Women warriors
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English Version
1707- 1733: Dona Juliana Dias da Costa (1658-1733) was a woman of Portuguese descent who became Harem-Queen to the Mughal emperor of India Bahadur Shah I. Juliana Dias da Costa rode on a war elephant alongside her husband, Mughal emperor of India Bahadur Shah I, in battles to defend his authority. She managed to remain a devout Catholic in a Muslim state.
Circa 1718-1721: Mary Read (died 1721) was an English pirate. She is chiefly remembered as one of only two women (her comrade, Anne Bonny, was the other) known to have been convicted of piracy during the early 18th century, at the height of the Golden Age of Piracy. Read's ship was taken by pirates, who forced her to join them. She took the King's pardon c.1718-1719, and took a commission to privateer, until that ended with her joining the crew in mutiny. In 1720 she joined pirate John "Calico Jack" Rackham and his companion, the female pirate Anne Bonny. Read remained dressed as a man at first. Nobody knew that Read was female until Bonny began to take a liking to Read thinking she was a handsome young fellow. That forced Read to reveal to Bonny that she was a woman. Rackham, who was Bonny's lover, became jealous of the intimacy between them and threatened to cut the throat of Bonny's new paramour. To prevent Read's death, Rackham was also let in on the secret; following, Rackham decided to break male seafaring tradition by allowing both women to remain on the crew. Eventually, Read and Bonny would wear men's clothes while attacking merchants in Jamaica, and women's clothes at other times.
1700-1705: Tarabai (16751761) was a queen of the Maratha Empire in India. The Marathas were continually at war with the Mughals, and in 1700 the Maratha capital Satara was besieged and surrendered to the Mughals. At about the same time Rajaram, who was the king at that time, died. Then Tarabai assumed control in the name of her son, Sambhaji II. Tarabai was skilled in cavalry movement, and made strategic movements herself during wars. She personally led the war and continued the onslaught on the Mughals. A truce was offered to the Mughals in such way that it was promptly rejected by the Mughal emperor, and Tarabai continued the Maratha resistance. By 1705, Tarabai with her Marathas had crossed the Narmada and entered Malwa, which was in Mughal possession. There they defeated several Mughal garrisons. This aggressive Maratha strategy brought ruin upon the Mughals. They were defeated and withdrew from Maratha country...
1713-1726: Ulrika Eleonora Stålhammar (16881733) was a Swedish female soldier in the Swedish army under Charles XII and cross dresser during the Great Northern War. She enlisted in the army in Kalmar as an artillerist in 1713, under the name of William Edstedt, and remained in the army for thirteen years. In 1728, Ulrika went to Denmark and wrote a letter of confession to the Swedish government and asked for its pardon.
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1713-1721: Margareta Elisabeth Roos or Anna Stina Roos (16961772) was a Swedish-Estonian woman and a cross dresser who served as a soldier in the Swedish army under Charles XII of Sweden during the Great Northern War. Some sources name her as Anna Stina Roos. She enlisted in the army in 1713 because she was in love with an officer. She served as a soldier in the battle fields until the end of the war in 1721, during which time she was noted for great courage and promoted to the rank of non-commissioned officer. She was never discovered. She is said to have been so "masculine" in her ways regarding alcohol usage and foul language that no-one suspected her of being a woman, and she was also a tall as a man.
1700-1721: Margareta von Ascheberg (1671 - 1753), was a Swedish land owner, acting regiment colonel and noble during the Great Northern War. As a widow of a military officer, she had the obligation to perform his task of a colonel regarding the organization of his regiment, when it was called to serve in the Great Northern war in 1700. She equipped the regiment, appointed the officers of the regiment and sat at the inspection office of the regiment when it was sent to war from Kristianstad. She was called "Coloneless"; "Madame Colonel".
Circa 1710: Maria Faxell, minister's wife who averted a Norwegian attack in Värmland during the Great Northern War. When a Norwegian squad attacked the village her husband's absence, and panic broke out in the district, Faxell gathered men and women with old rifles and let the little alarm in the church lock hands. The Norwegians frightened away in the belief that there were Swedish troops there.
