A quick note: my name is Mike Romero, and I'm a Historic Interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg. The postings I make on this site are my own personal opinions and research, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Colonial Williamsburg. With that said, enjoy the read!
Another 'specialty' posts based on programming emphasis taking place at Colonial Williamsburg. Throughout the month of March, CW has been putting on a great deal of programming for Women's History Month. Specialty tours, presentations like "Tag Rag and Bobtail" describing the trials and tribulations of women following the armies fighting in the American Revolution, tales of local midwives, gentry and middle class and enslaved women, you get the idea. It's always amazing to see how much more there is to learn about the 18th century, and I thought it appropriate for me to do some research on women serving at sea during the Age of Sail.
There are many tales of boatloads of prostitutes swarming naval vessels when they pull in to harbor, and others of women disguising themselves as men to join the navy in secret. All of that is an important part of naval history to be sure, but I thought I would take the time to highlight a few examples of women serving openly aboard ship.
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| "The Destruction of L'Orient at the Battle of the Nile" by George Arnold, 1827 |
The Battle of the Nile taking place from August 1-3, 1798 remains one of the most celebrated actions of Horatio Nelson, eclipsed only by Trafalgar and the tragic death of Britain's greatest naval hero. Two years ago, I read an excellent work by Brian Lavery called Nelson and the Nile, which remains my favorite non-fiction book to this day. As I was just starting out in my exploration of naval history, and was quite surprised to read of the exploits of several women openly serving in Nelson's squadron.
Of course, according to the "Regulations and Instructions Relating to His Majesty's Service at Sea," by which the Royal Navy was governed, it was strictly forbidden to carry any woman to sea without express permission from the Admiralty. This rule seems to have been overlooked fairly often or simply ignored. Aboard the 74-gun Goliath, four of the nineteen men killed at the Nile left widows aboard ship. Also aboard Goliath, sailor John Nicol remarked, "The women behaved as well as the men, and got a present for their bravery from the Grand Signior." At Trafalgar in 1805, Nicol would again speak well of the women aboard ship, supporting his efforts in the magazine, saying he was "mich indebted to the gunner's wife, who gave her husband and me a drink of water every now and then, which lessened our fatigue much."
Meanwhile, aboard the 74-gun Orion, Ann Hopping worked throughout the battle in the powder magazine, helping to make and fill flannel cartridges to serve the guns as the battle raged around her. Many years later, Ann would recount her adventures aboard Orion (where her husband and brother served) at age 93. Unfortunately, she would get little recognition for her service as both she and Mary Ann Riley were denied the Naval General Service Medal, despite taking part in the battle, on grounds of gender alone. Christina White of Majestic petitioned for a pension after having served as a nurse during the campaign.
Most, if not all, of the women aboard Nelson's ships at the Nile appear to have been the wives of petty and warrant officers; I cannot imagine the common sailor would have enough influence aboard ship to successfully get permission to bring his wife to sea with him. Even so, since women were effectively forbidden on board, they would not be included on the ship's books, and no one who is not on the ship's books is entitled to the victuals distributed to the crew. They and their husbands would have to arrange for their own provisions to sustain them at sea. Following the battle, Captain Foley listed Ann Taylor, Elizabeth Moore, Sarah Bates, and Mary French in Goliath's muster book, and allowed them to receive victuals at two thirds of the men's allowance, "in consideration of their assistance in dressing and tending the wounded, being widows of men slain in fight with the enemy on the first day of August 1798." One wonders if Foley was later made to account to the Victualling Board for the unauthorized expenditure.
Another side effect of not listing women on the ship's books is that there is no accurate way to compute any casualties they suffered. John Nicol reports that several women were wounded in Goliath, and one woman from Leith eventually died of her wounds, soon to be buried on Aboukir Island. Despite the fact that their presence could not be officially acknowledged, numerous British women displayed the courage and fortitude to defend their country and their families at sea.
