In the years leading up to the Revolution women were active in protesting British Rule. After the passage of the Townshed Acts, which impose duties on goods to America, the Daughters of Liberty organized to enforce boycotts of British goods. They devised substitutes of tea and linen. Sometimes they took direct action against merchants who charged huge fee during the war or those that hoarded scare goods. Colonial women formed a number of Ladies Patriotic Societies. They made socks, sweaters, and bandages, sewed quilts and dipped candles. Some raised money for the purchase of boots and powder. Ester Reed and Sara Bache organized thirty-nine women in Philadelphia to raise money to buy material for more than 2,000 shirts. A number of merchants of the Colonial era were women. Their butcher shops, flour mills, bakeries, fish markets, lumber mills, and textile looms supplied the Continental army. During the war, women, especially the wives of well-known revolutionaries, were the targets of British and Hessian troops. Their homes, crops and businesses were destroyed. There are records in several states of gang rapes. American women did some of the destruction of property to deny the British supplies. Catherine Van Rennsaeler Schuyler, the wife of an American General, rode from New York City to her family's farm and burned the crops so the British could not harvest. Her example inspired other wealthy farmers to burn their fields. Rebecca Motte, of South Carolina, set fire to her own plantation to force the British occupiers out to face the attacking American forces. In Peperell, Massachusetts, Prudence Wright commanded a troop of women dressed as men known as Prudence Wright's Guards. They captured a British courier and sent the plans to the Massachusetts militia. All of these women, no matter what the capacity, nor personality, nor final outcome, served their country during the American Revolution. Unfortunately, we are not left with a quantity of documentary evidence. They were there, however, side-by side with the men of the eighteenth century. More American Revolution Women Warriors Introduction Lydia Darragh Sybil Ludington Deborah Gannet Sampson Women in the Continental Army Civilian Women's Roles Back to Cry Havoc #31 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com