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A Female Warrior.—Ail instance of a female Lav-jing devoted berseif with uncommon z£al to the perils of military life, has lately occurred in the case of_ mSarah Taylor, a middle-aged woman, who applied lor relief to the Churchwardens at Manchester on9Friday last. It appears, that when a girl, she was in the habit of wearing boy’s clothes, in which dress she served her father, Win. Roberts (who is a bricklayer), as a labourer ; and, being tall of her age, when about 14- years old, she enlisted as a soldier into the 15th light dragoons. Probably her ex treme youth andhealthy appearance might occasion a laxity of attention, for she passed mu3ter without her sex being discovered. In the course of two months, she learned her exercise sufficiently for all the purpose of parade, the rough riding-master declaring her the best rider in the squad of recruits with whom she was taught, which she imputes to the circumstance of having been used to mount, undaunted, to the top of high buildings, when attending on her father. She remained with the 15th light dragoons, in which she progressively attained the ranks of corporal and serjeant, for 21 years, her sex all the time remaining a secret to every one. Perhaps the care she w as under of guarding it, had the good effect of producing that regularity and orderly conduct which recommended the pretended “ William Roberts,” for such was the name she assumed, to the favour and protection of the officers, and procured her promotion. When' she had been a soldier 21 yuus, tb/i Colonel of the regiment tendered her discharge which she demurred the acceptance of, but, being under size, by her consent, she was transferred to the 37th regiment of foot, which regiment she joined in 1800, at the island of St. Vincent’s, in the West Indies, wheTe, Soon after, she was taken seriously ill (for the first time, in her military career), of the yellow fever, when wanting some of those attentions w7hich would inevitably lead to a discovery of her sex, she was obliged to intrust the secret she had so well kept to the Wife of a serjeant, at a time she ex? pected nothing but death. She, however, itcOver-ed, and having no longer even a nominal claim to manhood, she was obliged to resume feminine ha-
Newspaper Details
London St James Chronicle and Evening Post
London, Middlesex, GB
Thu, Dec 08, 1814
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
CA, USA 21 Feb 2022
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