Cathay Williams was born in 1844. Her father was a freed slave and her mother was enslaved. She grew up to be a house slave on a plantation in Missouri. When the Civil War broke out, her area was taken by the Union Army and she became contraband. This may have meant that she travelled with an army as a cook or laundress. She may have joined the army as Finis Cathay. Records show that a person of that name was in the 32nd Missouri Infantry Regiment. The unit served in the Vicksburg Campaign and on Sherman’s March. Regardless of what she was doing during the Civil War, it is documented that she enlisted on Nov. 15, 1866 under the name Cathay Williams. Up until WWI, physical exams of recruits were cursory so it was easy for a woman disguised as a man to enlist. She was in the 38th Infantry which served in the West protecting miners and emigrants from Indians like the Apaches. Her health deteriorated and she was often hospitalized. Finally, a post surgeon discovered her identity and she was discharged in 1868.
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/cathay-williams/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathay_Williams
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