Anna Maria Lane facts for kids
Anna Maria Lane (born around 1755, died 1810) was an amazing woman from Virginia. She was the first female soldier from Virginia known to have fought with the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Anna Maria dressed as a man to join her husband on the battlefield. She was later given a special payment, called a pension, for her bravery in the Battle of Germantown.
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Early Life of Anna Maria Lane
We don't know much about Anna Maria Lane's early years. Some people think she might have been from New Hampshire. By 1776, she was married to John Lane.
Fighting in the War
Anna Maria and her husband, John, joined the Continental Army in 1776. They first served under General Israel Putnam. During the American Revolution, some women followed the soldiers. They were called camp followers and helped as cooks, nurses, or laundresses. But Anna Maria was the only known woman from Virginia who dressed as a man and fought in battles.
Historians believe it wasn't too hard for Anna Maria to pretend to be a man. Soldiers back then didn't bathe often and slept in their uniforms. Also, there were no physical exams to join the army in the 1700s. A soldier just needed front teeth and working fingers to load a musket.
Anna Maria and John fought in many places. These included New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. On October 3, 1777, they fought under George Washington in the Battle of Germantown. This battle was near Philadelphia. Anna Maria was badly hurt there, which made her unable to walk well for the rest of her life.
Just before this battle, George Washington had said that women camp followers could not go to the battlefield. So, some historians think Anna Maria might have been afraid to get treatment for her wound. She might have worried about being found out.
Even with her injury, Anna Maria kept fighting. She stayed with her husband when he joined the Virginia Light Dragoons again. She was with him when he was wounded in the Siege of Savannah in 1779. They both served until 1781, when the war ended.
Life After the War
After the war ended in 1783, the Lanes settled in Virginia. John Lane worked for a while at a state weapon storage place in Fluvanna County. In 1801, they moved to Richmond, Virginia. There, John joined the Public Guard, a group that protected the state. They lived in the guard's barracks with their three children. They also received daily food supplies.
In Richmond, Anna Maria helped out at the military hospital. She volunteered to care for soldiers there. Dr. John H Foushee met her and was impressed. He asked Governor James Monroe and the state leaders to give her a small payment for her nursing work.
Anna Maria Lane seemed to stop working at the hospital by late 1804. Her name was no longer on the list of nurses. In 1808, Anna Maria's husband and some other men were let go from the Public Guard because of injuries. Governor William H Cabell asked the government to give pensions to these disabled male soldiers. He also asked for pensions for a few women.
Governor Cabell specifically mentioned Anna Maria Lane. He wrote that she was "very infirm." He said she was hurt by a serious wound she got while fighting as a soldier in a Revolutionary battle. He noted she never fully recovered. Her pension records show that Anna Maria Lane was given $100 a year for life. This was because she "performed extraordinary military services at the Battle of Germantown, in the garb, and with the courage of a soldier."
Death and Lasting Memory
Anna Maria Lane died on June 13, 1810. We don't know when her husband, John, died.
Historians didn't really know about Anna Maria until the 1920s. That's when a magazine editor found her pension records and wrote an article about her. In 1997, the Virginia Sons of the American Revolution honored Anna Maria Lane. They helped put up a special marker in Richmond, Virginia. It is near the Bell Tower in Capitol Square. This marker tells her story.
See also
In Spanish: Anna Maria Lane para niños