1704-1705: Mai Bhago (Mata Bhag Kaur) was a Sikh woman who led Sikh soldiers against the Mughals. She was the sole survivor of the battle of Khidrana, i.e. Battle of Muktsar in 1705. Forty (chali) men along with Mai Bhago, waded headlong into the Muslim forces (around 10,000 soldiers) and inflicted so much damage that the Muslims were finally forced to give up their attack and retreat as darkness fell to lick their wounds in the nearby woods. She personally killed several enemy soldiers on the battlefield.
1705: Because a Comanche raid covered hundreds of miles and lasted for months, wives often accompanied war parties, where they served as snipers, cooks, and torturers. Unmarried Comanche women were also known to have ridden into combat, although this was considered somewhat scandalous.
1711-1721: Ingela Gathenhielm operated the Swedish privateering fleet jointly with her husband during the Great Northern War who in 1710 had received permission from the king to attack and plunder ships from enemy nations on the Baltic Sea (and also, as it was said, often attacked other ships as well). When widowed in 1718 she continued piracy herself.
Circa 1715-1782: Anne Bonny (1702c.1782) was a pirate who plied her trade in the Caribbean. When Bonny was 13, she supposedly stabbed a servant girl in the stomach with a table knife. Bonny did not disguise herself as a man in order to join Rackham's crew aboard the Revenge as is often claimed. In fact, she and Mary Read helped Rackham steal the sloop at anchor in Nassau harbor and set off to sea, putting together a crew and taking several prizes. She took part in combat alongside the men, and the accounts describing her exploits present her as competent, effective in combat, and someone who gained the respect of her fellow pirates. She and Rackham saw several successes as pirates, capturing many ships and bringing in an abundance of treasure. Although Bonny is one of the best-known pirates in history, she never commanded a ship of her own. Her renown derives from the fact that she was a rarity: a female pirate.
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1719: Brita Olsdotter, Swedish hero who saved her native city from Russians during the Great Northern War. In 1719, on the way to Linköping, the Russian army met an old woman and apparently stopped to ask her something. She improvised a story and told them that a courier had arrived in Linköping with the message that the British fleet had come to Sweden's rescue, and that a Swedish army of 20,000 soldiers was on its way. This made the Russian army turn back and refrain from attacking the city. As a result, the city of Linköping, which was in fact without any protection at all, was saved from being burned.
1720-1739: Nanny of the Maroons, also known as Queen Nanny and Granny Nanny, a National Hero of Jamaica, was a well-known leader of the Jamaican Maroons She led rebel slaves in First Maroon War against the British.
1721: Comtesse de Polignac and Marchioness de Nesle fought a duel over their mutual lover, Duc de Richelieu. Madame de Nesles opening shot hit a tree branch above her, which came loose and fell on her opponent. Madame de Polignac had better aim: The ball from her gun stuck in Madame de Nesles corset, drawing a bit of blood from the womans left breast. Though both were injured, the wounds were slight and the women parted, neither worse for the wear.
1728: Swiss Cesar de Saussure visiting England described two women fighting with swords in a public arena watched by a crowd of nobleman and gentlemen who wagered large sums of money on the outcome of the combat. The spectators encouraged the fighters throwing money to the arena after each dangerous lunge or cut. The women fought in full strength and skillfully with three kinds of weapon; the two-hand sword, the sword and dagger, and the sword and shield. "The first wound was a serious cut to the forehead of one of the combatants who, after being stitched up and taking a drink of spirits to strengthen her resolve, rejoined the fray, only to be wounded again. This wound too required stitches. Bravely, she picked up her sword again only to receive a terrible wound across her neck and throat. So bad was this wound that she was unable, not surprisingly, to continue fighting. Both women were covered with sweat and the loser with blood as well".
1747-1754: Glory of the Morning, was a female chief of the Ho-Chunk or Hocak (Winnebago) nation. As the French struggled with the Fox over the fur trade, Glory of the Morning firmly allied herself with her French husband and his people, precipitating seven years of war with their neighbors. In the end, she was instrumental in bringing peace. Later she allowed renewed warfare against the Illini, her braves falling upon the Michigamea and the Cahokia. When war between France and England broke out in 1754, the Hocak warriors attacked the English settlements far to the east. However, when the British overcame the French, Glory of the Morning established friendly relations with them and refused to tread the war path of Pontiac.
