Jemima Warner was a

camp follower 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 ...

with the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

in the early days of 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 ...

and, according to the Women's Memorial in Washington D.C., she is the first American “military woman killed in action."

Biography

Nothing is known about Jemima's early childhood, but she probably lived in

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. ...

before joining the army when she was seventeen. Her husband, James Warner, was a private in Captain Matthew Smith's company of Colonel William Thompson's

1st Pennsylvania Regiment The 1st Pennsylvania Regiment - originally mustered as the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles; also known as the 1st Continental Line and 1st Continental Regiment, was raised under the command of Colonel William Thompson (general), William Thompson for se ...

, and she accompanied him on Colonel

Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec In September 1775, early in the American Revolutionary War, Colonel Benedict Arnold led a force of 1,100 Continental Army troops on an expedition from Cambridge in the Province of Massachusetts Bay to the gates of Quebec City. The expedition ...

through the Maine wilderness in the fall of 1775. On November 1, 1775, her husband fell ill, and Jemima stayed with him while the rest of the battalion continued without them. After James died, Jemima buried him with leaves and journeyed some 20 miles through the wilderness alone to catch up with the rest of the battalion. Many soldiers were surprised to see her emerge from the wilderness days (or even weeks) later, carrying her husband's rifle. During the invasion of Quebec, Jemima was commissioned by General

Richard Montgomery Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and he is most famous for l ...

to deliver a letter containing his conditions of surrender to Governor Guy Carleton, but she was refused admittance into the city. On her second attempt, however, she dressed more formally and was allowed in, but Governor Carleton tore up the letter, imprisoned her, and drummed her out of the city the next day. Though two women, Jemima Warner and Susannah Grier (wife of Sergeant Joseph Grier of Captain William Hendrick's company), are mentioned by name in

John Joseph Henry John Joseph Henry (November 4, 1758 – April 15, 1811) was an American private (rank), private soldier, lawyer, and judge from Pennsylvania in the American Revolutionary War. Biography Henry, the son of William Henry (delegate), William Henry ...

's journal of the expedition through the Maine wilderness, neither of them is mentioned by name in soldiers’ journals during the invasion of Quebec. There are reports of four women on the American side killed during the siege, one by grapeshot in December 1775, one by burning in December 1775, one shot accidentally by an American soldier in April 1776, and one by lightning in June 1776. It is often assumed that Jemima Warner was the one killed by grapeshot while standing with the rest of the American soldiers.Frank (2013), p. 594

References

{{Women in U.S. Government Continental Army 18th-century American women Women in the American Revolution Colonial American women in warfare Colonial American women People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution