Women's History Month 2022 - Lydia Barrington Darragh

[Mrs. Smith]

Welcome back to Project Appleseed's Women's History Month series on Revolutionary War Heroines! We're both pleased and  grateful you chose to join us for it, and look forward to bringing more stories of remarkable Revolutionary women in March of 2023.

For our final installment of 2022 we are taking a closer look at a Patriot spy: Lydia Barrington Darragh.



Lydia Darragh and her family lived in the Quaker town of Philadelphia after immigrating to the Americas from Ireland only 4 years prior. Quakers were known for being pacifists, but that didn't stop Lydia and her husband from aiding the revolutionary cause.

After the British took control of Philadelphia in December of 1777, they frequently held secret meetings in the Darragh home. Since the Darraghs were Quakers, the British assumed that they would remain neutral and provide a safe space for them to plan their next battles.



They assumed incorrectly. Lydia hid in a linen closet adjacent to the meeting room and overheard the British conjure a plan to take the Americans by surprise. She knew she only had a few days to warn the Americans of the impending attack.

Lydia left her house, telling the officers that she needed to get more flour for her kitchen. She walked miles through the snow and cold before finding one of Washington's men and telling him all she knew of the British attack plan. She urged him to bring her message to Washington himself.



Lydia's warning gave Washington enough time to rally his troops and prepare them for  battle, rather than allowing them to be caught by surprise! Although the British did attack as planned, they ultimately failed and retreated back to Philadelphia. Upon their return they  immediately began an investigation to find the spy. After many interrogations, they never came to a conclusion on who foiled their plan.

It was later reported that at the end of Lydia's interrogation, one British officer said, "One thing is certain; the enemy had notice of our coming, were prepared for us, and we marched back like a parcel of fools. The walls must have ears."

References:
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/lydia-darragh
https://www.ushistory.org/people/darragh.htm