Female Warriors, Vol. 2 (of 2) Memorials of Female Valour and Heroism, from the Mythological Ages to the Present Era. — Inside the Classic

Disguise and Duty

Many of the women in this volume served under male identities. Hannah Snell, a private in the British line and marines, and Phœbe Hessel, a private in the 5th Regiment, are presented alongside the Prussian soldier Anne Sophia Detzliffin and the American Revolutionary private Deborah Samson. Clayton records the practical details of these disguises—how they enlisted, how they concealed their sex, and how they were eventually discovered. The accounts emphasize physical endurance and the ability to perform the same duties as male soldiers. Yet the text also notes moments when the disguise broke down, often through injury or illness, revealing the precariousness of their position. The pattern suggests that military service required not only courage but also a sustained performance of masculinity.

Revolutionary Allegiances

Clayton devotes substantial space to women who fought in the French Revolution and the 1848 uprisings. Rose Lacombe and Théroigne de Méricourt appear among the 'Furies' of the Revolution, while Félicité and Théophile de Fernig served as officers on Dumouriez's staff. In the 1848 section, Apollonia Jagiello's trajectory from the Polish insurrection to the Hungarian camp under Kossuth is traced in detail: she fought at Podgorze, received a lieutenant's commission, and later ran a hospital at Comorn. Clayton also includes Croatian women who took up arms to guard the Turkish border while their men joined the imperial army. The contrast between those who fought for national independence and those who defended the Habsburg monarchy illustrates the range of political loyalties among female combatants.

Sources and Silences

Clayton's method is to compile and paraphrase, often citing published memoirs or letters. For Apollonia Jagiello, she draws on an account of the Hungarian campaign; for the Croatian women, she quotes Baron W.'s 'Scenes of the Civil War in Hungary.' The excerpts reveal that Clayton does not always verify her sources independently—she reproduces the baron's admiring tone without comment. The volume also includes figures whose stories are less well documented, such as Mary Ralphson and 'Pretty Polly Oliver,' where the evidence is thinner. Clayton does not speculate beyond what her sources provide, but the unevenness of documentation is itself revealing: some women left detailed records, while others survive only in anecdote. Readers should attend to the provenance of each account and the gaps that remain.

Clayton's volume is best approached as a curated archive rather than a unified argument. The entries vary in length and detail, reflecting the availability of sources rather than the importance of the subject. Readers interested in the social history of women in combat will find rich material, but should verify details against modern scholarship. The work is a product of its time—Victorian in its moral tone and reliance on printed sources—yet it preserves stories that might otherwise have been forgotten.

There’s something humbling in Clayton’s pages, watching women carve their names into history’s stubborn stone, often only to be forgotten again. It reminds me of another quiet record of persistence, the sheer length of a single life diligently lived: A Brief Sketch of the Long and Varied Career of Marshall MacDermott, Esq., J.P. of Adelaide, South Australia — Context and Discussion. Both feel like dusted-off letters, speaking across years with unexpected warmth.