1740: Anne Mills, was a British female dragoon and sailor. In 1740, she was serving as a common sailor on-board the Maidstone frigate; and, in an action between that ship and a French enemy, she so greatly distinguished herself, by personal prowess, as to be particularly noticed by the whole crew. It is, by the circumstances of her portrait being taken with a Frenchman's head in her hand, after the conquest cut off the head of her defeated opponent, as a trophy of victory.
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1745: Mary Hay, Countess of Erroll. She raised an army of Buchan men for Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Making Slains Castle the chief centre for landing Jacobite secret agents, she had an implied understanding with the naval officer patrolling the coast of Buchan to let her know when his ship was passing off Slains. Once landed at Slains, they were hurried inland to another of her strongholds, Delgatie Castle, with its hidey-holes and secret passage.
1745: Lady Anne Farquharson-MacKintosh (1723-1787) was a military commander during the 1745 Jacobite Uprising. She was a Jacobite of the Clan Farquharson and the wife of Angus, Chief of the Clan MacKintosh. 22 year-old Anne dressed in male attire, rode around the glens and, in a very short time, enlisted 97 of the 100 men required for the captaincy. When Prince Charles Edward Stuart landed in Scotland in 1745, Anne forcefully raised between 200 and 400 men for the Prince. A month later the Prince was staying at Moy Hall, Lady Anne's home. She received a message from her mother-in-law that 1,500 of Lord Loudon's men, including her husband's company stationed 8-12 miles away at Inverness, were planning a night raid on Moy Hall to snatch the Prince (and claim the £30,000 bounty). Anne sent five of her staff out with guns to crash about and shout clan battle cries to trick the Government forces into thinking they were about to face the entire Jacobite army. The ploy worked and the Government force fled. The event became known as The Rout of Moy. After the Battle of Culloden, Lady Anne was arrested and turned over to the care of her mother-in-law for a time. The Prince called her "Colonel Anne" and "La Belle Rebelle" (the beautiful rebel).
1745: Phoebe Hessel (1713-1821) known for disguising herself as a man to serve in the British Army with her lover, Samuel Golding. She served as a soldier in the West Indies and Gibraltar. She fought and was wounded in the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745. She was sometimes referred to as the 'Stepney Amazon'; Amazon Street and Hessel Street (both named in her honour) still exist in Stepney (now part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets).
1746-1751: Maria van Antwerpen (17191781) was a Dutch soldier and cross dresser. She is perhaps the most famous and well-documented example of a female cross dresser enlisting in the army as a man. She also married twice to women. She enlisted in the military as Jan van Ant in 1746 and married the sergeant daughter Johanna Cramers in 1748. Recognized by a former employer in 1751, she was put on trial for making a mockery of marriage and by entering an illegal marriage, and sentenced to exile from all garrison cities.
1746-1750: Hannah Snell (17231792), was a British woman who disguised herself as a man and became a a Royal Marine, In August 1748, her unit was sent to an expedition to capture the French colony of Pondicherry in India. Later, she fought in the battle in Devicotta in June 1749. She was wounded eleven times to the legs and once to the groin. She either managed to treat her groin wound without revealing her sex or she may have used the services of a sympathetic Indian nurse. She has her military service officially recognized and is granted a pension.
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1755: Nanye-hi ("One who goes about"), known in English as Nancy Ward (17381822/1824) was a ghigau, or beloved woman of the Cherokee nation, Nancy Ward fought side-by-side with her husband at the Battle of Taliwa. When her husband was killed, she picked up his rifle and led the Cherokee to victory. She believed in peaceful coexistence with white people.
