Women Soldiers & Sailors

[thedrifter]

Women Soldiers & Sailors

In 1428 a 16 year old peasant girl named Jehanne la Pucelle convinced the Dauphin of France to put her in charge of his army by promising to reclaim Orleans from the English and have him crowned at Riems. In May 1429 she led the army in the battle that returned Orleans to the French and two months later watched the Dauphin crowned Charles VII of France in the Cathedral of Reims. In May 1430 the girl who became known to the world as Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians during her attack on Compiegne and sold to the English. She was charged in an ecclesiastical court with heresy, blasphemy, idolatry, and sorcery. In May 1431 she was burned at the stake in the market place of Rouen as a relapsed heretic. Her relapse consisted of donning the men's clothing she had worn throughout her career and which she had earlier agreed to abandon in order to save herself from the stake.

There are accounts, verified by multiple official sources, of more than 20 women who dressed as men and served in the British Royal Navy or Marines from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries. In 1690 Anne Chamberlyne joined her brother's ship and fought in the battle against the French off Beachy Head. A tablet to her memory was placed in the wall of the Chelsea Old Church, London, along with other Chamberlyne family memorials. The English translation of the original Latin read, "In an adjoining vault lies Anne, the only daughter of Edward Chamberlyne, Doctor of Laws, born in London, the 20th January 1667, who having long declined marriage and aspiring to great achievements unusual to her sex and age, on the 30th June 1690, on board a fireship in man's clothing, as a second Pallas, chaste and fearless fought valiantly six hours against the French ...".

It was also not unusual for the wives of crewmen to live aboard both English and French warships. During battles they would deliver water and carry gun powder from the magazine to the cannons as well as assisting the ships' surgeon.

John Nichols, a seaman aboard the HMS Goliath wrote of the women aboard during the Battle of the Nile on Aug. 1, 1798, "There were some of the women wounded, and one woman belonging to Leith died of her wounds and was buried on a small island in the bay. One woman bore a son in the heat of the action; she belonged to Edinburgh." The names of four of the women aboard the Goliath during the battle were listed in the ship's muster book which stated they were "victualed at two-thirds allowance in consideration of their assistance in dressing and attending on the wounded, being widows of men slain in the fight with the enemy on the first day of August."

In 1847 the British government decided that Queen Victoria would award a Naval General Service Medal to all living survivors of the major battles fought between 1793 and 1840. Mary Ann Riley and Ann Hopping, who had been aboard the Goliath during the Battle of the Nile, and Jane Townshend, who was aboard the Defiance at Trafalgar in 1805, applied and were originally approved by the Admirals reviewing the claims. They were later refused the medal on the basis that, "There were many women in the fleet equally useful, and it will leave the Army exposed to innumerable applications of the same nature." [Italics in original]. More than 20,000 men received the medal including at least one who was an infant at the time the ship he was on engaged in battle.

Kit Cavanagh, better known as "Mother Ross" was one of several women who served as dragoons in the British Army. She fought during the 1690's at first disguised as a man and later openly as a woman. She was wounded several times but survived and received a military burial when she eventually died of old age. Ann Mills was another British dragoon who fought on the frigate Maidstone in 1740.

Phoebe Hessel's gravestone in Brighton churchyard Sussex, tells of her having, "served for many years as a private Soldier in the 5th Reg't of foot in different parts of Europe and in the year 1745 fought under the command of the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Fontenoy where she received a bayonet wound in her arm. Her long life which commenced in the time of Queen Anne extended into the reign of George IV, by whose munificence she received comfort and support in her later years."

Angelique Brulon defended Corsica in seven campaigns between 1792 and 1799. At first she fought disguised as a man, by the time her gender was discovered she had proved so valuable in battle that she was allowed to remain in the military fighting openly as a woman. She commanded male troops at Calvi who later drew up a testimonial which read in part, "We the garrison at Calvi certify that Marie-Angelique Josephine Duchemin Brulon, acting sergeant, commanding the attack on Fort Gesco, fought with us with the courage of a heroine". They went on to commend her skill with a sword and in hand to hand combat. She was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1822 and personally presented the French Legion of Honor by Napoleon III.


Marie Schellinck, a Belgian, fought for France in the Napoleonic Wars. She was wounded at Jemmappes, Austerlitz and Jena. She received the French Legion of Honor and a military pension in 1808. Virginie Ghesquiere who fought under Junot in Portugal and Angelique Brulon were two other women awarded the French Legion of Honor in the 18th century.

In 1807 Napoleon removed the French Legion of Honor from his own chest and awarded it to Ducaud Laborde, who fought openly as a woman with a troop of hussars at the battles of Eylau, Friedland and Waterloo. Although she was wounded at Friedland she continued to fight and captured 6 prisoners. At Waterloo her husband was killed and her military career ended when a cannon ball destroyed her leg.

Elizabeth Hatzler wore the uniform of a French dragoon and fought beside her husband in several battles in 1812. She carried him during the army's retreat after he was wounded in a losing battle against the Cossacks.

Sylvia Mariotti served as a private in the 11th Battalion of the Italian Bersaglieri from 1866 to 1879. She fought the Austrians in the Battle of Custozza.




Ellie

[revwardoc]

Deborah Sampson

(1760-1827)

Deborah Sampson was the first known American woman to impersonate a man in order to join the army and take part in combat. She was born in Plympton, Massachusetts, on December 17, 1760 as the oldest of three daughters and three sons of Jonathan and Deborah Sampson. Her family descended from one of the original colonists, Priscilla Mullins Alden, who was later immortalized in Longfellow's poem, "The Courtship of Miles Standish."

