Elisa Bernerström Elisa Bernerström also known as Katrin Servenius and Johanna Servenius ( fl . 1809 ) , was a woman who served in the Swedish army dressed as a man during the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia 1808 - 1809 . She was decorated for bravery in battle , and was the only confirmed woman decorated for bravery in battle on land , while Brita Hagberg and Anna Maria Engsten were decorated for bravery at sea . Elisa Bernerström , a maid , met the soldier Bernard Servenius when his regiment was stationed in Stockholm . They fell in love and were married , and when the regiment left for war Elisa disguised herself as a man and enlisted as a soldier in the regiment herself : " as she had decided to live and to die with her husband " . This regiment was either the King ' s lifeguard ( " livgardet " ) or the Queen ' s regiment ( " drottningens livregemente " ) . Her husband was believed killed in action at the Battle of Ratan and Sävar , while she herself collected the ammunition of the enemy and gave it to her fellow soldiers during the battle . For this action Wachtmeister recommended that she be decorated for bravery in battle . During the march to Piteå , when for the third time she prepared to " in her ability serve her country " , her gender was discovered and she was fired . Bernerström is mentioned in the famous memoirs of the queen , Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte , who wrote in her diary : " Speaking of the latest expedition to Västerbotten , I forgot to mention , that an amazon appeared on the battlefield " Wachtmeister informed the queen of the case in a report , in which he asked her to provide Bernerström with an economic gift , as Bernerström was a member of the Queen ' s own regiment . In the report to the queen , this version was given : Bernerström hid in the boat which took the regiment of her husband away . She was discovered , but allowed to remain despite her sex . At Ratan , she marched at her husbands side dressed in a uniform , nursed the wounded , collected the ammunition from the fallen and handed it to her fellow soldiers during the battle . Her husband was reported dead , but she was convinced he was alive and a prisoner , and followed the army to Piteå in a new regiment . During this expedition , her biological sex was discovered by her new comrades . Officers , who knew her from the earlier expedition , informed admiral Puke and recommended that she should be spared from further inconvenience . Puke informed himself of her conduct during the battle at Ratan and decided to award her with the medal for bravery in battle . Wachtmeister described Bernerström to the queen as a former kitchen maid , with " energetic , expressive eyes , vivid in her ways and appearance , and even intelligent , so much so as one could ask from a person of her class " , and that she " made herself noted with a natural fearlessness before danger " . When asked , if she was afraid during the firing on the battlefield , she had replied : " Why would I be ? I am with my husband , for him I would do anything , and also , I wish to help the wounded . I ask nothing more than to do it again , if needed ; I do not mind the flying of the bullets the least bit , you will die someday anyway , this way as well as another . " The queen was impressed with her , and commented : " Truly a philosophic way of reason from a woman of the people and a proof of wisdom as well as judgment " . After the war , it was discovered that her husband had been captured rather than killed in action . He was released from his Russian captivity in 1810 , and they were reunited in Stockholm , after which they followed their regiment to Stralsund in Swedish Pommerania . Elisa Bernerström is not the only woman in Swedish history to have served as a soldier dressed as a man , but she is one of very few of these women who were officially recognized and decorated for such an act . Elisa Bernerström is portrayed in the novel " Affairen vid Ratan " by Björn Holm ( 2004 ) .