1755-c.1802: English gentlemen had learned the fencing arts abroad until 1755, when Italian fencer Dominico Angelo Malevolti Tremamondo (1716-1802), known as Angelo, came to London in the company of the celebrated beauty, actress Peg Woffington, and stayed to establish a dynasty of fencing masters. Angelo opened Angelo's School of Arms in Soho; he and his descendants trained generations of wealthy English youth in fencing and horsemanship. There were aristocratic women among his students and performers including skillful female fencers like Duchess of Queensbury, Mademoiselle dEon and Madame Collie of Rome. In 1763 Angelo published L'Ecole d'Armes illustrated with forty-seven copper-plates by famous English artists. The drawings depicted fencing matches and duels including a few in which women participated. The picture at right depicts Madame Collie having come from Rome to participate in the fencing matches in 1816.
1756-1787: Charles Genevieve Louis Auguste André Timothée dÉon de Beaumont (1728-1810) was born a female but lived the first half of her life as a man. DEons autobiography states that she was raised as a boy because her father could only inherit money from his in-laws if he had a son. As was usual for the day, because her family were nobles without a title, they styled themselves as Chevalier - meaning Knight. In 1756, dEon joined the spy service of King Louis XV and traveled on a secret mission to Russia to meet the Empress Elizabeth. In 1761, dÉon returned to France. The next year she became a captain of dragoons under the Marshal de Broglie and fought in the later stages of the Seven Years War. She was wounded and received the Order of Saint-Louis. She was eventually granted a pension and lived in political exile in London. She lived out the rest of her life as a woman.
1759-1771: Mary Lacy (1740-1795), was a British woman who disguised herself as a man and became a Royal Marine. At the age of 19, called herself William Chandler, she became apprentice to a shipwright and went to sea aboard the Sandwich. When she first came to the ship, she refused to dress off and had to fight with a boy. The fight then developed into a wrestling match and Mary managed to win the match (it took her a lot of trouble and luck) having had prestige with the ships boys. When she was finally disclosed, it was through betrayal by a false female friend, the men who were informed about the lady in disguise did nothing. There were no consequences.
1764: María Josefa Gabriela Cariño Silang (17311763), was the first Philippine woman to lead a revolt during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. An active member of the insurgent force of Diego Silang, her husband, she led the group for four months after his death before she was captured and executed.
1770: Princess Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova (17431810) was the closest female friend of Empress Catherine the Great and a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment. In 1770, she visited London and met with one of the most educated woman of her time, countess Foxton in the house of Russian ambassador Pushkin. The two educated ladies talked in presence of the ambassadors wife, countess Pushkina. After a half and hour of conversation between the ladies, a heated argument was in progress. The debaters were equally skilled in dispute and the situation soon went out of control. After an offensive remark by Foxton, Dashkova got up slowly in silence, with a gesture inviting the opponent to rise. Then Dashkova slapped her in the face; the English lady did the same without hesitation. Countess Pushkina only came to her senses when the competitors demanded swords. After unsuccessful attempts of calm the women down, she gave them the weapon. The duelists fought in the garden; Dashkova was wounded in her shoulder, the duels finished.
1770s: Nancy Morgan Hart (1735 1830) was a heroine of the American Revolutionary War whose exploits against Loyalists in the Georgia backcountry are the stuff of legend. A group of "Tory" soldiers (5 or 6) came by her house and demanded that she cook them one of the turkeys in her yard before they left. As they entered the cabin, they placed their guns by the door and sat down at her table to eat. As they were drinking and eating, she was pushing their guns through a hole in the wall of her log cabin. After they had been drinking a sufficient time, she grabbed one of the remaining guns and threatened the men not to move. One ignored her and she killed him. Another made a move toward the weapons and was also killed by Hart. The remaining Tories were held captive until her husband, Benjamin Hart, and neighbors arrived. According to legend, her husband wanted to shoot the soldiers, but she demanded they hang. They were hanged on a nearby tree.
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1773: Afro-European fencer Julius Soubise (originally named Mungo) was the black servant and page of the eccentric Duchess of Queensbury. The Duchess sent him to Angelo's fencing academy in London where he was trained and developed considerable skill in swordsmanship and eventually became a fencing instructor in the employ of Mr. Angelo. Soubise taught aristocratic women to fence. In 1773, a famous engraving showed depicted Soubise having a fencing match with the Duchess of Queensbury at Angelo's Fencing School.
