FReeper Canteen ~ Part IX of Women Warriors: Women Soldiers and Sailors ~ March 16, 2004

Part IX: Women Soldiers & Sailors

In 1428 a 16 year old peasant girl named Jehanne la Pucelle convinced the Dauphin of France to put her in charge of his army by promising to reclaim Orleans from the English and have him crowned at Riems. In May 1429 she led the army in the battle that returned Orleans to the French and two months later watched the Dauphin crowned Charles VII of France in the Cathedral of Reims. In May 1430 the girl who became known to the world as Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians during her attack on Compiegne and sold to the English. She was charged in an ecclesiastical court with heresy, blasphemy, idolatry, and sorcery. In May 1431 she was burned at the stake in the market place of Rouen as a relapsed heretic. Her relapse consisted of donning the men's clothing she had worn throughout her career and which she had earlier agreed to abandon in order to save herself from the stake.

There are accounts, verified by multiple official sources, of more than 20 women who dressed as men and served in the British Royal Navy or Marines from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries. In 1690 Anne Chamberlyne joined her brother's ship and fought in the battle against the French off Beachy Head. A tablet to her memory was placed in the wall of the Chelsea Old Church, London, along with other Chamberlyne family memorials. The English translation of the original Latin read, "In an adjoining vault lies Anne, the only daughter of Edward Chamberlyne, Doctor of Laws, born in London, the 20th January 1667, who having long declined marriage and aspiring to great achievements unusual to her sex and age, on the 30th June 1690, on board a fireship in man's clothing, as a second Pallas, chaste and fearless fought valiantly six hours against the French ...".

It was also not unusual for the wives of crewmen to live aboard both English and French warships. During battles they would deliver water and carry gun powder from the magazine to the cannons as well as assisting the ships' surgeon.

John Nichols, a seaman aboard the HMS Goliath wrote of the women aboard during the Battle of the Nile on Aug. 1, 1798, "There were some of the women wounded, and one woman belonging to Leith died of her wounds and was buried on a small island in the bay. One woman bore a son in the heat of the action; she belonged to Edinburgh." The names of four of the women aboard the Goliath during the battle were listed in the ship's muster book which stated they were "victualed at two-thirds allowance in consideration of their assistance in dressing and attending on the wounded, being widows of men slain in the fight with the enemy on the first day of August."

In 1847 the British government decided that Queen Victoria would award a Naval General Service Medal to all living survivors of the major battles fought between 1793 and 1840. Mary Ann Riley and Ann Hopping, who had been aboard the Goliath during the Battle of the Nile, and Jane Townshend, who was aboard the Defiance at Trafalgar in 1805, applied and were originally approved by the Admirals reviewing the claims. They were later refused the medal on the basis that, "There were many women in the fleet equally useful, and it will leave the Army exposed to innumerable applications of the same nature." [Italics in original]. More than 20,000 men received the medal including at least one who was an infant at the time the ship he was on engaged in battle.

Kit Cavanagh, better known as "Mother Ross" was one of several women who served as dragoons in the British Army. She fought during the 1690's at first disguised as a man and later openly as a woman. She was wounded several times but survived and received a military burial when she eventually died of old age. Ann Mills was another British dragoon who fought on the frigate Maidstone in 1740.

Phoebe Hessel's gravestone in Brighton churchyard Sussex, tells of her having, "served for many years as a private Soldier in the 5th Reg't of foot in different parts of Europe and in the year 1745 fought under the command of the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Fontenoy where she received a bayonet wound in her arm. Her long life which commenced in the time of Queen Anne extended into the reign of George IV, by whose munificence she received comfort and support in her later years."

