Women of the American Revolution

AMAZING WOMEN in WAR and PEACE

History raves about the heroics of men in war…

but few instances are mentioned in which female courage was displayed.

Yet during every conflict, and the peaceful years between,

they too were there.

verses 1776

Margaret Cochran Corbin

Margaret fought alongside her husband in the American Revolutionary War.

She often cooked for the men, washed their laundry and nursed wounded soldiers.

She also watch the drills and no doubt learned them.

Margaret Cochran Corbin

On November 16, 1776,while stationed at Fort Washington, New York, the fort was attacked by British and Hessian Troops.

Her husband John was in charge of the cannon and Margaret assisted him.

Sometime later John was killed, but Margaret continued loading and firing the cannon by herself until she was wounded by a grapeshot which tore her shoulder, mangled her chest and lacerated her jaw.

Margaret Cochran Corbin

The fort was captured by the British, but the wounded were set free.

They ferried Margaret across the river and then transported her all the way to Philadelphia in a wagon.

She never recovered fully from her wounds and was left without use of her left arm for the rest of her life.

Margaret Cochran Corbin

Margaret is buried behind the Old Cadet Chapel at West Point which is near the place of the battle, in Fort Tryon Park in New York City, a bronze plaque commemorates Margaret Corbin" the first American woman to take a soldier’s part in the War for Liberty”.

She was the first woman to receive pension from the United

States government as a disabled soldier.

Martha Washington In the winter Martha

would knit socks for the soldiers and mend their clothing.

She would feed the sick and the wounded.

Her warm smile and soft words comforted many soldiers.

Sybil LudingtonFemale Paul Revere

Sybil Ludington was a typical 16 year old girl in 1777. On April 26, 1777, word reached her house that the British

were burning the town of Danbury, Connecticut, which was only 25 miles away.

Her father was a colonel in the local militia and his men were scattered over a wide area around the Ludington house.

Sybil convinced her father to let her ride and summon the men.

Sybil Ludington

She rode on horseback over 40 miles on dark, unmarked roads to spread the alert.

She rode alone with only a stick to prod her horse and to knock on the doors spreading the alert in time.

The men whom she helped gather arrived just in time to help drive the British back to their ships in Long Island Sound.

Sybil Ludington Sybil’s contribution to the

war was not forgotten.

Present day visitors that come to Putnam County New York can follow the path she took on that midnight ride by following markers placed along the route.

Martha Bratton

In June 1780, a party of British cavalry under Capt. Huck came to her house wanting to know her husbands whereabouts.

She remained bold and fearless even after hours of questioning.

Martha Bratton

Later that evening her husband Col. Bratton took the Royalists by surprise, totally defeating them. Mrs. Bratton attended to the wounded of both sides, and showed them impartial attention.

Just before the fall of Charleston, Governor Rut-ledge entrusted to Mrs. Bratton’s care a quantity of gun powder. She blew it up when it was in danger of being captured.

Deborah Samson

Deborah Samson was never mentioned as a hero in her day; but Private Robert Shurtliff was always mentioned in glowing terms as being one of the toughest, strongest, most patriotic soldiers. Shurtliff”s physical endurance was legendary.

What no one suspected was that Deborah and Robert were one and the same person.

Deborah Samson

Her great grandfather came over on the Mayflower and was governor of Plymouth, you may remember Governor William Bradford.

By the time Deborah was 15 she was five foot eight inches tall, almost a foot taller than the average woman of her day, and taller than the average man.

When she was five her father abandoned the family. Her mother unable to take care of seven children sent some of her children to live with other families.

Deborah Samson

Deborah was taken to the home of Deacon Jeremiah Thomas, the proud father of 10 sons.

Hours of strenuous farm work broadened her shoulders and hardened her muscles.

She received no formal schooling, but obtained an education by having the Thomas boys review their studies with her each evening.

Deborah Samson When she was eighteen she

became a school teacher. On May 20, 1782, Deborah

disguised herself as a male and joined the army.

Although the last major battle of the Revolution had been fought the previous October 1781, when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, a desperate guerilla warfare was still being fought in some areas by determined Loyalists who refused to give up.

Deborah Samson

In one wild skirmish with the most feared Loyalist unit, lead by Colonel James Delancy, Shurtliff suffered a forehead wound from a saber slash and then was hit by a musket ball in the upper left front thigh.

When she went to the hospital for the wound to her forehead she didn’t tell the doctors about her thigh wound.

