Personal Account of a Woman in the American Revolution

I was a woman who had lived during the boisterous era of the American Revolution. It was a time when not only men were needed to gain the most coveted American independence from Britain.

One might wonder how a woman with no weapons or battle skills could contribute in the realization of American independence. As a woman of the 18th century, I was an ordinary housewife tending to my husband who was continuously fighting in battle against the British. I was always following him just as any woman and wife did for their men in battle. My husband’s task was to load the cannon so the gunner could fire a shot towards the British army.

One fateful day, I saw how my husband was killed by a gunshot which ultimately ended his life. I was there trying to mend his wounds despite the fact that he was already dead. While I was in the middle of finding a place where I could place my husband safely in the barracks, the gunner summoned me to load the cannons.
Everything was happening so fast that I had no time to think about my dead husband’s body. All I wanted to do was to fight for what he died for. I hurried to the cannon as fast as I could and loaded the cannon. It was not an easy job to lift cannon balls, but the raging adrenalin in my system helped me throughout.
The cannon loading went on for a week until they finally found a more capable man to replace me. Afterwards, I was given the task to tend to the American soldiers. I cooked for them, washed their clothes, attended to their medical needs, and cleaned their wounds. We were like nurses and housewives in one who provided all the basic needs that our soldiers called for.
It might have seemed like a simple job to take care of these wounded men as they have fought and died for the country’s liberty. However, one thing is for certain. The Declaration of Independence would not have existed without the full support and love of women in the American Revolution.