Anna Maria Lane (about 1755–1810) was the first documented female soldier from Virginia to fight with the
Continental Army in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. She dressed as a man and accompanied her husband on the battlefield, and was later awarded a pension for her courage in the
Battle of Germantown.
Early life
Little is known about Anna Maria Lane's early life, though it is believed she may be from
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
. By 1776, she had married John Lane.
Wartime service
Lane and her husband John joined the
Continental Army in 1776, and served initially under
General Israel Putnam. Although some women accompanied the soldiers as
camp followers
Camp followers are civilians who follow armies. There are two common types of camp followers; first, the wives and children of soldiers, who follow their spouse or parent's army from place to place; the second type of camp followers have histori ...
during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
to help out as cooks, nurses or laundresses, Lane was the only documented woman in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
to dress as a man and fight on the battlefield. Historians have speculated that it probably wasn't difficult for Lane to pass as a man, because Revolutionary soldiers didn't bathe very often and slept in their uniforms.
"As far as enlistment, there are no physicals when one enters the Army in the 18th century," said historian Joyce Henry, "One must have front teeth and an operating thumb and forefinger so one may be able to reach in, grab a cartridge, tear off the paper, and be able to successfully load your musket."
Lane and her husband fought in campaigns in
New York,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. On October 3, 1777, they served under
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
in the
Battle of Germantown, near
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, where Anna Maria was severely wounded, which left her lame for life. Just before the Battle of Germantown, George Washington had issued an edict which forbade women "camp followers" from accompanying men to the battlefield, so some historians have suggested that Anna Maria did not want to receive treatment for her wound for fear of being discovered.
Despite her injury, Anna Maria continued fighting alongside her husband when he re-enlisted in the Virginia Light Dragoons. She was with him when he was wounded in the
Siege of Savannah
The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutena ...
in 1779. They both served until 1781.
Later life
![Letter from William Cabell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Letter_from_William_Cabell.jpg)
After the war ended in 1783, the Lanes settled down in Virginia. John Lane worked for a while at the state arsenal at
Point of Fork in
Fluvanna County
Fluvanna County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,249. Its county seat is Palmyra, while the most populous community is the census designated place of Lak ...
. In 1801 the couple moved to
Richmond, Virginia where he joined the Public Guard. They lived in the barracks of the Public Guard with their three children and received daily rations. In Richmond, Anna Maria volunteered to tend to soldiers at the military hospital. There, she met Dr. John H Foushee, who asked Governor
James Monroe
James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
and the Council of State to authorize a small stipend for her nursing work.
Anna Maria Lane had apparently stopped working at the hospital by late 1804, since her name no longer appeared in the list of nurses in the council journal. In 1808, after Lane's husband and several other men were discharged from the public guard for disability, Governor
William H. Cabell
William H. Cabell (December 16, 1772January 12, 1853) was a Virginia lawyer, politician, plantation owner and judge aligned with the Democratic-Republican party. He served as Member of the Virginia House of Delegates, as Governor of Virginia, an ...
asked the General Assembly to give pensions to those disabled male soldiers, as well as a few women.
Cabell specifically mentioned Anna Maria Lane, writing that she was "very infirm, having been disabled by a severe wound which she received while fighting as a common soldier, in one of our Revolutionary battles, from which she never has recovered, and perhaps never will recover." Her pension notes that Anna Maria Lane was given $100 a year for life in recognition of the fact that she, 'in the Revolutionary War, performed extraordinary military services at the Battle of Germantown, in the garb, and with the courage of a soldier."
Death and legacy
Lane died on June 13, 1810. It is not known when her husband John died. She did not become of interest to historians until the editor of the Richmond Magazine discovered her pension records and wrote an article about her in the 1920s.
In 1997, the Virginia
Sons of the American Revolution
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose ...
honored Anna Maria Lane by sponsoring a descriptive marker in Richmond, VA near the Bell Tower in
Capitol Square
Capitol Square is a public square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The square includes the Ohio Statehouse, its Capitol Grounds, as well as the buildings and features surrounding the square. The Capitol Grounds are surrounded on the north and west ...
, erected by the Department of Historic Resources.
See also
*
Anne Bailey
Anne Bailey (1742 – November 22, 1825) was a British-born American story teller and frontier scout who served in the fights of the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War. Her single-person ride in search of an urgently needed p ...
*
Margaret Corbin
Margaret Cochran Corbin (November 12, 1751January 16, 1800) was a woman who fought in the American Revolutionary War.James, Edward T., et al''Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary'' Vol. II, p. 385-86 (1971) () On Novembe ...
*
Mary Ludwig Hays
*
Molly Pitcher
Molly Pitcher is a nickname given to a woman said to have fought in the American Revolutionary War. She is most often identified as Mary Ludwig Hays, who fought in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. Another possibility is Margaret Corbin, ...
*
Deborah Sampson
Deborah Sampson Gannett, also known as Deborah Samson or Deborah Sampson, was born on December 17, 1760 in Plympton, Massachusetts. She disguised herself as a man, and served in the Continental Army under the name Robert Shirtliff – sometimes s ...
*
Sally St. Clair
*
Prudence Wright
Prudence "Pru" Cummings Wright (26 November 1740 – 2 December 1824) was a militia commander during the American Revolutionary War.
Life
Born in Dunstable, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of Prudence and Samuel Cummings. She had two brother ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Anna Maria
1750s births
Year of birth uncertain
1810 deaths
Military personnel from Richmond, Virginia
Female wartime cross-dressers
Female United States Army personnel
Women in the American Revolution
Continental Army soldiers
People of Virginia in the American Revolution