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md e Itich »vlll I ator.Mdeich:«/’ r istndHison-forustub-She-Soldicrs Who AreFamed in History.Two Nations inKeep Female Warriors.UStbyI ittys, aid is t.Remarkable History oftchRh.ookDayladofderac-deasdededeinddatdefewhesHerRhtElJeneryepic Wng.osttheess*ewent;djthisJenoodvedbuthisinChristian Kavannsrfi.Women Soldiers Who Fought I ”win Our Civil War.Adventures Like Those ofHeroines of Romance.m'tthefan.lt;*»»*mySince history began the world has grown accustomed to read of “fighting met)/’ of all warriors being of ttfegender, the exceptions to this almost invariable rule being considered accidental and especially notable.The ancients never favored the idea. The god of war. Mars, was a man. and a much-married man at that. Of his wives, Venus. Astyoche, Agraulos, De-tnoniee, Cyrene, etc, we are told that while they all bore him sons, only one, Venus, bore a daughter, Hermtotye (orHarmonia), who turned out badly andwhose children were criminals, thoughVulcan was to blame for that.Then there was a nation of femalewarriors, the Amazonldes (whence the term Amizon, i. ea virago), who were located in Kappadosia. They were such a “manly” race, it is said, and had such a poor opinion of the masculine sex. that they destroyed all the male infants which they bore to the men of neighboring tribe*.Ancient authors, with good reason, doubted the existence Or the Ama-*011 ides, so, perhaps, they need not be reckoned among the women militant. Every student of history recalls the narr.es of Zenobia and Boadlcet. as warrior queens.In modern times two unions keep female warriors, viz, the Dihomeyansand the Siamese. The arraxons of the sanguinary king of Dahomey are veritable warriors, and take thoir full share of the risks and blows of battle with other savage tribes. The amazon guards of the king of Siam are not fighters, more ornamental than belligerent, probably.It is pleasing to turn from the spec* ofIingire..ic itdidthe■raiP a 9thmeOkie nm'tral.onbut, tacle or the savage woman fighter to Tithe instance where worn ui has ink* nthe sword for patriotic motives and in emergencies which demanded self*sacrifice. The gallant Jeanne d'Arc, “Maid of Orleans?;’ will long live In song and story, and will be admired as long as history is read. ,In the latter half of the l$tb century, and beginning of the 19th (the era of the Bonaparte especially) there are te- * many instances of such heroism. There in a i were Renee Bordereau, the heroine of I* I La Vendee, The fact that 42 persons of her blood and kin were murdered by the republican cutthroats, that her father was slain and his corpse mutilated before her eyes, made a human tigress of the fair maid.In one battle she slew four republicans and 2’ in another. Even the first Consul Bonaparte feared her and set a price on her head. When captured she was kept in a loathsome dungeon five years loaded with chains. When her arch enemy was crushed at Waterloo “the maid of La Vendee ’ was liberated and settled down to a Well-deserved life of peace and comfort.Augustin*, the maid of 3arngossa. was a heroine of this period. During the siege of her native city by the French this young woman, then but 22 years old, was carrying food to the soldiers on the ramparts of the city one day. when she saw that the French guns had practically demolished the defenses und had driven the Spanish artillerymen from their guns after a very stubborn fight. Inspired by the emergency Augustinaseized a lighted match from the hand of a dead gunner and fired one of the big uns with such deadly effect that the rench, who were already advancing to ialf s the breach, were driven back again. at, I Then she strode to the top of the can-rum and vowed she would never leave it.Thus inspired, the Spanish returned to the demolished walls and kept thekedian, for lor-ln§ sn'tbe-iclphesible itthe x n dan.theIgedmies.usted,theino/’ersiveowbesieging army of Marshal Lannes atFt. . ' .■■■■cryher example being followed by manybay For weeks. Augustina nobly keptaher vow. she ate and slept by the guns,other women. When Saragossa finallyiit kitedintd/’lerHe[hetu-ndLlStanndlatiffell It was not worth taking, being a mere pile of ruins.When peace was restored the citizens honored their young heroine with the family name of “Saragossa,” and the king granted her a gunner’s pension for the rest of her life. Augusting, however. married a man of her own class settled down and lived happily (and quietly) ever after.Nor must the name of Christian Kav-anagh be omitted from the record of fighting women, for her'* was a unique case. She was born in Dublin, daughter of a rnalster. “in the days of good Queen Ann#.” Her aunt left her a tavern. which she kept for a year or two, with the assistance of her husband, Richard Walsh.The latter having deserted her and her two children Christian left them in tho care of a relative and, being of masculine appearance, enlisted as a soldier. No one suspected her (tor those were not the day* of physical examination) and after a few weeks of training she was sent, with other “food for powder/’ to join the duke of Marlborough's army in Holland.Christian was wounded at the battle 1 a
Newspaper Details
Boston Sunday Globe
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Sun, Oct 30, 1898
Page 43
Full Page
Clipped by
Pamela R.
PA, USA 03 Nov 2019
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