A native of Indiana, William Catt was a resident of Grasshopper Falls (Valley Falls), Jefferson County, Kansas, when he enlisted in Company I, 11th Kansas Cavalry in September 1862. Catt spent the next year and a half guarding the eastern border of Kansas; he was discharged in March 1864 because of disease. Returning to the service in the 17th Kansas Infantry in July 1864, Catt served until he was discharged that November. Tragically, Catt’s wife died while he was away in the army, and his son (who also served in the 11th Kansas Cavalry) died in 1865.

Catt died in 1904 and is buried next to his son in the Farrar Cemetery in Valley Falls, Kansas.

Carte-de-Visite by S.M. Eby & Son, Kansas City, Mo.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31706