1774: Female Cossacks alone (the most of the men were out in a military campaign) repulsed the assault of 8-thousand army of Crimean Khan on their settlement Naur. Naur defense was the first case when Cossack women accomplished a military mission. Since that time Cossack women were always familiar with weapon and fighting. It was a stern necessity in the frontier areas.
Circa 1775: Fanny Campbell, woman from Lynn, Massachusetts was among the first captains to take private craft into service against the British during the American Revolution. Fanny Campbell signed on aboard the Constance with the idea of freeing her sweetheart, William Lovell who was jailed in Cuba mistakenly charged with piracy. Her ship was attacked by a British bark, the George. The engagement had an unexpected conclusion: the George became a prize of the Constance, and they sailed on to Cuba together. The rescue attempt was a success; not only William Lovell but ten other jailed Americans were freed. Fanny Campbell had a happy reunion with her sweetheart, but no one else was told that the officer everyone called "Captain Channing" was not quite the man they thought he was. Back at sea, the Constance and the George soon took another prize, a British merchant ship that had interesting news: formal war had begun between England and America. Therefore Campbell's ships had an opportunity to escape the stigma of piracy by becoming legitimate privateers in the American cause.
1777: Sybil Ludington (1761-1839) was a young woman known for a night ride to alert American colonial forces during the American Revolution. During her famous raid, she used a stick to prod her horse and knock on doors. She managed to defend herself against a highway man with her father's musket. She is also known as the "female Paul Revere".
1778: Bibi Rajindar Kaur (1739-1791) or Rajindan, was a Patiala Sikh princess known for her valorous qualities. In 1778, her first cousin Raja Amar Singh of Patiala was defeated by Hari Singh of Sialba. She led 3,000 soldiers to rescue him. She also defended the city of Patiala against Maratha attacks.
1778: Molly Pitcher (1754-1832), a legendary woman having fought in the American Revolutionary War. The deeds in the story of Molly Pitcher are generally attributed to Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, wife of William Hays. She got the name Molly Pitcher when the soldiers said, "Molly, Pitcher" (Molly, give a pitcher with water). During the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, Mrs. Hays took her husband's place at his cannon when he fell wounded. After the battle, General George Washington issued her a warrant as a non-commissioned officer, and she was thereafter known by the nickname "Sergeant Molly".
1778-1803: Indigenous women in Ecuador actively participated and led rebellions against the Spanish. In 1778, Baltazara Chuiza led a rebellion in Ecuador against the Spanish. In 1803 Lorenza Abimañay with Jacinta Juárez and Lorenza Peña, leaded a indigenous rebellion of 10.000 indigenous (in Guamote and Columbe, in Ecuador) against pay of taxes. The rebellion was suppressed and Lorenza Abimañay was murder along with other indigenous leaders. Besides, there were many brave female warriors such as Rosa Señapanta, Margarita Ochoa and Margarita Pantoja.
1780: The Andean women in Peru and Bolivia played the main role in the rebellion of the Inca Tupac Amaru and Tupac Katari. The Andean women fought to rebuild the Quechua-Aymara nation and recover their ancestral rights that were wrenched by the conquerors. Gregoria Apaza, Bartolina Sisa, Kurusa Llave, Tomás Katari´s widow, Micaela Bastidas (partner of Tupac Amaru) are the Andean heroines. Dressed like a man, Gregoria Apaza leaded the female troops in several battles to support the Amaru´s army. She was partner of Andres Tupak Amaru, who was son of the Inca Tupak Amaru. Kurusa Llave leaded the Quiswas´s army of Chayanta and was defeated by the troops leaded by Ignacio Flores that came to Spanish's aid. Bartolina Sisa, called Virreina, fought with Tupac Katari in the historical siege of Chuquiago (La Paz), where the indigenous made a "human wall". (See "The life of Bartolina Sisa). Micaela Bastidas that had Quechua and African origin, fought in the amarista and katarista rebellion. After the victory of Sangarará, when Tupac Amaru hesitated to advance over Cuzco, Micaela incited him to march quickly over the ancient capital of the Inca people.