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| An engraving of the frigate United States under full sail by Master William Brady, USN. |
Following the United States' declaration of war against Great Britain in 1812, the fledgling United States Navy enjoyed a string of victories in single ship actions: Constitution vs. Guerriere, Wasp vs. Frolic, United States vs. Macedonian, and Constitution vs. Java. Despite these initial victories at sea, the American naval situation was somewhat desperate with the Royal Navy intending to blockade the coast from New York to New Orleans. Special attention was paid to the city of Boston with the goal of keeping the American frigates bottled up in port. In June of 1813, the luckless frigate Chesapeake would be captured by HMS Shannon attempting to run the Boston blockade.
Meanwhile at New York, Commodore Stephen Decatur's squadron, led by the frigate United States tried unsuccessfully to get to sea. Quickly realizing that any serious attempt to break through the blockade would certainly result in fierce action and likely significant casualties, Decatur decided that it could be useful to carry several nurses aboard ship in case it should prove difficult to transfer his wounded to hospitals ashore. The wives of two seamen would soon join United States as nurses in the spring of 1813.
Mary Marshall and Mary Humphries Allen appear on the ship's books as supernumerary nurses on May 10, 1813. No information exists as to any previous medical experience for the two women, but one assumes the ship's surgeon was instrumental in establishing and supervising their duties aboard ship. Mary Marshall was the wife of a former British sailor named William Goodman (he joined the USN as 'John Allen' to avoid retaliation for his desertion). Mary Marshall's husband is difficult to identify; he may have been either James or Thomas Marshall, both of whom appear on the ship's books in 1811 and 1813, respectively. Unfortunately, the two women are unlikely to have served in action, as United States never made it far out to sea while they were aboard. Late in May, United States and her squadron cruised from New York, passed through Hell Gate and reached New London, CT on May 26. Decatur spent the next five days gathering what intelligence he could on the dispositions of British warships in the area. Receiving word that the closest British ships were off station and leaving an escape route open, Decatur put to sea again, but quickly encountered a pair of British 74's off Block Island. Despite the British attempts to cut off escape, the squadron safely returned to New London where it remained closely blockaded.
On October 28, 1813, John Allen fell overboard while performing work on the ship's anchor and cathead, and drowned. After her husband was buried in New London, Mary Allen receives permission from Commodore Decatur to make her return to New York. What happened to Mary Marshall is unknown...she may have returned to New York with Mrs. Allen, or could have accompanied her husband to his next assignment (Decatur and much of the United States crew was transferred to the frigate President in early 1814). While little information remains on what impact these two women made aboard United States, nurses Mary Marshall and Mary Allen remain the earliest documented instances of females serving aboard a United States warship.
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| Admiral Michelle Howard, the USN's first female 4-Star Admiral. |
Since the Age of Sail, women have continued to distinguish themselves at sea. Michelle Howard was not only the first African-American woman to command an American warship (USS Rushmore in 1999), but as Vice Chief of Naval Operations, she was promoted to become the US Navy's first female 4-Star Admiral in 2014. Wendi Carpenter became the first female naval aviator promoted to flag rank in 2011. Margaret Klein would become the first female Commandant of Midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy. These are just a few modern examples; I'd be remiss in writing an article on women in the navy if I didn't mention "Amazing" Grace Hopper (one of America's first female admirals), who spent decades working on early computers in the US Navy.
Given enough time, I could go on at great length of the achievements women have made in the navies of the world. Suffice it to say that they have more than proven themselves capable of thriving in a life of hardship upon the raging main. I'd like to conclude with the following remark made by Rear Admiral Lord Sir, Edward Pellew, Viscount Exmouth, reporting on the Battle of Algiers in 1816:
"British women served at the same guns with their husbands, and during a contest of many hours, never shrank from danger, but animated all around them."
Sources:
1. Lavery, Brian, Nelson and the Nile: The Naval War Against Bonaparte, 1798, (Endeavour Press, Ltd., 2014).
2. Langley, Harold D. "The Old Navy: Women in a Warship, 1813." Proceedings January 1984: 124-125. Print.
3. Stark, Suzanne, Female Tars: Women Aboard Ship in the Age of Sail, (US Naval Institute Press, 1996).
4. New York Times, A Four-Star Female Admiral Makes History for the Navy, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/12/us/12admiral.html?_r=0 (July 11, 2014).
5. Wikipedia, Women in the United States Navy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_United_States_Navy (March 29, 2017).
