Cathay Williams was born a slave, but in 1861 she was freed by the U.S. Army as contraband in Missouri. Subsequent to this she served as a cook. She did not know cooking and had to teach herself. She was 17 at the time and served the Eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, cooking for the officers.
After the war she found it difficult to get a job to support herself. Women were not allowed to serve in the military. However she enlisted with a new name, William Cathay. No one knew her true gender except a cousin and a friend. Only a cursory inspection was needed instead of a full physical at this time. However she came down with smallpox, and as a result received medical treatment and her gender was discovered. She said some of the men acted real bad towards her a did not want to serve with her after it was discovered she was a woman. She was discharged but prior had received the good conduct medal.
She served as a cook for the military in New Mexico, and then moved to Colorado. She married, but her husband stole her horse and money and ran off. She worked as a seamstress in Colorado. Her story was published in the St. Louis Daily Times as the first Black woman to serve in the military. She suffered from neuralgia and diabetes and applied for a disability pension. This was denied. She died shortly after in about 1893. She is honored with a bust at the Richard Allen Cultural Center in Leavenworth, CA and a bench at the National Infantry Museum in Georgia.
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