Katay Williams ( born Cathay Williams , c. 1842 or 1850 - c. 1892) - the first black woman soldier in the United States [1] . Served under the assumed name of William Katay [2] .
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Born in slavery (she was the daughter of a slave and a free man) in the city of Independence in Missouri in 1842 or 1850; worked as a maid in the home of William Johnson, a wealthy planter from Jefferson City . After the outbreak of the Civil War, she was released by soldiers of the 8th Indian Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the North Army, who hired her to work as a cook and laundress [3] .
At the end of the war, Williams, aspiring to financial independence, entered military service in November 1866. Since the start of the civil war, dark-skinned people could serve in the American army (initially only in the North), but women were not allowed to serve, so on November 15, 1866 she entered the service in Company A of the 38th Infantry Regiment under the name of William Katay. In 1868, after suffering smallpox, her health began to deteriorate; during one of the medical examinations, her true gender was established. On October 14, 1868, Williams was fired from the army. [3]
After leaving the army, she returned to life under her real name, in 1869-1870 she was a cook in the family of one of the officers in Fort Union [4] . Then she moved to Pueblo , Colorado , where she worked as a laundress for two years. In 1872 she moved to Las Animas, a year later settled in Trinidad , Colorado, where she spent the rest of her life [5] , still working as a washerwoman.
At the turn of 1889 and 1890 she entered the local hospital, where she spent some time. In 1891, she filed a petition for her disability benefits acquired during the military service, but it was rejected [6] . The exact date of her death has not been established [7] . In 2016, a monument was erected to her at Leavenworth, Kansas. [8]
Notes
- ↑ Kisielewska, Zuzanna; Zuzanna Kisielewska. Ukryte w męskich mundurach (Polish) // Focus Historia. - T. 5/2011 (52) . - S. 64-67 . - ISSN 2081-3058 .
- ↑ Tucker, Phillip Thomas. Cathy Williams: From Slave to Female Buffalo Soldier : [ eng. ] . - Stackpole Books, 2002-01-01. - ISBN 9780811703406 .
- ↑ 1 2 Female Buffalo Soldier . Archived on September 5, 2008.
- ↑ Stanford L. Davis. Female Buffalo Soldier- With Documents . Buffalo Soldier.net (June 25, 2006). Date of treatment July 30, 2007.
- ↑ Cathay Williams Female Buffalo Soldier . Date of treatment June 18, 2011.
- ↑ Disapproved Pension Application File for Cathay Williams (AKA William Cathay), 38th US Infantry Regiment, Company A (SO-1032593) .
- ↑ Williams, Cathay (1850– ) . Date of treatment June 18, 2011.
- ↑ Davismirandadavis, Miranda Monument to female Buffalo Soldier is dedicated in Leavenworth | The Kansas City Star . Kansascity.com (July 22, 2016). Date of treatment July 30, 2016.