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Cathay Williams Research Paper

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Danyae Robinson
3/22/16
SFC Mahoney

Women history month
Cathay Williams

Cathay Williams born in Independence Missouri to a freed African American male and a Slaved African American women. In 1861 Union forces occupied Jefferson City in the early stages of the American Civil War. At that time, captured slaves were officially designated by the Union as "contraband," and many were forced to serve in the military support as cooks, laundresses, or nurses. At age seventeen, Cathay was impressed into serving the 8th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel William Plummer Benton. For the next few years, Williams travelled with the 8th Indiana, accompanying the soldiers on their marches through Arkansas, Louisiana,

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