A fearless, formerly enslaved woman reshaped U.S. military history by enlisting in disguise and serving on the Western frontier.
Cathay Williams’ journey into American history began long before she put on a uniform. Born into slavery in 1844 in Independence, Missouri, she entered the world with systems already stacked against her. Her father was free. However, because her mother was enslaved, she too was legally classified as property. Her early life unfolded on the Johnson plantation near Jefferson City, where she worked as a house girl—duties that, unknowingly, prepared her for the long, grueling military years ahead.
Her first brush with the U.S. Army arrived during the Civil War. At just 17, when Union troops occupied Jefferson City, enslaved people were labeled “contraband” and pressed into support roles. Williams was taken to work for officers as a cook and washerwoman under the 13th Army Corps. She didn’t want to go, she later admitted, and she didn’t yet know how to cook. But she learned quickly, and that skill would become a lifeline.
Those war years placed her in the shadow of major campaigns—from the Battle of Pea Ridge to the burning cotton fields of Arkansas and Louisiana. “I learned to cook after going to Little Rock,” she recalled, a small reflection of the massive changes shaping her world. By the time the war ended, she had crossed multiple states, served under General Philip Sheridan, and witnessed the country reshaping itself in real time…