Badass Revolutionary War Women: Martha Bratton
A Laflin & Rand powder keg, typical of the Revolutionary War era. Source: Gatling Gun
Martha Bratton’s husband joined the Continental Army and left her to guard a storehouse on their property that happened to be full of gunpowder. The British were tipped off and made their way to seize it. When Martha caught wind of their plot, she had no time to hide the gunpowder. So she blew up the storehouse instead. When the enraged British demanded to know who had done this, she didn’t mince words: “It was I who did it…Let the consequence be what it will, I glory in having prevented the mischief contemplated by the cruel enemies of my country.”
Badass Revolutionary War Women: Prudence Wright
A memorial stone near the bridge commemorates Prudence Wright’s heroic deed. Source: Pepperell Covered Bridge
And finally, when Prudence Wright learned that some British sympathizers, often called Tories, were coming through her town of Pepperell, Massachusetts, she gathered about 40 women to fend them off. They dressed in men’s clothing and took whatever weapons they could find–some even brought pitchforks–and hid on Jewett’s bridge outside of town. When two riders came by, the “minutewomen” stopped them.
One was a known Tory named Leonard Whiting and the other was Prudence’s brother, Samuel, a British sympathizer himself. When Whiting moved to fight the women, Samuel stopped him, saying, “I recognize Pru’s voice, and she would wade through blood for the rebel cause.” The women were right to be suspicious; when they took the men into custody, they discovered messages to British troops in their pockets.
