Soldier For Life
Cathay Williams was the first documented black woman to enlist in the U.S. Army. Williams was born a slave in Missouri in 1844. She served as an Army cook during the Civil War, traveling with infantry units as they moved from state to state. In November 1866, Williams enlisted in the Army in St. Louis as a man under the name William Cathay. She passed the cursory physical exam and was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry – the Buffalo Soldiers – and traveled throughout the West with her unit. She was the only known female Buffalo Soldier. Williams was hospitalized several times while she was in the Army, but was not discovered to be a woman until her last hospitalization in July 1868. She was subsequently honorably discharged from the Army in October 1868 at Fort Bayard, New Mexico. #BlackHistoryMonth#MilitaryHistory#BuffaloSoldiers