Black History Month - Erased Heroes 2/8/21

 Cathay Williams (1842 - 1893)

Born to an enslaved mother and free father in 1844(possibly 1842), Williams was a house slave on the Johnson plantation in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 1861, Union soldiers occupied the area, and Williams was taken in as "contraband." Captured enslaved peoples were forced to work in military support roles such as nurses, cooks, laundresses, etc. Williams was a cook and washerwoman under General Philip Sheridan. In 1866, Williams registered in the Army under the pseudonym William Cathay due to the prohibition of women in service and was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry Regiment. Shortly after she contracted smallpox and it was in her frequent hospitalization that Williams was discovered as a woman. She was discharged in 1868. In 1876, her story as a female African American in the Army was published in St. Louis Daily Times. Williams was denied military pension in 1890 and in 1893, she was diagnosed with neuralgia, diabetes, she was amputated, and now needed a crutch. Still, she was denied pension and died shortly. She is now the only recorded female African American Buffalo Soldier.