The Female Soldier

The Female Soldier; or, the Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell

Frances Scanagatti or, the Female Soldier

by Anonymous

The women who marched to war

Female soldiers are always something of a curiosity and these two brief accounts, one British the other Italian, might not have seen individual re-publication in modern times so this special Leonaur edition brings them together. The accounts-both originally published anonymously-tell of two women who joined the ranks of the army in disguised as men and fought undiscovered. The most famous of the two is Hannah Snell. Born in 1723 she married a James Summ who subsequently deserted her, so she adopted male clothes to search for him only to discover that he had been executed for murder. Her claims regarding her participation, as a soldier of Guises regiment, in the Jacobite Rising of 1745, led by Charles Stewart, have been questioned, but she certainly joined the Royal Marines and sailed to India where she took part in the capture of Pondicherry from the French and in the Battle of Devicotta. She was wounded no less than twelve times and despite eventually revealing her gender was awarded a pension for her services. Frances Scanagatti was born in Milan, Italy in 1781 and her interest in military life was evident from an early age. The account of her progress under arms is not as specific in its detail as present day readers might like, but it seems clear that she served in the Austrian Army at the time of the wars with Revolutionary France. The life of another female soldier, of the British Army of the Marlborough period, the renowned Mother Ross, is also available as a Leonaur edition.

Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.