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Whatever her motivations in joining the army, she may not have realized she was setting a precedent. While she was not the first woman to enlist in the army -- women disguised as men fought in the volunteer armies of the Revolution and the Civil War -- Cathay Williams may be the first to have served in the United States Regular Army in the 19th century. To date, she is the only documented African-American woman who served in the U.S. Army prior to the official introduction of women.
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Very little is known about the details of William Cathey's service because personnel records were not kept for Regular Army enlisted soldiers during the 19th century. The unit muster rolls, compiled every two months, rated the company as a whole, listed its members, and occasionally included comments regarding the individual soldier. The muster rolls reveal that William Cathey did not have an illustrious, or even an exciting army career. She was an average soldier. She neither distinguished herself nor disgraced her uniform while in the service. She was never singled out for praise or punishment. The opinions held of William Cathey by peers and officers are unknown. Whether she was congenial or aloof, outspoken or retiring is a mystery.
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Unidentified Lady at Ft Griffin
1867 - 1876
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Furthermore, the records cannot tell us if she faced difficulties concealing the fact she was female. It may have been easy for her. She was one of the tallest privates in her company, and she probably never experienced close physical scrutiny during her service, despite hospital visits. The mechanics of how she successfully concealed her femininity are left to speculation. We do not know whether or not she found the necessary deception stressful.
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Upon enlistment, William Cathey was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry. The 38th Infantry was officially established in August 1866 as a designated, segregated African-American unit. (The 39th, 40th, and 41st Infantries were also designated black units that year.) The officers of the segregated African-American regiments were white, and the regimental headquarters of the 38th was located at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. The 38th through 41st Infantries were short-lived, however. In March 1869, after William Cathey's discharge, they were consolidated into the historically familiar African-American 24th and 25th Infantries.
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From her enlistment date until February 1867, William Cathey was stationed at Jefferson Barracks. Her time there would have been spent in training and the daily routine of army camp life. It is uncertain, though, just how long she actually was present at the installation. On February 13, Company A of the 38th Infantry was officially organized, and William Cathey, along with 75 other black privates, was mustered into that company. At the time of this organization, however, she was in an unnamed St. Louis hospital, suffering an undocumented illness. How long she was hospitalized also is not recorded.
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By April 1867 William Cathey and Company A had marched to Fort Riley, Kansas. On the 10th of that month, William Cathey went to the post hospital complaining of "itch". (Army itch was usually scabies, eczema, lice, or a combination thereof, the perceived result of the filth of camp life.) On April 30, she was described as ill in quarters, along with 15 other privates. Because they were sick, their pay was docked 10 dollars per month for three months, so we can presume William Cathey was not malingering. She did not return to duty until May 14, which indicates that something other than itch bothered her. In June 1867 the company was at Fort Harker, Kansas.
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Indeed, the company was destined to travel. On July 20, 1867, it arrived at Fort Union, New Mexico, after a march of 536 miles. On September 7, Company A began the march to Fort Cummings, New Mexico, arriving October 1. The unit was stationed there for eight months.
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It appears that William Cathey withstood the marches as well as any man in her unit. When the company was not on the march, the privates did garrison duty, drilled and trained, and went scouting for signs of hostile Native Americans. William Cathey participated in her share of the obligations facing Company A. There is no record that the company ever engaged the enemy or saw any form of direct combat while William Cathey was a member.
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In January 1868 her health began deteriorating, after about eight months off the sick list. On the 27th of that month, she was admitted to the post hospital at Fort Cummings, citing rheumatism. She returned to duty three days later. On March 20, she went back to that hospital with the same complaint. Again, she returned to duty within three days.
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On June 6, the company marched for Fort Bayard, New Mexico, completing the 47 mile trek the next day. This was the last fort at which William Cathey lived during her army stint. On July 13, she was admitted into the hospital at Fort Bayard, and diagnosed with neuralgia. (Neuralgia was a catch-all term for any acute pain caused by a nerve, or parts of the nervous system. It could be a symptom of a wide range of diseases.) She did not report back to duty for a month. This was the last recorded medical treatment of William Cathey while in the military.
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During her military career, she was in four hospitals, on five separate occasions, for varying amounts of time, and apparently, no one discovered that William Cathey was a woman living as a man. It seems fairly certain in the Victorian age, in an army hospital, even out West, that the masquerade would have been noted had it been uncovered. It is a foregone conclusion that she would have been discharged from the army immediately had that discovery been made.
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The fact that five hospital visits failed to reveal that William Cathey was a woman raises questions about the quality of medical care, even by mid-l9th century standards, available to the soldiers of the U.S. Army, or at least to the African-American soldiers. Clearly, she never fully undressed during her hospital stays. Perhaps she objected to any potentially intrusive procedures out of fear of discovery. There is no record of the treatment given her at the hospitals. There is every indication that whatever treatments she received, they did not work.
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On October 14, 1868 William Cathey and two other privates in Company A, 38th Infantry were discharged at Fort Bayard on a surgeon's certificate of disability. William Cathey's certificate included statements from both the captain of her company and the post's assistant surgeon. The captain's statement read that Cathey had been under his command since May 20, 1867 "... and has been since feeble both physically and mentally, and much of the time quite unfit for duty. The origin of his infirmities is unknown to me." The surgeon's statement claimed Cathey was of "...a feeble habit. He is continually on sick report without benefit. He is unable to do military duty.... This condition dates prior to enlistment." Thus, with such wording on the certificate of disability for discharge, ended the brief army career of Cathay Williams, alias William Cathey. She served her country for just less than two years.
Was William Cathey as infirm as the certificate states? Those statements by the captain and the surgeon lend the impression she was perennially ill. Yet the available records, admittedly scant in detail, indicate she went for months without seeking medical treatment. Perhaps she was sick in quarters more often than recorded on the company rolls, or maybe she was ill more often than just when she went to the hospital. But if her infirmities pre-dated enlistment, why did the recruiting officer and the surgeon in St. Louis make her a soldier?
Was she mentally feeble, as her captain claimed? That is open to debate. Her illiteracy points to a dearth of education, which is far different from stupidity or mental incapacity. One fact is certain. She was bright enough, or wily enough, to conceal the fact she was female for nearly two years. Her successful imposture argues for either some mental ability on her part, or a lack of scrutiny and observation on the army's part. |
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Cathay Williams' disability discharge,
courtesy of the
National Archives |
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In any event,
in October 1868 Cathay Williams was on her own in New Mexico, far away from any relations she may have had in Missouri, and she was sick. Some regrettably sparse information is known about her life after the army. She resumed the garb and identity of a woman, in fact of herself, Cathay Williams. She traveled to Fort Union and worked as a cook for the family of a colonel in 1869 and 1870. She then traveled to Pueblo, Colorado and worked as a laundress for a Mr. Dunbar for two years. She moved on and lived in Las Animas County, Colorado for a year, again working as a laundress. She finally settled permanently in Trinidad, Colorado, making her living as a laundress. There is some evidence she may also have found work as a nurse. |
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