CARD 38 - Buffalo Soldiers

 Cathy Williams, a female former slave from Independence, Missouri disguised herself as a man and served for 2 years in the 38th Infantry as Private William Cathay. The post physician discovered Williams's secret identity when she became ill. She was discharged in 1868.

For eight decades, from their creation in 1866 until the Army was integrated in 1952 and the 24th was disbanded in Korea, the Buffalo soldiers served in peacetime and war.