Here Are Five Famous Women of the American Revolution

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Topic: Five Famous Women of the American Revolution
By Kerilynn Engel


Women of the American Revolution

It wasn't just the Founding Fathers who worked for American independence from the British. Many women played pivotal roles in the American Revolutionary War and became famous for their deeds. The five women listed below, through fighting, spying, writing, and supporting their fellow patriots, helped to win the war and America's independence from Britain.

1. Margaret Corbin

Margaret Corbin been surrounded by violence from her early childhood, when her family was attacked and her parents killed by Native Americans, but her experience didn't scare her away from fighting for what she believed in. When she was 21, her new husband joined the local militia, so she decided to join him as a camp follower. With the other women camp followers, she cooked, washed laundry, and helped to care for wounded soldiers.

In November of 1776, her husband's company of about 600 men was attacked by 4,000 Hessian troops. Her husband, stationed at a small cannon atop Fort Washington in northern Manhattan, was soon killed in battle. Undaunted, Margaret took over firing the cannon. Though she survived the battle, the British won and the militia surrendered. Margaret was soon released on parole with the other wounded soldiers.

During the battle, Margaret had been shot in her arm, chest, and jaw and been seriously wounded, though she never left her station at the cannon. Her injuries healed badly and made life very difficult for her. A few years later, she applied for government aid, and became the first woman in the United States to ever receive a pension from Congress for military service.

2. Lydia Darragh

As Quaker pacifists, Lydia Darragh and her family were allowed to stay in their house in Philadelphia during the British occupation of 1777-1778. Quakers were widely known to be neutral during American Revolution, and the British thought they had nothing to fear while occupying her home.

Lydia, however, believed that she had a duty to save lives by helping to end the war. She used the opportunity to spy on the British in her home and pass on information to her oldest son, who served in the Continental Army. She even crossed enemy lines to pass on crucial information to General George Washington, informing him that the British were planning to attack on December 4, 1777.

3. Sybil Ludington

Sybil Ludington is sometimes called the "female Paul Revere," though perhaps it should be the other way around since her night ride was twice as long and she was only 16 years old at the time.

In April of 1777, Sybil's family learned that the British were attacking and burning down homes in nearby Danbury, Connecticut. The militia needed to be gathered to protect the people of Danbury, and Sybil immediately rode out to warn and rouse them.

From her home in Kent, New York, Sybil travelled 40 miles to gather the militia, avoiding British soldiers, loyalists, and outlaws. At one point she had to fight off a highwayman with a stick. She returned home by dawn, and the militia marched to Danbury. Though they were too late to stop the British there, they were just in time to join the Battle of Ridgefield and drive the British out to Long Island Sound.

4. Mercy Otis Warren

In a time when politics were considered to be the sole province of men, Mercy Otis Warren was a writer who ignored convention. Born in Massachusetts in 1728, Mercy published poetry and plays that attacked British royal authority in the colonies and tried to convince her fellow colonists to resist the British. She also corresponded with and advised many leaders and famous people including Thomas Jefferson, George and Martha Washington and John and Abigail Adams.

She was one of very few women at the time to publish her works under her own name. Besides publishing a book of her poetry and plays, she also wrote and published one of the first histories of the American Revolution in 1805 called "History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution." The three-volume book was the very first history of the American Revolution to be written by a woman.

5. Prudence Wright
Though most of her family members were British loyalists, Prudence Wright was an American patriot. She married a private in the American militia and moved with him to Groton, Massachusetts. While the men in the militia marched on Concord at the beginning of the war, the women formed their own militia to defend Groton, electing Prudence Wright as their captain.

When the women learned of a group of soldiers marching toward their town, they dressed as men and concealed themselves around the bridge leading into town. The soldiers immediately ran away when the women ambushed them, but the women able to capture a loyalist spy and confiscate his message. Today a memorial stone marks the area near Pepperell Covered Bridge where "Mrs. Wright's Guard" defended the town of Groton.
These five women, though some of the most famous women of the American Revolution, are not nearly as well-known as the famous men of the time. Though most discussion of the American Revolutionary War focuses on the Founding Fathers, many women also played key roles in winning American freedom from the British, and should be recognized today for their deeds.