The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-07-16
Many Women Were Patriots.


Many Women We're Patriots.
Women gave their servics in man
ifold ways during the Revolutionary
war. Elizabeth Zane, at the siege of
Fort Fincastle-later Fort Henry
on the present site of Wheeling, w.
Va, crossed a zone of fire, swept
rifles of 500, ,savages with an apronful
of powder from an auxiliary block
house to the main works, the fresh
supply of ammunition saving the gar
rison from the necessity of surrender.
Catherine Schuyler, wife Of the ia
NOUS general, set fire to vast acre
age of wheat fields on the Schuyler
estate to prevent them from falling
into the hands of Burgoyne upon his
advance from Fort Edward to Sara
toga.
Mrs. Esther Reed of Philadelphia,
defed the British, who were at that
time in possession of her home city,
by clothing and raising funds for the
American army at Valley Forge. Up
on her death the work was continued
by Mrs. Sarah Bache, daughter of
Benjamin Franklin. Hundreds of 9TH
er Philadelphia women secretly CO.
operated.
The wives of most of the comand-
ing generals-notably Martha Wash
ington and Mrs. Nathaniel Greene
accompanied their husbands in every
campaign, and did everything in their
power to alleviate the hardships of
the soldiery. Mrs. Washington even
went through the cruel winter at VAL
ley Forge, where her ministrations
are said to have saved many lives.
Still other women went into British
prisons and prison ships to save the
sick and wounded American prison.
ers.
Mrs. Elizabeth Jackson, mother of
Andrew Jackson, in fact, died from
prison fever contracted while engaged
in this work Of mercy among the
American captives at Charleston.
Mary Draper invented the pewter
bullet, which came into use after the
supply of lead was exhausted, and
thousands of patriotic women the
country over surrendered their prize
pewter utensils to be melted up for
ammunition.
Mrs. Rebecca Motto, whose splen-
did mansion between Charleston and
Camden. S. c., was turned into a fort
by the British, instructed the besieg-
ing Americans to set the structure
afire by shooting blazing arrows on
the roof. The result was that the
British were smoked out, though the
mansion itself was reduced to ashes.
But the most bizarre service OF all
was rendered by Handy Betty Hager,
known also as Betty the Blacksmith,
who refitted guns and artillery for
the patriotic armies. Betty was
natural mechanic, whose latent abil-
tiles were developed in the employ or
Samuel Leverett, a blacksmith-farmer
living near Boston.
Prior to the battle of Concord, the
patriots of the surrounding country
had been preparing themselves for
the conflict for months. Guns of all
types - matchlocks, smoothbores,
blunderbusses and what not, some Of
which had not seen service for three
or four generations-came piling in
to the Leverett shop, and while Lev
'erett himself could be observed by
any tory to be busily engaged in shoe
ing horses, his unsuspected assist
ant was working in secret chamber
making the neighbors' antiquated
old firearms serviceable once more.
Betty kept up this volunteer work
throughout the whole course of the
war, never accepting single copper
for her labor. To Betty and her en-
ployer, likewise, belongs the credit of
putting the first captured cannon into
action. On the retreat from Concord
the British left six brass cannon be-
hind them, thoughtfully spiking the
touchholes so that they could not be
discharged.
Betty and Leverett, however, pa
tiently drilled out the spikes at the
rate of one a week, and in no long
time the British found the beleaguer-
ing Americans driving them out of
Boston at the mouths of their own
cannon.