Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1899-08-23
WOMEN IN BATTLE oARe
Some Amazons Of Olden Time and OF
Our Own Civil War.

The idea of women engaging in fierce
combat is no captivating one. and will
not appeal TO the chiyalrous man who
rightly thinks that woman's share in
warfare should be limited To tenderly
nursing back TO life and hope the shat
tered heroes wounded in battle. The
idea of charging troop OF amazons,
with the light of battle in their eyes.
and the fierce excitement of war trans
forming faces that are otherwise pref
~ and dainty, is not SO improbable 4
one as to constitute il a purely imagin-
airy subject. The pages of history
need 10 be turned only with an indo-
lent hand TO discover long array OF
instances in which women have not
only made war. but 5ave acquitted
themselves in a fight like heroes.
The great Cuchullin's principal in
structor in the use of weapons was the
Lady Scathachan, who had a kind of
military academy in Scotland. whittier
the nobleSt sous of Erin were sent to
accomplish their military education"
One of Scathacan's antagonists was
the warrior Queen Aife, who was in
the long run overcome by Cuchullin.
Another celebrated lady battle smith"
was Ness. the mother of Concho6ar. IL
is To be feared, however. that most of
these strong armed hero.nes were rath-
er an index OF the hideous batbarism
OF their time than the ideal of a free
and splendid womanhood. 1t was the
CHASTITY spectacle of two women hack
ing each other To death. with iron sick
les which prompted Ronalt. the moth
er of Adannan. 10 persuade her son
TO free the women of Ireland from
foray and fight forever. "One of the
four laws of Erin is that of Albanian
not to kill women"
of English warrior ladies Boadicea
stands first. aud indeed alone, for
Cortismandua. the queen of the Brig
antes. is only remembered as the be-
trayer of the hearted ruler of
South Wales, Caractacus. But we do
not require to go back into the mist
of dawn to discover instances of wom-
ems heroism i'm battle. There were
numbers of women who served during
our Civil War in both Federal and
Confederate ranks, some lighting side
10y side with their husbands and sweet
hearts. disguised AS men. and taking
all the risks of death so that they
might be with those they loyed: others
fighting for the eXcitement of the life,
and playing their part with so much
holiness as to guard their secret until
accident revealed IT,
There was convent bred girl who
took the name of Frank Martin and
served in the war as a dashing caval-
ryman of the Second East Tennessee
regiment. A wound received at Muir
freesboro led TO the discovery of her
sex. The surgeon who attended to her
wounds was startled to find that the
soldier was woman, and he speedily
reported the matter to Gen. Rosecrans.
who saw that Frank Martin" was
sent back home as soon as her wounds
would permit. There seemed to be
no reason for her enlistment. other
than love OF the life of a soldier.
4 case that aroused great interest at
the time and was the subject of news
paper comment all over the country.
was that of Missouri woman who en-
tered Il cavalry regiment and fought
SO tiercely through many sanguinary
battles that she received special men
ton from the commanding officer. She
was severely wounded and died in hos
pital. her sex having been discovered
only when she was in the hands of the
hospital surgeons To have her wounds
dressed.
In all these cases, and many more
that could be cited, women have
shown that they can face death on the
battlefield with the calm courage of
veteran fighters. In the rough camp life
they have stood hardship as bravely as
the men, and never by sign have
they revealed that their rough uni
forms concealed the frall forms of
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