Women of the Revolutionary War

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Women of the Revolutionary War
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• According to history books, it was men like
  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin
  Franklin who helped gain America's independence. 
  These important men led large numbers of troops
  into battle and composed key, important
  documents.  So, they generally receive the credit
  for our country's freedom.  Did men win the
  Revolutionary War alone? If you think that is
  correct you are wrong. Men didn't win the war
  alone there were women in the war, too. Women
  played a very significant role in the war
  effort.

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Jobs Held by WomenAt War Home
Front

• Cooking
• Washing
• Nursing the injured/sick
• Camp follower
• Soldier/took husbands place in line
• Messenger/courier
• Spy

• Running farms and businesses
• Sewed clothes for soldiers
• Fed and cared for wounded troops who had fought
  near their homes
  
• Make cartridges for muskets
• Head of household
• Writer
• Spy

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Where They Came From
Massachusetts Abigail Smith Adams Mary Smith Cra
nch Mary Draper Dorothy Quincy Hancock Sarah Fu
ller Hull Lucia Knox Deborah Sampson Gannett Mr
s. Oliver Pond Sarah Quincy Smith Mercy Otis War
ren Hannah Winthrop Mrs. David Wright
Pennsylvania Sarah Franklin Bache Rebecca Biddle
Margaret Cochran Corbin Lydia Darrah Elizabeth
Graham Ferguson Mary Ludwig Hays Mary Redmond
Esther Skinner Frances Slocum
North Carolina Martha Polk Brevard Rachel Craigh
ead Caldwell Margaret Sharpe Gaston Mary Hooks S
locumb
Georgia Nancy Hart
Rhode Island Mary Bowen Catherine Littlefield Gr
eene
Delaware Hannah Erwin Israel
South Carolina Martha Bratton Mrs. Dillard Isab
ella Barber Ferguson Emily Geiger Nancy Stinson
(Anderson) Green Mrs. Thomas Heyward Elizabeth H
utchinson Jackson Sarah Wayne McCalla Elizabeth
Marshall Martin Mrs. Richard Shubrick Mrs. John
Simpson Mrs. Strong Esther Gaston Walker Eliza
Wilkinson Eleanor Wilson
Connecticut Anna Warner Bailey Rebecca Sanford B
arlow
Ursula Wolcott Griswold Frances Ledyard
New Jersey Elizabeth Rogers Borden Hannah Ogden
Caldwell Susannah French Livingston Esther de Be
rdt Reed Annis Boudinot Stockton Martha Stewart
Wilson
Maryland Anne Frisby Fitzhugh
New York Cornelia Van Cortlandt Beekman Magdalen
Bevier Blandina Elmendorf Bruyn Jane Cannon Cam
pbell Mrs. Jackson Mary Lindley Murray Janet Li
vingston Montgomery Catherine Van Rensselaer Schu
yler Lady Stirling (Sarah Livingston Alexander)
Margaret Todd Whetten
Virginia (and Kentucky) Mrs. Davis "John's Wife"
Mrs. John Merrill Mrs. John Walker Martha Wash
ington
Mrs. Woods Elizabeth Zane
New Hampshire (and Vermont) Frances Brush Allen
Elizabeth Smith Peabody
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Those Who Made a Difference Camp Followers
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Deborah Samson Gannett
1760-1827
Deborah Samson was born in Plymouth,
Massachusetts. She fought in the Revolutionary
War disguised as a man called Robert Shurtleff.
She was wounded more than once. One time she hid
a leg injury so that the officers would not find
out she was a woman. Later when she was in the
hospital because of a high fever, her secret was
discovered. George Washington gave her an
honorable discharge. Before and after she fought
in the war she was a teacher. She told stories
about her fighting in the Revolutionary War to
the children in her classes.
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Margaret Cochran Corbin(1751-c.1800)
Margaret Corbin met the challenge and stepped up
to the artillery during the attack on Fort
Washington when her husband fell by her side. She
did not hesitate to take his place and perform
his duties. In July of 1779 the Congress awarded
her a pension for her heroism-and a suit of
clothes.
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NANCY MORGAN HART
Nancy Morgan Hart, a dedicated patriot managed to
kill British soldiers in her cabin in Georgia.
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Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley(Molly Pitcher)

• 1754-1832
• Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, known better as Molly
  Pitcher, got her name because she carried water
  to the solders to drink and cool down the
  cannons. This happened during the Revolutionary
  War. The heat was unbearable and the soldiers
  throats were dry. She carried water in a
  pitcher to the tired, hot, wounded soldiers.
  When her husband fell and could not carry on,
  Molly took his place and fought for the patriots.
  George Washington said he would give her a 40
  pension per year of service. He also let her
  become a secret soldier and called her Sergeant
  Molly.

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Betsy Ross

• 1752-1836
• Elizabeth Griscom, (a.k.a Betsy Ross), helped her
  mother in the home as a seamstress. When she was
  a teenager she asked to work away from home.
  Betsy Griscom started a store. One day she met
  John Ross. Betsy Griscom got married and became
  Betsy Ross. Soon after, John was shot and killed.
  One morning during The Revolutionary War, George
  Washington and his friends asked her to make a
  flag. Betsy persuaded him to make it
  five-pointed stars. This is how the American flag
  came to be!
• Betsy Ross remarried twice and had seven
  daughters. William J. Canby, one of Betsy Ross
  grandchildren wrote a paper about her in 1870.The
  paper told how his eighty-four year old
  grandmother made the first American flag.

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Works Cited

• Wilson, Captain Barbara A. Amazing Women in War
  and Peace. Women Soldiers in the American
  Revolutionary War. 1996 07 June, 2005
  http//userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets.html
• Women in the Revolution. Revolutionary War for
  Kids. 06 June, 2005 http//www2.1hric.org/Pocantic
  o/revolution/women.htm
  
• Women of the American Revolution. Greenwood
  Books. 06 June, 2005 http//www.greenwood.com/book
  s/bookdetail.asp
  
• Notable Women of Early America. Archiving Early
  America. 08June, 2005 http//earlyamerica.com
  
• The Role of Women in the American Revolution.
  United Learning. 09 June 2005 http//www.unitedstr
  eaming.com