1780: Ñusta Huillac was a Kolla leader who rebelled against the Spanish in Chile in 1780. She was nicknamed La Tirana (Spanish for "The Tyrant") because of her mistreatment of prisoners. She fell in love with Vasco de Almeida, one of her prisoners, and pleaded with her people for him. After her father's death, she became the leader of a group of Inca who were brought to Chile to mine silver in Huantajaya.
1780: Manuela Beltrán (born 1850) was a Colombian woman who organized a peasant revolt against excess taxation in 1780. She led the "Strike action" which extended to over sixty cities and towns in the Andean Region of Colombia and Los Llanos. The revolt eventually ended with a fake negotiation offered by the Viceroy, followed by the capture and execution of most of the revolt leaders including José Antonio Galán. Whether or not Manuela Beltran was also executed remains unclear.
1781-1782: Bartolina Sisa (1750/1753-1782) was an Aymara woman and the wife of Tupac Katari. Together with her husband, she led an indigenous uprising against the Spanish in Bolivia at the head of an army of some 40,000 which laid siege to the city of La Paz in 1781. Katari and Sisa set up court in El Alto and their army maintained the siege for 184 days, from March to June and from August to October. Sisa was a commander of the siege, and played the crucial rule following Katari's capture in April. The siege was broken by colonial troops who advanced from Lima and Buenos Aires.[2] Sisa was captured and executed by the Spanish on September 5, 1782
1782: Deborah Sampson (1760-1827) was the first known American woman to impersonate a man in order to join the Army. She gave her name as Robert Shirtliffe, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts and successfully convinced the Uxbridge Sergeant that she was a man in order to join the Continental Army near the end of the American Revolution. She fought against the Tories and British in New York. Being once involved in wrestling and flung to the ground, she then did her best to avoid rough soldiers games. After the war, Sampson married, and in 1838 her husband became the first man to receive a pension from the United States government for his wifes military service.
1785: Toypurina (1761-1799) was a Tongva Native American woman who led an unsuccessful rebellion against Spanish missionaries in California. Toypurina rose to be a powerful spiritual leader, respected for her bravery and wisdom. She was considered a great communicator, speaking with and trading with the dozens of villages in the many languages and dialects used from Catalina through San Bernardino.
1785: Thao Thep Kasattri and Thao Sri Sunthon or Chan and Mook were two sisters who lived in Phuket, Siam in the late eighteenth century. According to the popular belief, they repelled a five-week invasion of Phuket by Burma in 1785 by dressing up as male soldiers and rallying the Siamese troops. Chan and Mook were later honored by King Rama I with the names Thao Thep Kasattri and Thao Sri Sunthon respectively..
Circa 1799-1807: Rani Sada Kaur (1762-1832) was the mother-in-law of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and was the daughter of Dasaundha Singh Gill. After her husband's death, she counseled Ranjit Singh. In 1799, the army led by Ranjit Singh and Sada Kaur defeated Bhangi chiefs misruled the citizens of Lahore. Lahore fell to the joint command of Sada and Rajit. In the following campaigns of Amritsar, Chiniot, Kasur and Kangra as well as in his expeditions against the turbulent Pathans of Hazara and Attock, Sada Kaur led the armies side by side with Ranjit Singh. Riding a horse and holding a sword, Sada personally led her army in the battle.
1787: A fencing match between Mademoiselle dEon and Monsieur de Saint George took place in the elegant rooms of Carlton House, London, before the Prince of Wales. It was the Prince who arranged this fencing demonstration and it hardly mattered who won (and records vary as to the facts) since it was to spectacle of the two individuals that brought the audience to the match that day. Artist Victor Marie Picot depicted the event named his artwork "The Assaut, or Fencing Match". Mademoiselle dEon trained fencing in the famous Angelo's School of Arms in London.
1788-1790: Anna Maria Jansdotter Engsten (1762-after 1790) was a Sweden war hero. During the Battle of Svensksund, she was evacuated with five sailors in a boat; they were shot at by the Russian fleet, which killed a sheep and caused a leak. The sailors abandoned the boat, but she stayed behind, determined to steer the boat to safety. She did so singlehandedly, although the boat required at least two people to steer, a mission she succeeded with. When the King was told about this, he awarded her a medal in silver for Bravery in Battle at Sea as well as a sum of 50 riksdaler. This was paid out in 15 March 1791.
