History & Nostalgia
Home Page Photo: Davy Davis with Donna McNeil, NC DAR District II Vice Director and Honorary Regent of the Daniel Boone Chapter. Above: Lydia Darragh giving warning [to Continental Army officer on horseback],
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
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Patriots in Petticoats
By Trimella Chaney
How fortunate we are to be living in the year 2026 to celebrate our country’s beginnings and the brave folks who birthed it!
Thankfully we can remember stories of our brave male ancestors who, as William Page’s American Creed states, “… were American patriots who sacrificed their lives and fortunes.” But what about the names Sarah Bradlee, Esther de Berdt Reed and Lydia Darragh? What are their stories? We must also recognize and honor the courageous contributions of the ladies of the Revolution.
Meet the “Mother of the Boston Tea Party,” Sarah Bradlee Fulton. As an active member of the Daughters of Liberty she was politically aware, and encouraging of her brother, Nathaniel’s, and his friends’ rebellious activities. On most Saturday evenings, the men would gather at the tavern for a codfish supper located beside Sarah’s sewing shop in Boston. Sarah and her sister-in-law are credited with disguising Nathaniel and his compatriots as Mohawks, who then “turned the Boston Harbor into a teapot.” Later, she turned them back into respectable Bostonians. At one point, a spy, hoping to catch Nathaniel Bradlee in his traitorous activities, peered into the window of Sarah’s shop and saw two women going about their business and thought nothing of it! The results of the “Tea Party” meant that no British tea was to be consumed by the colonists. Sarah and her friends declared raspberry tea and mint tea to be “Liberty Tea” and to be used instead.
Costuming was not her only gift she contributed to the Revolution. Sarah Bradlee actually delivered an important message behind enemy lines to General Washington when her husband was unable to do it. She turned Wade’s Tavern into a field hospital and tended the sick and wounded there. With steady nerves, she removed bullets from the wounded. During the siege of Boston, she and her husband used their own ship to provide American troops with wood and fuel. She is now honored with a monument at the Salem Street Burying Ground commemorating her courageous contributions.
Esther de Berdt Reed, first lady of Pennsylvania, published a pamphlet entitled Sentiments of an American Woman encouraging financial sacrifice and the increased role of women in public service. With Sarah Franklin, Benjamin Franklin’s daughter, she co-founded the Ladies Association of Philadelphia to raise money for resources for George Washington’s troops. Through Esther’s hard work, American women throughout the 13 colonies raised $300,000 for the Continental Army. Her husband then wrote to General Washington to tell him about the money and the ladies’ hope that the money would be used as the Continental Army desired. Four days later, a response from General Washington arrived suggesting that they use the money to purchase linen instead! Undeterred, Esther wrote General Washington herself and stated that she and the ladies still hoped that the money would be used on something else. General Washington replied that the funds would be better suited towards clothing because some of the men would misuse the money on things such as alcohol. Esther agreed to buy the linen and to organize a sewing team. The volunteer seamstresses sewed their names into the shirts to show their support for the troops. More than 2,000 shirts were delivered!
Perhaps the bravest of all these patriots is Lydia Darragh. Many people credit her with saving General Washington’s army from an ambush at Whitemarsh in December of 1777. Lydia Darragh’s house was across the street from British General William Howe’s headquarters in Philadelphia. When the British officers needed a larger room for an important meeting, they commandeered a room in her house for their secret conference. She was supposed to go to bed and they would wake her when the meeting was over so that she could lock up her house. Instead, she eavesdropped and learned of their plan to ambush Washington’s army.
Within the next two days, she requested and received a pass to leave the city to go to Frankford Mill to buy flour. Once outside the city, she made her way to the Continental Army at Whitemarsh. She passed the important information to Colonel Thomas Craig from Washington’s army, got her flour, and headed back to Philadelphia. That night the British marched on Whitemarsh. Instead of the ambush they intended, they were met by the Continental Army, armed and ready. The British were forced to return to Philadelphia, as one of the British officers wrote, “like a parcel of fools.”
British Intelligence agents became aware of the “bag of flour” trick too late. She was just a poor Quaker woman who was a pacifist and needed flour to feed her family, or so they thought. Lydia Darragh’s wily scheme was successful in passing important information on several occasions to the Continental Army, thereby preparing them for attacks by the British. In 2013 the Sons of the American Revolution created the Lydia Darragh Medal to be awarded to the woman who has provided significant service to the President General of the Sons of the American Revolution.
The Daniel Boone Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution recently honored these brave women with a program during Constitution Week and enjoyed some Liberty Tea for the occasion.
As we celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation this year, let us also remember and honor the courage and bravery of our Patriots in Petticoats.
Trimella Chaney is a member of the Daniel Boone Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.