Book Review: Women Patriots in the American Revolution

 
Jack Darrell Crowder wrote Women Patriots in the American Revolution (Genealogical.com, 2018) to honor "the colonial women who were the secret weapons that the Americans had in the effort. They were the weapons the British could not control or defeat." As a former teacher, Crowder has devoted many years to studying the American Revolution and this is only one of several books he's written to examine various aspects of that pivotal period. 

This highly readable book shines a light on both well-known and little-known stories of women who exhibited courage and compassion during the fight for freedom. For a full alphabetical listing of the women featured in the book, including which the state where each woman lived, see Genealogical's post here.

The first half of Crowder's book is devoted to "Women Patriots," such as Margaret Cochran Corbin (1751-1800). Born in Pennsylvania, she married John Corbin a few years before the revolution. Her husband decided to join the fight against the British, and she became a camp follower--until he was killed in battle while firing a cannon at Fort Washington. Margaret, who had been at his side, took over his position and fired away, despite being shot and wounded. She was taken prisoner,  paroled, and hospitalized. Margaret later became part of a regiment that tended wounded soldiers at West Point. There she met and married a man who was recuperating and after he died, she successfully applied for a pension--highly unusual for a woman at that time and place. Years later, Margaret was memorialized with a monument at West Point.

The second half of the book is devoted to "Heroic Women of the Battle of Lexington and Concord," such as Elizabeth Page Stark (1737-1814). Known as Molly, she was well versed in the use of a gun when she married Major General John Stark. As the Battle of Concord and Lexington got underway, John took off so quickly that he left some gear behind. Molly realized what he needed, saddled up, and caught up with him many miles away to hand over the equipment. When John was about to go into the battle at Copp's Hill, Molly went on horseback into the surrounding area to rouse more Patriots for the fight.

While Molly and Margaret have been remembered by history, many of the women in Crowder's book are far less well known. I appreciate that each entry goes beyond names and dates, providing narratives and sometimes quotes from correspondence and historical publications to illuminate the stories of these women. In addition to a detailed bibliography and listing of sources, the index covers the women and the men in their lives. 

Some entries are fairly skeletal. Mrs. Whitall (no given name) was seated at her spinning wheel inside a fort during battle. Rather than fleeing in fear when a British cannon ball landed nearby, she simply moved to the basement and kept up her spinning. Compared with the activities of most other patriots in the book, Mrs. no-first-name Whitall and her spinning wheel don't really leap off the page.

Other entries have a great deal of color and depth. Emily Geiger was just 16 when she volunteered to carry a message from General Greene to General Sumter in 1781. A Tory woman and her daughter were asked to search Emily when she was detained by British scouts, but found nothing incriminating. The daughter recollected years later that the prisoner seemed to be "a sweet young girl about my own age, looking as innocent as a pigeon." In reality, the teenager had memorized the message and swallowed the paper. She was let go and went on to deliver the message verbally.

I'm sure the author is correct when he writes: "For every act of courage reported in this book there are hundreds of courageous acts that will never be known." This book is a worthwhile read for the many fascinating stories of women in Colonial America who played a role in the fight for freedom.

In this year of America 250, I appreciate books such as this for different perspectives on the revolutionary war period in US history.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Genealogical.com in exchange for an honest review. The opinions in this review are entirely my own and not outside affected by any outside influences.