1788-1790: Brita Christina Hagberg (Brita Nilsdotter), alias Petter Hagberg, (1756-1825), In 1785 she married Anders Peter Hagberg who was a soldier of the guard. Shortly after the marriage he was called away to participate in the Russo-Swedish war (1788 1790). At a loss without her husband, Brita dressed herself as a man and enlisted in the army to find him. She participated in the Battle of Svensksund (pictured above) and the Battle of Vyborg Bay as a marine. During her time there her commanding officer called out the name Hagberg and both she and her husband stepped forward she found him at last. The two kept her sex a secret. Later, at the battle of Björkö Sund, Brita was wounded and ordered below deck to have her wounds taken care of. She went unwillingly and her sex was revealed. After the war she was given a pension (unheard of at the time) and was granted a license to trade (also unheard of for a married woman). She was awarded a medal of bravery and given a military funeral it was before women were officially allowed into the military in the 20th century.
1789: Anne-Josephe Theroigne de Mericourt (born Anne-Josèphe Terwagne; 17621817), a French woman who was a striking figure in the French Revolution. She led the storming of the Bastille in Paris at the beginning of the French Revolution. She also leads female troops in 1792-1793. She appeared in public dressed in a riding habit, a plume in her hat, a pistol in her belt and a sword dangling at her side, and excited the mob by violent harangues. Associated with the Girondists and the enemies of Robespierre, she became in fact the Fury of the Gironde. She commanded in person the 3rd corps of the so-called army of the faubourgs on the 20 June 1792, and again won the gratitude of the people. She shares a heavy responsibility for her connection with the riots of 10 August. On 10 August, just after she had watched approvingly the massacre of certain of the national guard in the Place Vendôme, Suleau was pointed out to her. She sprang at him, dragged him among the infuriated mob, and he was stabbed to death in an instant. She took no part in the massacres of September. At the end of May 1793, the Jacobin women seized her, stripped her naked, and flogged her in the public garden of the Tuileries. The following year she became insane, a fate not surprising when one considers her career.
1790: Dorothea Maria Lösch (1730-1799), Swedish master mariner. She was the first woman in Sweden to be given the rank of a sea captain. Dorothea Maria Lösch took over and commanded the ship Armida to safety after its officers had been killed or abandoned it during the Battle of Svensksund 9 July 1790. For this act, she was awarded with the rank of a master mariner of the Swedish fleet, something unique for a woman of this period.
1792-1796: Mary Anne Talbot (17781808), was an Englishwoman who wore male dress and became a sailor during the Napoleonic wars. In 1792 she served as a drummer-boy in the battle for Valenciennes, where her lover, captain Bowen, was killed. She was also wounded and treated the wound herself. She decided to go on working as a male sailor. She deserted and became a cabin boy for a French ship. Talbot was wounded the second time in June 1794 during a battle against French fleet when grapeshot almost severed her leg. She never recovered the full use of it but later rejoined the crew. Later the French captured her and she spent the following 18 months in Dunkirk dungeon. Talbot managed to return to London in 1796. Next year she was seized by press-gang and was forced to reveal her gender. Next she went to the Navy to get the money due to her because of her service and wounds and finally found a sympathetic magistrate. At the same time her leg wound got worse and she continued to wear male clothing.
1792: The first recorded duel between English women. Lady Almeria Braddock and Mrs. Elphinstone; so called "petticoat duel"; Lady Almeria Braddock felt insulted by Mrs. Elphinstone and challenged her to a duel in London's Hyde Park after their genteel conversation turned to the subject of Lady Almeria's true age. The ladies first exchanged pistol shots in which Lady Almeria's hat was damaged. They then continued with swords until Mrs. Elphinstone received a wound to her arm and agreed to write Lady Almeria an apology. Lady Braddock declared her honor satisfied, and the two curtsied to each other and left the field. Witnesses agreed that the ladies conducted themselves with great courage and dignity.
