgeon finally discovered she was a woman and informed the post commander.She was discharged from the Army by her commanding officer,Captain Charles E. Clark on October 14,1868.She went to work as a cook at Fort Union,New Mexico,and later moved to Pueblo Colorado.Cathay married but it ended diastrously when her husband stole her money and a team of horses.She had him arrested.She next moved to Trinidad,Colorado,where she made her living as a seamstress.She may have also owned a boarding house.It was at this time Cathay story first became public.A reporter from St.Louis heard rumors of a female African-American whad served in the army,and came to interview her.Her life and military service narrative was published in The St.Louis Daily Times on January 1876.In late 1889 or early 1890,Cathay entered a local hospital where she remained for some time,and in June,1891,applied for a disability penison based on her military service.The nature of her disability are unknown.There was precedent for granting a penison to female soliders.Debroah Sampson in 1816,and Mary Hayes McCauley(better known as Molly Pitcher) had been granted pensions for disguising themselves as men to serve in the American Revolutionary War.Debroah cause had been championed by none other than Paul Revere.However,Cathay had no influential her friends to help her.In September 1891,a doctor employed by the Pension Bureau examined Cathay.Despite the fact that she suffered from neuralgia and diabetes,had had her toes amputated,and could only walk with a crutch,the doctor decided she did not qualifyfor disability payments.Her applicationwas rejected.The exact date of her death is unknown,but is assumed she died shortly after being denied a pension,proably sometime in 1892.Her simple grave marker would have been made of wood and deteriorated long ago.Thus her final resting place is now unknown.