Hannah Snell (1723-92) The Female Soldier

 Hannah Snell (1723-92) The Female Soldier

Hannah took her brother-in-law's name, James Gray, and dressed in his suit of clothes, to search for her deserting husband.

Discovering he had been executed for murder, she decided to continue in a male identity and joined John Guise's 6th Regiment of Foot when they marched against the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, in 1745. However, she deserted after a brutal whipping from her sergeant, and joined the Marines instead, sailing for India.

She was wounded in the legs and groin - but had the bullet taken out by a local woman so that the regimental surgeon should not discover her sex. On return to England in 1750, she revealed that she was a woman and appealed for a pension. She published her story as a book, The Female Soldier, and created a theatrical act: showing military drill and singing songs in uniform. She was honourably discharged and granted her pension.

On retirement, she married twice and had two children from each husband, and at her death was buried at the Chelsea Hospital, a gesture of respect to her military service.

Source ~ ‘Normal Women’ by Phillippa Gregory