1793: Renée Bordereau (1770-1824), nicknamed The Angevin, was a French woman who disguised herself as a man and fought as a Royalist cavalier in the troops of Charles Melchior Artus de Bonchamps during the Vendéan insurrection against the French Revolution (in 1793).
1793-1801: Bibi Sahib Kaur (1771-1801), was a Sikh princess and elder sister of Raja Sahib Singh of Patiala. She was a military leader and warrior Her brother recalled her after her marriage and appointed her prime minister in 1793. Along with her brother, she battled against Maratha force of Fateh Singh, a rival chief. The joint force, numbering about 7,000 men, met the enemy at Mardanpur near Ambala where a fierce engagement took place. The Sikhs were severely outnumbered and would have retreated had not Sahib Kaur, alighting from her rath, i.e. chariot, made a brave call with a drawn sword in hand for them to stay firm in their ranks. In 1796, in response to the request of the Raja of Nahan who had sought help from Raja Sahib Singh of Patiala to quell a revolt in his state, Sahib Kaur proceeded to the hills with a strong force and soon reduced the insurgents to submission. In the summer of 1799, George Thomas, an English adventurer, who had become very powerful and who ruled the country in the neighborhood of Hansi and Hissar, turned his attention to the Sikh territories on his northern frontier and marched upon Jind. Sahib Kaur led out a strong contingent to relieve the besieged town and, assisted by the troops of other Sikh chiefs, she forced George Thomas to withdraw.
1793-1836: Begum Sombre (c.1753- 1836), popularly known as Begum Samru, (also known as Zebunissa, Farzana and Joanna after baptism), was a political and military leader in India. The ruler of Sardhana, a principality near Meerut, India. Later on, she played a key role in the politics and power struggle in 18th and 19th century India. She was the head of a professionally trained mercenary army, inherited from her European mercenary husband, Walter Reinhardt. This mercenary army consisted of Europeans and Indians. She is also regarded as the only Catholic Ruler in India, as she ruled the Principality of Sardhana in 18th and 19th century India.
End of 18th Century: Cuhtahlatah was a Cherokee woman who lived during the period of the American Revolutionary War. When her husband was killed in battle, she grabbed his tomahawk and attacked the enemy, screaming "Kill! Kill!" Her people had been in retreat, but her actions inspired them to rally and they gained victory in the battle.
18th century: Kaipkire was a female warrior of the Herero people (lived in Namibia, Botswana and Angola) in the 18th century. She led resistance forces against British slave traders. Herero warrior women also fought German soldiers in the Herero Wars.
18th Century: Madam de Chateau-Gay of Murat, French woman, a skilled sword fighter, having several duels with men. Her last duel was against a captain who had a quarrel with her lover. Since the captain was familiar with her reputation as a skilled fighter, he took the precaution of bringing two experienced swordsmen with him. This dishonorable and despicable action caused Madam de Chateau-Gay's lover to urge her to forget the duel. She refused. The fight was on. Despite a spirited contest, she was killed by the cowardly trio.
18th Century: Onake Obavva was a woman who fought the forces of Hyder Ali single-handedly in the small kingdom of Chitradurga in Karnataka, India. Her husband was a guard of a watchtower in the rocky fort of Chitradurga. Hyder Ali sent his soldiers through a crack in the wall. Obavva noticed the soldiers emerging out of this crack but was not perturbed. She used the Onake (a wooden long club meant for pounding paddy grains) to kill and quietly moved the dead, so that hundreds of them entered and fell, without raising the suspicions of the rest of the troops. She is considered to be the epitome of Kannada women pride, with the same standing as Kittur Chennamma and Keladi Chennamma.
18th Century: Ghaliyya al-Wahhabiyya was a commander who led a Saudi Arabian military resistance movement to prevent foreign takeover of Mecca. She was given the title Amira, which is the female version of the title Emir, in recognition of her acts.
1800s: Dona Maria de Jesus, Brazilian much-decorated infantry fighter. The Emperor at Rio de Janiero granted her an ensigns commission and the Order of the Cross, which he himself fixed on her jacket.
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