The most notable Philadelphia woman to help the Patriot cause, was Lydia Darragh. She had a great view from her window to watch British activities, and she would record them in coded messages and hide the messages in her sons' coat buttons who would then bring them to his older brother serving in Washington's army.
Crazy right?
One night, British Major Andre commandeered Lydia's house for him and his fellow officers to bunker down in. Which, by the way, is why we have the 3rd Amendment - that civilians don't have to quarter troops. When a woman would have to "host" troops in her house, she would have to do all their cooking, cleaning, and laundry - at best. And at worst, she was raped as well.
When Andre commandeered her house he told her he wanted her asleep while his troops were in there, and he would come upstairs to let her know when they wanted to be let out. Sensing that something wasn't right, she snuck into the hallway and pressed her ear against the keyhole. Sure enough, she hears the British plan to stage a surprise attack on over 5,000 American troops two days from then.
This was during the wintertime, and in the 1700s, armies did not fight during the winter - all fighting was called off and each army camps out. So this attack would have been a huge blow to the American army, because it would be both unexpected and during the winter. All in all, a crippling defeat, moreover, not the fair way to play war.
Lydia rushes back to bed and pretends to be sleeping when Andre knocks on her door for his troops to be let out. He knocks on the door once. No answer. Knocks again. No answer. Then he bangs loudly on the door and a groggy Lydia pulls herself out of bed to open the door.
Lydia then came up with a plan to be able to report her findings to the American army. She pretended that she needed to go out of town to get flour, and since during the war they were under martial law, she had to receive a pass from General Howe to do so.
With the Americans informed of the British surprise attack, they were well prepared, and the British walked straight into a line of cannons, completely defeated by the end of the battle.
The British goes back into town, and Major Andre KNOWS that someone tipped off the Americans. He goes to Lydia and demands to know who in her family was awake, and she says, "All my family was asleep, you know that," and he says, "I know it definitely wasn't you, because I had to knock on your door three times to wake you up."
Tricky, right?
And the British never figured out who it was that told, and who it was that saved over 5,000 American troops that day.
The even more amazing part of this story is that Lydia Darragh and her family were Quaker. Quakers are known for not getting involved, remaining neutral. During this time, if they were to have taken any side, they would have been quiet Loyalists, because that was maintaining the status quo.
So not only is it extraordinary that Lydia as a Quaker she was a Patriot, but that she did something about it too. It's interesting that her husband refused to get involved, yet she did. And after she did, the church excommunicated her.
All in all, Lydia Darragh was an amazing woman who sacrified for a cause she truly believed in.
And that's my two cents.
No comments:
Post a Comment