Patriots in Petticoats

[TruTenacity]

Dangerous Dames, Daughters of Liberty, Valiant Vixens, Patriots in Petticoats - whatever you wish to call them they are all Patriot Heroines.

One battle-weary British soldier in a letter to his family in England wrote, "Even in their dresses, the females seem to bid us defiance."  An officer stated that he believed "if we had destroyed all the men in North America, we should have enough to do to conquer the women."

Pen and Ink
Some of these women used pen and ink to encourage the patriots and injure their enemy.
Phillis Wheatley wrote poetry about liberty and freedom.
Mercy Otis Warren wrote letters to newspapers, but didn't include her name due to the risk of being hung for treason.  She also wrote plays which were published as pamphlets.
Mary Katharine Goddard was a publisher and owner of a paper. When she got word of what happened in Lexington she started printing eyewitness stories as fast as she could get the type set.  The most interesting item to note is when the Patriot leaders in Dec. 1776 fled to Baltimore they had a few handwritten copies of the Declaration of Independence.  They asked Mary Goddard if she would print some copies of the Declaration.  She agreed and was so bold as to print her own name at the bottom of the copies identifying herself as the official printer.  She then used her own money to pay the post riders to deliver the Declaration of Independence across the new United States.

Knitters and Spinners
Most of the women knew how to sew and knit.  Thousands of sweaters and scarves had been knit and then donated to the soldiers by these ladies.  They would also put together spinning bees.  One entry in a diary contends that 600 guests attended one of these spinning bees.  They brought food, books and instruments and while these guests helped spin some read and others played music to keep the workers entertained during the mundane task of spinning.

How about the Daring Defenders?
There are a few written accounts of the daring actions of the women that were left to defend their home while their husbands and sons were either out in the battle field or out working their land.  One notable account is the actions of Nancy Morgan Hart.  She was a tall bright red-haired blue-eyed woman.  One day six loyalist soldiers invaded Nancy's cabin when her husband wasn't home.  The soldiers had killed her last turkey and ordered her to cook it. She took the dead bird from them and told her 13-year-old daughter, Sukey, to serve them some wine.  The soldiers tossed their muskets in a pile in the corner and plopped down at Nancy's kitchen table.  Nancy told them stories to entertain them and made sure they drank plenty of wine.  The turkey was finally ready.  Nancy served it to them and as they started eating she sent Sukey outside to fetch some water.  She whispered to her daughter telling her to blow the conch shell to summon Mr. Hart.  As the soldiers started feeling the effects of the whiskey, Nancy pulled bits of pine chinking out of the cracks between the logs and started slipping their muskets through the opening so when her husband arrived he and their daughter would be armed to fight.  One of the soldiers caught Nancy in the act, jumped up and started toward her, but she immediately shouldered a loaded musket and ordered him not to move.  When the man ignored her warning, she pulled the trigger and killed him and then wounded another as he approached the stack of weapons.  When her husband finally arrived home with some friends they were surprised to see Nancy standing guard over the soldiers huddled in a corner of the cabin.

Messengers and Spies
What do you think Martha Bell, Lydia Darragh, Emily Geiger, Nancy Ward and "Mad" Ann Trotter Baily had in common? Each of these women were messengers and spies, taking the risk of being found guilty of being a traitor and hung. Some of these women would sew secret letters into their petticoats and then ride through the night to deliver the urgent message.  Others, while doing their errands in town would count British soldiers, their guns, and track the activities of their wagons then report their information to those who needed to know.

I like the story of Emily Geiger.  She risked her life to get a message from General Nathanel Greene to another officer, General Thomas Sumter.  After much coaxing, Emily convinced General Greene to let her make the several days ride on horseback to deliver his message.  She hid the letter down the front of her dress and set off.  Realizing she could be killed if caught with the letter she started memorizing its contents.  Emily almost reached Sumter's camp when three British scouts captured her.  She told her captors she was on her way to visit a sick friend, but they didn't believe her.  They locked her up in a room and went to find a loyalist woman to undress and search Emily.  While Emily was left alone she tried to find a place to hide the message, but she couldn't find a suitable place.  She decided to tear the letter into little bits and then one-by-one she chewed then swallowed every bit.  Of coarse when the lady searched Emily she couldn't find anything hidden so Emily was let go.  She carried on and when she arrived at the patriot camp she addressed General Sumter and recited word for word General Greene's secret battle plans.

Others
I don't have time to share the few recorded stories of Schoolgirl Rebels or Women on the Battlefield.  Hopefully your interest has been perked enough to read some of the accounts on your own.  I'll end with these words penned by the second First Lady - Abigail Adams - to her husband John.

       "Publick spirit lives - lives in the bosoms of the Fair Daughters of America, who ... unite their
       efforts to reward the patriotick, stimulate the Brave, to alleviate the Burden of War and to show
       that they are not dismayed by defeats of misfortunes."

[Ratchett]

TruT,

Thank you for putting resources and names out here for everyone, sure does help when looking for new history to keep things fresh!!

Ratchett

[kentuckyjam]

Thanks, TT!

We learned in Lexington that they had a spinning bee on the green with about 45  women to boycott cloth from England.  Believe this was in 1769.