New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-13
WOMEN IN THE
FIGHTING LINE
80. War. as Well as Preceding
Ones. Has Had Its Amazons
disguised as Men.

.-ssent war has already pro-
,bs inevitable crop of stories,
a'''' - less true, Of patriotic damsels
n0i' sred with military enthusiasm,
WV Jscuised themselves rs men,
ns ,so,es a rifle, and fought in the
One of these heroines, who
"a very gallant deed in rescuing a
' ~ was discovered among the Rus
forces. and, though probably she
-, be allowed 10 take any further
~ !, the campaign, she will go down
prssian history as a minor star-s
.nawsr Of Joan of Arc and some Of
i~S c,snisb heroines of the Peninsular
There has been scarcely a war in his
49, however, in which members of the
20, have not played a part in the
az n.;n, line. During the Balkan war
hghs.~e ~ all classes in Servia, Monte
NVlnoA and Bulgaria, who can handle a
.s we'll as they can a saucepan,
ineA Cor their respective countries. A
lousI;o case was that of Miss Sophie
,,.O'...aavnovitch. a Young Servian girl, who
lto,s;nod nermission from King Peter
Sr5t ike an ordinary soldier, ana,
seeJ in military uniform, accounted
Cor several Turks. ,,, A.,
H BELGRADE schoolgirl, Milena Man
Il MAS also found among the volun-
Nv. ~ forres raised by the Servian Com
~;,tee for National Defence Sne was
NJ. seventeen wears of age, and went
SH! ,be high school at Belgrade TO
~. her Mace in the lighting line,
'rssring an ordinary soldiers UNIFORM
aso.ber extraordinary case OF woman
- = recent war hiding her sex ana
s.bting as a soldier was that OF Aen'a
y,;,sksya. a Russian girl, on whom the
~, conferred high military honors
.he mart which she took in the Rus
~. .orsnanese War. No one suspected
~ nj being a woman. and this brave
solder" gained renown by saving
.s,es wounded comrades, dressing their
aonnds. and then re-enterng the hring
Trs until she herself was wounded
Srotber Russian woman, Harrietena
varottiewitcb. donned mans attire and
somokt in many battles during the
p~sso-Japanese War, in order to be
- her husband. She fought side by
- with him in numerous sortles, and
s.or she admiration of officers and men
~ ber fearlessness. One day, while
.;s;rg IN the trenches with dispatches,
= IsrSs she'll struck and destroyed GER
s,;n sartbworks. Harietena was seen
"a stageer as the shell exploded, and
sLs was picked I'D dead. 1t was only
.f,s, her death that her sex was dis
covered. ,..
soldiers, and two OF them are buried
l. the cemetery OF Chelsea Hospital.
One of these dames-Hannah SMELL
,rueulent looking person, whose por.
raft il preserved in the great hall or
he hospital, served in the siege OF
pondieherry, and was badly wounded,
her sex being discovered when she was
removed 10 hospital. She became
pensioner, and wore on occasions the
tbree-cornered hat and uniform coat OF
Chelsea. and was, at her own request,
buried in the graveyard of the hospital.
CHRISTINA Davis was the other female
soldier buried in this cemetery. She Is
Ssseribed as a "fatt, Jolly woman.
When she acknowledged 70 her sex she
resumed some of its privileges, for she
married, in succession, three husbands,
Inc third being a Chelsea pensioner.
Another Englishwoman who success
fully posed as a man and enlisted as
soldier was Phoebe Hessel, who was
private in the 9TH Foot Regiment, and
fought at Fontenoy in 1745, under tina
Duke Of Cumberland, being severely
wounded. Ultimately she died at
Brighton in 1921 at the age of 1OS.
The most famous Englishwoman
soldier however, was "Dr. James
Barry" who Joined the medical corps
in 1873, and served at Waterloo and in
The Crimea. In 1858, after many pro-
notions, she became inspector general,
and it was not until many years later
that the fact that she was woman
was scovered.-Tit-Bits