With Musket & Tomahawk by Logusz Michael O.;

Author:Logusz, Michael O.; [Неизв.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carrel Books
Published: 2015-12-20T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Women Fighters in the Wilderness War of 1777

One of the principal reasons the Northern Army survived and succeeded in 1777 is because of the immense support females rendered to that army. Exactly how many women served or supported the Northern Army in some capacity in 1777 is not known. However, if one included all of the female agents, spies, couriers, messenger runners, repairers, doctors, nurses, cooks, bakers, guides, wagon drivers, and propagandists, then surely the figure would be in the thousands.1

Well before 1775, women began to voice disillusionment and frustration with England. Such was the case regarding the Appalachian Act of 1763 which banned those residing in the British Colony of New York from ever settling beyond the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains.2 Furthermore, those who desired to trade with the Iroquois could now only do so with permission granted by England’s administrators. If granted, the traders also had to buy a special license and permit.3 As acknowledged by Schwarz and Goldberg, this proclamation made the colonists very unhappy, especially the fur trappers and traders. Among the many unhappy colonists were the dissatisfied women settlers and traders.4

Another factor which turned many women, including loyalist women, into Pro-American patriots, was New York City’s crime, but especially the ugly crime of rape. By the spring of 1777 hundreds—if not thousands—of women had been raped and/or victimized in some way since the British had captured the city.5 Indeed, the problem was so rampant that it was dangerous “to walk the streets at night or be in a crowd in the day.”6 Even various British officials and officers acknowledged that rape was rampant.7 Although no formal or accurate records exist on how much crime existed in New York City during the British occupational period of 1776–1783, it is known that under their occupation crime was out of control not only throughout the city but, as well, on Staten Island and its nearby environs. Theft, common street crime, extortion, drug dealing and usage (especially among certain British officials and officers), and the running of an illegal and sizable slave trade into the Bahamas (also organized and directed by various British officials and officers), was the norm. And it remained so until “one day, in 1783, General George Washington and Governor George Clinton marched into New York City with elements of the Continental Army and restored law and order.”8 Regarding the crime of rape, “clearly, many hundreds of women were raped under British rule. Young women and girls were even terrified of stepping outside.”9 This was largely attributable to the inefficient, inept, and brutal rule of the Colonial Governor of New York, Lord Tryon who, since 1775, had been residing in New York City and to Lord Cunningham, the city’s British Provost Marshal. Needless to say such awful crimes, along with the inability by the British occupiers to deal effecttively with the city’s crime, drove many women—and even men—into the ranks of the patriots.10

Early authors, such as Jeptha R. Simms, also acknowledged that Governor Tryon was a brutal ruler, especially in the year 1777 when critical events were under way.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.