Angelique Brulon defended Corsica in seven campaigns between 1792 and 1799. At first she fought disguised as a man, by the time her gender was discovered she had proved so valuable in battle that she was allowed to remain in the military fighting openly as a woman. She commanded male troops at Calvi who later drew up a testimonial which read in part, "We the garrison at Calvi certify that Marie-Angelique Josephine Duchemin Brulon, acting sergeant, commanding the attack on Fort Gesco, fought with us with the courage of a heroine". They went on to commend her skill with a sword and in hand to hand combat. She was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1822 and personally presented the French Legion of Honor by Napoleon III.

Marie Schellinck, a Belgian, fought for France in the Napoleonic Wars. She was wounded at Jemmappes, Austerlitz and Jena. She received the French Legion of Honor and a military pension in 1808. Virginie Ghesquiere who fought under Junot in Portugal and Angelique Brulon were two other women awarded the French Legion of Honor in the 18th century.

In 1807 Napoleon removed the French Legion of Honor from his own chest and awarded it to Ducaud Laborde, who fought openly as a woman with a troop of hussars at the battles of Eylau, Friedland and Waterloo. Although she was wounded at Friedland she continued to fight and captured 6 prisoners. At Waterloo her husband was killed and her military career ended when a cannon ball destroyed her leg.

Elizabeth Hatzler wore the uniform of a French dragoon and fought beside her husband in several battles in 1812. She carried him during the army's retreat after he was wounded in a losing battle against the Cossacks.

Sylvia Mariotti served as a private in the 11th Battalion of the Italian Bersaglieri from 1866 to 1879. She fought the Austrians in the Battle of Custozza.

Next Tuesday Part IX of Women Warriors:

Women Revolutionaries

Photograph, Medal of Honor and Flags

DETHLEFSEN, MERLYN HANS

Rank and organization: Major (then Capt.), U.S. Air Force.

Place and date: In the air over North Vietnam, 10 March 1967.

Entered service at: Royal, Iowa.

Born: 29 June 1934, Greenville, Iowa.

Citation: Maj. Dethlefsen was 1 of a flight of F-105 aircraft engaged in a fire suppression mission designed to destroy a key antiaircraft defensive complex containing surface-to-air missiles (SAM), an exceptionally heavy concentration of antiaircraft artillery, and other automatic weapons.

The defensive network was situated to dominate the approach and provide protection to an important North Vietnam industrial center that was scheduled to be attacked by fighter bombers immediately after the strike by Maj. Dethlefsen's flight. In the initial attack on the defensive complex the lead aircraft was crippled, and Maj. Dethlefsen's aircraft was extensively damaged by the intense enemy fire. Realizing that the success of the impending fighter bomber attack on the center now depended on his ability to effectively suppress the defensive fire, Maj. Dethlefsen ignored the enemy's overwhelming firepower and the damage to his aircraft and pressed his attack. Despite a continuing hail of antiaircraft fire, deadly surface-to-air missiles, and counterattacks by MIG interceptors, Maj. Dethlefsen flew repeated close range strikes to silence the enemy defensive positions with bombs and cannon fire. His action in rendering ineffective the defensive SAM and antiaircraft artillery sites enabled the ensuing fighter bombers to strike successfully the important industrial target without loss or damage to their aircraft, thereby appreciably reducing the enemy's ability to provide essential war material. Maj. Dethlefsen's consummate skill and selfless dedication to this significant mission were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

*DEVORE, EDWARD A., Jr.

Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division.

Place and date: Near Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, 17 March 1968.

Entered service at: Harbor City, Calif.

Born: 15 June 1947, Torrance, Calif.

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.