She limped out of the hospital, and later, using her knife, managed to extract the musket ball in her thigh.

Deborah Samson

Robert Shurtliff was then selected to defend Congress in Philadelphia from disgruntled unpaid soldiers.

While there she became ill and Dr. Barnabas Binney found that the almost dead soldier boy was in reality an almost dead girl.

Binney had her taken to his home and never reported his discovery. His wife took care of her until she regained consciousness.

Deborah Samson It was finally discovered

that Robert Shurtliff was in reality a woman, and because of ‘his’ heroic services, Robert Shurtliff was given and Honorable Discharge.

At the time Deborah Samson was the first known woman to serve in a war disguised as a man.

May 23,1983 Governor Michael J. Dukakis signed a proclamation.

Molly Pitcher Her actions during the battle of Monmouth on June 28,1778

became legendary. That day was very hot and someone had to cool the hot guns

and bring water to the thirsty soldiers. That’s how she earned her name Molly Pitcher, by bringing

pitcher after pitcher of cool spring water to the exhausted, thirsty men.

She also tended to the wounded and once, heaving a crippled Continental soldier on her strong young back , carried him out of reach of the charging British.

Molly Pitcher On her next trip with water,

she found her husband, Hays, back with the guns, and while she watched, Hays fell wounded.

Without hesitation, Molly stepped forward and took the rammer staff from her fallen husband’s hands.

She was the second woman to man a gun on an American battlefield.

Molly Pitcher For her heroic role,

General Washington issued her a warrant as a noncommissioned officer.

There after, she was widely hailed a “Sergeant Molly.”

A flagstaff and cannon stand at her gravesite at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Nancy “Warwoman” Morgan Hart

Nancy was strong, six feet tall and an expert sharpshooter and hunter.

Legend has it that one side of the cabin was covered with antlers of deer she had killed.

Nancy “Warwoman” Morgan Hart During the Revolution six

Loyalists forced their way into the Hart home and demanded that Nancy cook a meal for them.

Nancy killed one of the Loyalists and wounded another.

The five surviving Loyalists were held at gun point. Nancy insisted they be hanged and they were.

Nancy “Warwoman” Morgan Hart

Tradition has it that Nancy Hart served as a spy, sometimes disguised as a man.

Once she was sent dressed like a man into a British camp, pretending to be crazy, and was able to come away with important information on the British troop movements.

Another time the Georgia Patriots needed information about what was going on the Carolina side of the Savannah River. There were no volunteers so Nancy tied a few logs together with grapevines, crossed the river and obtained the information.

Nancy “Warwoman” Morgan Hart

On one occasion, she met a Loyalist on the road, she seized his gun and made him march to the commander of the American fort.

Another time she was left in a fort with several women and it was ambushed by Loyalists and Indians. Nancy took charge. There was one cannon and she was able to place it so it’s fire could reach the enemy. With the help of a young man, who was hiding under a cowhide, she was able to fire upon the enemy and cause them to retreat.

Laodicea Langston “Daring Dicey” A Rebel For The Cause of Freedom

Bloody Bill Cunningham and his Scouts were a company of loyalists. When Dicey, age 16, heard they were about to visit the “Elder settlement” where her brother lived, she was determined to warn them.

She left home in the middle of the night and walked many miles, crossing streams and marshes on foot, as there were no bridges.

She made it to the “Elder settlement” and when the ‘scouts’ arrived, no one was there.

Dicey Langston

The Loyalists left the house filled with admiration at the affection and devotion they had witnessed.

The loyalists were also displeased that Dicey’s brothers were in active service for the cause. They came to kill Dicey’s father, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and declared that her own body would be first to received a musket ball. She saved her father’s life.

Dicey Langston One day, she was stopped

by a company of Loyalists, who ordered her to give them some Patriot intelligence. With a pistol to her chest she replied, “Shoot me if you dare! I will not tell you.” The officer became enraged by her defiance and was about to fire, but another Loyalists stopped him and saved the girl’s life.

Polly Cooper Polly, an Oneida Indian,

helped George Washington and the soldiers during the winter at Valley Forge.

She taught them how to prepare nutritional and medicinal food.

She refused to take money for her efforts so George Washington gave her a shawl in token of his gratitude.

Polly Cooper

She cooked and carried water to the soldiers.

She would even go into the battlefield to quench the dry throats of the soldiers on either side and walked both sides of the firing line with out fear of harm.

The government of the United States acknowledged the contributions of the Oneidas in the Revolution as well as the severity of their sacrifices.

American Women