Deborah's youth was spent in poverty. Her father abandoned the family and went off to sea. Her mother was of poor health and could not support the children, so she sent them off to live with various neighbors and relatives. At the young age of eight to ten, Sampson became an indentured servant in the household of Jeremiah Thomas in Middleborough. For ten years she helped with the housework and worked in the field. Hard labor developed her physical strength. In winter, when there wasn't as much farm work to be done, she was able to attend school. She learned enough so that after her servitude ended in 1779, she was hired as a teacher in a Middleborough public school. On May 20, 1782, when she was twenty-one, Sampson enlisted in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army at Bellingham as a man named Robert Shurtleff (also listed as Shirtliff or Shirtlieff). On May 23rd, she was mustered into service at Worcester. Being 5 foot 7 inches tall, she looked tall for a woman and she had bound her breasts tightly to approximate a male physique. Other soldiers teased her about not having to shave, but they assumed that this "boy" was just too young to grow facial hair. She performed her duties as well as any other man. Back home, rumors circulated about her activities and she was excommunicated from the First Baptist Church of Middleborough, Massachusetts, because of a strong suspicion that she was "dressing in man's clothes and enlisting as a Soldier in the Army." At the time of her excommunication, her regiment had already left Massachusetts. Sampson was sent with her regiment to West Point, New York, where she apparently was wounded in the leg in a battle near Tarrytown. She tended her own wounds so that her gender would not be discovered. As a result, her leg never healed properly. However, when she was later hospitalized for fever in Philadelphia, the physician attending her discovered that she was a woman and made discreet arrangements that ended her military career. Sampson was honorably discharged from the army at West Point on October 25, 1783 by General Henry Knox. Deborah Sampson returned home, married a farmer named Benjamin Gannett, and had three children. She also taught at a nearby school. About nine years after her discharge from the army, she was awarded a pension from the state of Massachusetts in the amount of thirty-four pounds in a lump payment. After Paul Revere sent a letter to Congress on her behalf in 1804, she started receiving a U.S. pension in the amount of four dollars per month. In 1802, Sampson traveled throughout New England and New York giving lectures on her experiences in the military. During her lectures, she wore the military uniform. Deborah Sampson Gannett died April 29, 1827 in Sharon, Massachusetts, at age sixty-six. Her children were awarded compensation by a special act of Congress "for the relief of the heirs of Deborah Gannett, a soldier of the Revolution, deceased."

[revwardoc]

The Story of Molly Pitcher

An Artillery wife, Mary Hays McCauly (better known as Molly Pitcher) shared the rigors of Valley Forge with her husband, William Hays. Her actions during the battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778 became legendary. That day at Monmouth was as hot as Valley Forge was cold. Someone had to cool the hot guns and bathe parched throats with water. Across that bullet-swept ground, a striped skirt fluttered. Mary Hays McCauly was earning her nickname "Molly Pitcher" by bringing pitcher after pitcher of cool spring water to the exhausted and thirsty men. She also tended to the wounded and once, heaving a crippled Continental soldier up on her strong young back, carried him out of reach of hard-charging Britishers. On her next trip with water, she found her artilleryman husband back with the guns again, replacing a casualty. While she watched, Hays fell wounded. The piece, its crew too depleted to serve it, was about to be withdrawn. Without hesitation, Molly stepped forward and took the rammer staff from her fallen husband?s hands. For the second time on an American battlefield, a woman manned a gun. (The first was Margaret Corbin during the defense of Fort Washington in 1776.) Resolutely, she stayed at her post in the face of heavy enemy fire, ably acting as a matross (gunner). For her heroic role, General Washington himself issued her a warrant as a noncommissioned officer. Thereafter, she was widely hailed as "Sergeant Molly." A flagstaff and cannon stand at her gravesite at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A sculpture on the battle monument commemorates her courageous deed.

[DMZ-LT]

Saint Joan is the patron Saint of Soldiers. When I left for Viet Nam 33 years ago my wife to be gave me a ST. Joan medal to wear around my neck. She got me through combat and I have never taken her off my neck since. When I die my grandbaby will get her protection and medal. Scouts Out !

[Dragon Lady]

I can't recall the exact details, but I know of a story (true to be told) of a woman during the Civil War who served as a nurse, was captured by the south and imprissoned (first female POW). She was awarded the Medal of Honor (not sure if she actually met the criteria or not). The Medal was recinded for the sole reason that she was a woman and the medal was "for men only". It was later reinstated and she wore it until the day she died.

Dan, do you know her name?

Ellie, Thanks so much for sharing this thread with us!

DL

[revwardoc]

Dragon Lady,

I finally got around to searching for that woman who won the CMH in the Civil War. Her name was Dr. Mary Edwards Walker.

Here's a website on her accomplishments;
http://www.undelete.org/military/mil3walker.html

[Dragon Lady]

Thanks Dan,

I checked out that website too. I'm not so sure how accurate the info is there. I was peeking around at the different links and I noticed that on the women buried at Arlington there were three women listed as being the first female pilots. Now I'm thinking that there was a word or two left off the bio or it was a typo, or someone just wasn't paying attention.

I also take umbrage at being referred to as a WAF. The WAF's were women in the AF before they were fully integrate members and carrying the full rank and responsibility of a member of the Air Force. I am a veteran Ssgt of the USAF. That's what is says on my DD214. It does not say WAF anywhere. The term WAF conotes a sense of second class citizen. Like we are somehow not good enough to be concidered a part of the branch but rather separate from the family. I don't think I like how that feels and I am rather surprised that the webdesigner, being a Capt USAF (Ret.) and being a woman herself is determined to make this distinction.

I want to be remembered for my service to my country and the person that I am, not for the fact that I just happen to have two X chromosomes.

Sorry for my rant. I know these are not your views at all...better not be anyway.

But thanks again for the link there was some info...not much in the way of dates listed, but it is a great starting point to continue some research.

DL