Cathay Williams (1844-1893)

Cathay Williams was an African-American (A-A) soldier who enlisted in the US Army under the pseudonym William Cathay. She was the first black woman to enlist, and the only documented woman to serve in the US Army posing as a man.

Despite the fact that it was prohibited for a woman to join the army she managed to enlist under the name William Cathay. Only her cousin and a friend, who were fellow soldiers in her regiment, knew the truth about the deception… She, some how, managed to pass a medical examination - very cursory- and she was registered to the 38th United States Infantry Regiment.

Cathay was the child of a free man and a woman in slavery which made her legal status to be a slave.

Shortly after her enlistment she caught smallpox and was hospitalized. She rejoined her unit which was posted to new Mexico. After years of marching and the after effects of smallpox she was often hospitalized. The post surgeon discovered she was a woman. Her commanding officer, Captain Charles E. Clarke discharged her on 14th the October 1868.

20 plus years later (1889) she applied for a disability pension based on her military service . Following a medical examination in September 1893 her application was rejected although she suffered from neuralgia and diabetes, all her toes had been amputated and she walked with a crutch. The actual date of her death -probably late 1893 and her place of burial, are unknown.

In 2016 a small bust of Cathay Williams, with a small rose garden, was unveiled outside the Richard Allen Cultural Center in Leavenworth, Kansas.
in 2018 a Private Cathay Williams monument bench was unveiled on the Walk of Honor at the National Infantry Museum.

Sources
Remembering Remarkable Firsts During Black History Month
Wikipedia