The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1876-08-31
A REMARKABLE WOMAN.
The Daughter of an old Soldier Dis
guises Herself and Joins the Army.

SulSGS h6TSGl1 Iuu tO1uS tu6 Army
The Paris correspondent of the Lon
don Standard writes as follows: Gone
of the few surviving veterans of the first
Empire has just passed away in the per
son of M. lie Commandment Duchemin, at
the ripe age of 85. Constantly on ac-
tive service throughout the campaigns OF
Napoleon, and frequently wounded, he
fought his way up from the ranks, and
on the occupation of Paris by the Allies,
rendered himself famous as duelist,
and boosted of having killed or woun-
ded score of the 'sodious foreigners"
on the field of honor. For the last twen-
ty years he frequnted the same cafe at
the same hour daily to play his game of
cards and take his absinthe. He lived
almost entirely in the past, and gave
vent to his feelings in maledictions
against Wellington, Blucher, Grouchy
and the rest, 'q,ti araie,at .tait naOetsiq.
SON Emperor. His principal delight
however, was in recounting the history
of his mother, Marie, whose career was
indeed a remarkable one. The daughter
of an old soldier, and vivandiere, she
was from her earliest years the pet of
the regiment, and at the age of Is mar
ried the fencing master of the regiment,
OF the Cards Franchises, who, after
taking part in the destruction of the
Dastile, was killed in attempting to save
the life of a soldier of the Swiss Guard,
leaving his young widow with an infant
son. When the great revolution broke
oat, Marie felt the hereditary instinct
too strong to be resisted, and without
hesitation sacrificed the locks so dear to
her sex, and, disguised i'll male attire,
was one of the first to enroll herself as a
volunteer under the name of Joseph
Duchemin, which was also that of her
grandfather. Of iron constitution and
the build of grenadier, measuring
nearly 36 inches across the shoulders,
she had little difficulty In ccncealing her
sex, although she was wounded at the
siege of Toulon. Two months after
ward, when fighting in the war of La
Vendee, she was engaged in the battle
of Chollet. Here she received two Sc
we're wounds, but in spite of the loss OF
blood her courage sustained her until
the close of the day, when she fired the
very last shot and then fell exhausted.
Then only on dressing her wounds was
it discovered by the surgeons that Cor
poral Duchemin (for she had gained her
stripes) was a woman. She became at
once the hero, or rather the heroine of
the day, and personally complimented
by the General, who asked permission
from the War Minister to keep her name
on the muster-ron of the regiment, and
Marie remained inscribed as corporal in
the Forty-second Foot. She afterward
fought at Lodi, Arcola and Rivoli, where
she captured a flag at the Pyramids,
Mont Thabor, Apoukir, and other en-
gagements. She was then taken prison
er by the English, and sent to the hulks
VI Ouu ~ SSCdpS,
with three of her comrades, by killing
the sentinel on duty, and got safely
back to Paris Five days afterward she
1ejoined her regiment, and made her
first campaign, for she lost her right leg
by canon ball at Marengo. She was
then admitted as a pensioner into the
1nvalides, and it was proud day for
herself and son when they went togeth-
er in 1867 to the Palace of the Legion of
Honor 20 receive each the st. Helena
medal. Gen. Serrurier, governor of the
inyalides, applied for the Cross of the
Legion of Honor for her, but before the
authorities had decided On such an aw-
full departure from precedent as to con-
fer this distinction on woman, she died
in 1862. In relating this extraordinary
career the old commandment used to
say: ''She was only woman, but
with forcibIe but untranslatable
French expletive) 'swhat a soldier ~