Sp4c. DeVore, distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on the afternoon of 17 March 1968, while serving as a machine gunner with Company B, on a reconnaissance-in-force mission approximately 5 kilometers south of Saigon. Sp4c. DeVore's platoon, the company's lead element, abruptly came under intense fire from automatic weapons, Claymore mines, rockets and grenades from well-concealed bunkers in a nipa palm swamp. One man was killed and 3 wounded about 20 meters from the bunker complex. Sp4c. DeVore raced through a hail of fire to provide a base of fire with his machine gun, enabling the point element to move the wounded back to friendly lines. After supporting artillery, gunships and air strikes had been employed on the enemy positions, a squad was sent forward to retrieve their fallen comrades. Intense enemy frontal and enfilading automatic weapons fire pinned down this element in the kill zone. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Sp4c. DeVore assaulted the enemy positions. Hit in the shoulder and knocked down about 35 meters short of his objectives, Sp4c. DeVore, ignoring his pain and the warnings of his fellow soldiers, jumped to his feet and continued his assault under intense hostile fire. Although mortally wounded during this advance, he continued to place highly accurate suppressive fire upon the entrenched insurgents. By drawing the enemy fire upon himself, Sp4c. DeVore enabled the trapped squad to rejoin the platoon in safety. Sp4c. DeVore's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty in close combat were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 39th Infantry, and the U.S. Army.

"If there be any glory in war, let it rest on the shoulders of men like these." -- Audie Murphy

Thank you to every soldier, sailor, airman, marine and coast guardsman who has ensured that I have the freedoms I have today. You are my heroes.
You will not be forgotten.

Graphics and information from the MOH website.

Today's classic warship, USS Ostfriesland

Helgoland class battleship
Displacement. 24 500 t.
Lenght. 546'
Beam. 93'3"
Draft. 29'6"
Speed. 21 k.
Complement. 1150
Armament. 12 12", 14 5.9", 6 19.7" tt.

SMS Ostfriesland, a German battleship built at Wilhelmshaven, Germany in 1908; launched in September 1909; commissioned in the Imperial German Navy in May 1911. Named for a region of Germany bordering on the North Sea, Ostfriesland was one of four Helgoland-class battleships commissioned in 1911-12. During World War I, she was attached to the first Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet and took part in operations in the North Sea and Baltic in 1915-16.

Ostfriesland saw action at the Battle of Jutland, and was damaged by a mine while returning to base. Following repairs she made only a few more tentative sorties into the North Sea.

After the war, she was interned at Scapa Flow with the bulk of the High Seas Fleet, but was moved to Rosyth before the scuttle. The vessel was awarded to the United States as a war prize, and taken over in April 1920 by the U. S. Navy and commissioned as USS Ostfriedland on 7 April 1920 at Rosyth, Scotland, Capt. J. F. Hellweg in command.

Though in need of repairs, USS Ostfriedland sailed to New York under her own power. She was decommissioned at New York Navy Yard in September of 1920. The US Navy drydocked the vessel for examination, and removed pieces of armor, guns, etc from the vessel for further study. Along with other captured German vessels, she was given over for destruction in a live-fire exercise.

During World War I, a number of proposals had been advanced to use airplanes against capital ships, but all were dropped. In 1920, Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell began training air crews to demonstrate the superiority of air power over battleships and the Navy reluctantly agreed to provide targets. After sinking three U-boats, a destroyer, and a cruiser, on July 20, 1921, Martin bombers were loaded with 230-pound and later 600-pound bombs to use against Ostfrieland, 60 miles off the Virginia coast. These had little effect, but the next day they returned from Langley Field armed with 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs. Hit below the waterline by six 1-ton bombs, Ostfriesland sank 21 minutes after the attack began. Popular lore had it that pro-battleship admirals wept to see the ship go down. While the rules of the exercise were broken by the fliers using 2000-pound bombs, and the vessel would no doubt have survived easily if buttoned up and given even a minimum amount of damage control, the film footage of those tiny little planes sinking a battleship had the desired effect in promoting airpower.

The wreck lies 60 miles off the Virginia Capes, in 380 feet of water. The top of the wreck is at 310 feet, and the vessel lies upside down resting on its gun turrets and superstructure. The current is light, and the bottom sandy, but visibility is limited in the darkness. This is a very challenging dive, pushing the limits of sport diving technology. Very few have visited the wreck, which was first re-located in 1990.

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