The Women of The American Revolution, Vol. 2 — Inside the Classic

Domestic Virtue vs. Public Action

Ellet repeatedly praises women for qualities that align with domesticity: 'uncomplaining endurance,' 'cheerful fortitude,' and influence gained 'by the affections.' Martha Washington is described as 'the same unostentatious, magnanimous woman' in retirement or high station. Yet the volume also includes women who stepped outside that sphere. Mrs. Ashe's retort to Tarleton—'If you had looked behind you, Colonel Tarleton, at the battle of the Cowpens, you would have had that pleasure'—is a sharp, public defiance. Ellet notes that the retort has been 'variously repeated' and often misattributed, showing how such stories circulated and were contested. The contrast between the ideal of quiet sacrifice and the reality of women who spoke or acted boldly is a recurring pattern.

Anecdotal Evidence and Its Limits

Ellet relies heavily on anecdotes, often from family members or local tradition. For Mrs. Willie Jones, she quotes an acquaintance: 'She is the only person with whom it has been my fortune to be acquainted, who was loved—devotedly, enthusiastically loved—by every human being who knew her.' Such testimony is vivid but secondhand. Ellet also corrects a misattribution: the famous retort to Tarleton was not by Mrs. Jones but by her sister Mrs. Ashe, as 'assured by her daughter.' This attention to accuracy suggests Ellet was aware of the oral nature of her sources. The reader should note that many stories come from a single informant and may reflect family pride or local legend rather than verified fact.

The Frontier and the Feminine

The volume includes sketches of women in frontier settings, such as the 'Women of Kentucky' and an incident in Burke County, North Carolina, where families fled Indian attack. The description of a 'hollow square' formation with 'refugee families in the centre' places women and children at the heart of military danger. Ellet's language—'the inhabitants on the frontier... being apprehensive of an attack by the Indians'—reflects a settler perspective common to the period. These sections broaden the definition of Revolutionary experience beyond the coastal elite, showing women whose trials involved not just British soldiers but also the dangers of the wilderness. The contrast between the refined 'White House' of Martha Washington and the fortified retreats of frontier women is stark.

Readers should approach these sketches as a mosaic of memory and idealization. Ellet compiled her work from letters, family stories, and earlier published accounts, often without independent verification. The women emerge as types—the dignified matron, the quick-witted patriot, the stoic refugee—as much as individuals. Pay attention to who speaks and who is silent; many profiles rely on male relatives or local historians for their details. The volume is valuable not only for its subjects but for what it reveals about how Revolutionary women were remembered in the mid-nineteenth century.

What stayed with me from the second volume was how Martha Washington’s quiet endurance felt louder than any battle cry. That same hush lingers in Running the Blockade A Personal Narrative of Adventures, Risks, and Escapes During the American Civil War — A Closer Reading — not the grand gestures, but the small, held breaths between dangers. I keep thinking about that kind of courage.