THE
Female Soldier;
Or, The Surprising
LIFE and ADVENTURES
OF
HANNAH SNELL,

LONDON:
Printed for, and Sold by R. Walker, the Corner of Elliot’s-Court,
in the Little Old-Bailey. 1750. Price One Shilling.

TO THE
PUBLICK.

Notwithstanding the surprising Adventures of this our British Heroine, of whom the following Pages fully and impartially treat; yet the Oddity of her Conduct for preserving her Virtue was such, that it demands not only Respect, but Admiration; and as there is nothing to be found in the following Sheets, but what is Matter of Fact, it merits the Countenance and Approbation of every Inhabitant of this great Isle, especially the Fair Sex, for whom this Treatise is chiefly intended; and the Truth of which being confirmed by our Heroines Affidavit, made before the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, the said Affidavit is hereunto annexed, in order to prevent the Publick from being imposed upon by fictitious Accounts.

Hannah Snell, born in the City of Worcester, in the Year of our Lord 1723, and who took upon her the Name of James Gray, maketh Oath, and saith, That she this Deponent served his present Majesty King George, as a Soldier and Sailor, from the 27th of November, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty five, to the 9th of this Instant June, and entered herself as a Marine in Capt. Graham’s Company in Col. Fraser’s Regiment, and went on board the Swallow, his Majesty’s Sloop of War, to the East-Indies, belonging to Admiral Boscawen’s Squadron, where this Deponent was present at the Siege of Pondicherry, and all the other Sieges during that Expedition, in which she received Twelve Wounds, some of which were dangerous, and was put into the Hospital for Cure of the same, and returned into England in the Eltham Man of War, Capt. Lloyd Commander, without the least Discovery of her Sex.

And this Deponent further maketh Oath, and saith, That she has delivered to Robert Walker, Printer, in the Little Old-Bailey, London, a full and true Account of the many surprising Incidents, and wonderful Hardships she underwent during the Time she was in his Majesty’s Service as aforesaid, to be by him printed and published.

And this Deponent lastly saith, That she has not given the least Hint of her surprising Adventures to any other Person, nor will she, this Deponent, give any the Least Account thereof, to any Person whatsoever, to be printed or published, save and except the above-mentioned Robert Walker.

Sworn before me this 27th Day
of June, 1750, at Goldsmith’s
Hall, London,

J. Blachford, Mayor.

Witness

Susannah Gray,
Sister of the said Hannah Snell.
T. Edwards.

Her
Hannah   x   Snell,
Mark.

THE
LIFE
AND
ADVENTURES
OF
Hannah Snell, &c.

But sure if Heroism, Fortitude, and a Soul equal to all the glorious Acts of War and Conquest, are Things so rare, and so much admired among Men; how much rarer, and consequently how much more are they to be admired among Women?  . . . . But among all our Heroines, none comes more immediately under our Cognizance, nor, perhaps, more merits our Attention than the remarkable Hannah Snell, whose History is highly interesting, both on Account of the Variety of amazing Incidents, and the untainted Veracity with which it is attended. Some People guided rather by the Suggestions of Caprice, than the Dictates of Reason and a sound Understanding, have foolishly imagin’d, that Persons of low and undistinguished Births, hardly ever raised themselves to the Summit of Glory and Renown; but they will find themselves widely mistaken. . . . But if this Observation had the smallest Foundation either in Nature or the Course of human Experience, from the most remote, to the present Age, yet its Force does by no Means extend to Hannah Snell, the Heroine of the subsequent Narrative: For though her immediate Progenitors were but low in the World, when compared with Dukes, Earls and Generals, yet she had the Seeds of Heroism, Courage and Patriotism transferred to her from her Ancestors[.] . . .

Some Time after she came to London, she contracted an Acquaintance with one James Summs, a Sailor, who was a Dutchman; this Acquaintance was gradually improved into a Familiarity, and this Familiarity soon created a mutual, tho’ not a criminal Passion; for in a little Time, Summs made his Addresses to her as a Lover, and gained her Consent, and was married to her at the Fleet, on the sixth Day of January, 1743-4. But all his Promises of Friendship, proved Instances of the highest Perfidy, and he turn’d out the worst and most unnatural of Husbands. Since, tho’ she had Charms enough to captivate the Heart, and secure the Affection of any reasonable Man, yet she was despised and contemned by her Husband, who not only kept criminal Company with other Women of the basest Characters, but also made away with her Things, in Order to support his Luxury, and the daily Expenses of his Whores. . . . [W]hen she was seven Months gone with Child, her perfidious Husband finding himself deeply involved in Debt, made an Elopement from her. Notwithstanding these her Calamities, she patiently bore herself up under them, and in two Months after her Husband’s Departure was delivered of a Daughter which lived no more than seven Months, and was decently interred at her own Expense at St. George’s Parish in Middlesex. . . .

As she was now free from all the Ties arising from Nature and Consanguinity; she thought herself privileged to roam in quest of the Man, who, without Reason, had injured her so much; for there are no Bounds to be set either to Love, Jealousy or Hatred, in the female Mind. That she might execute her Designs with the better Grace, and the more Success, she boldly commenced a Man, at least in her Dress, and no doubt she had a Right to do so, since she had the real Soul of a Man in her Breast. Dismay’d at no Accidents, and giving a full Scope to the genuine Bent of her Heart, she put on a Suit of her Brother-in-Law, Mr. James Gray’s, Clothes, assumed his Name, and set out on the 23d of November, 1745, and traveled to Coventry, with a View of finding her Husband, where she enlisted on the 27th of the said Month of November, in General Guise’s Regiment, and in the Company belonging to Captain Miller.

With this Regiment she marched from Coventry to Carlisle, where she learned her military Exercise, which she now performs with as much Skill and Dexterity as any Serjeant or Corporal in his Majesty’s Service. But here, as Fortune is often a Foe to the Distressed, she met with a discouraging Circumstance; for her Serjeant, whose Name was Davis, having a criminal Inclination for a young Woman in that Town, looked upon this our Female Heroine, (a common Soldier in the Company) as a proper Person for assisting him in this his vicious Intrigue, therefore disclosed to her this Bosom Secret, and desired her Endeavours in promoting this End; however, this open Discovery caused a sudden Emotion in her Mind, her virtuous Soul abhorred with a becoming Detestation the criminal Intention; yet to prevent the ill Consequences that she foresaw must ensue from a refusal of complying with his Request, she promised to use her Endeavours in his Behalf; but instead of acting the Pimp, she went and disclosed the whole Matter to the young Woman, and warned her against the impending Danger; which Act of Virtue and Generosity in a Soldier, gained her the Esteem and Confidence of this young Woman, who took great delight in her Company; and seldom a Day passed but they were together, having cultivated an Intimacy and Friendship with each other: But Davis going one Day to make his Addresses to his Mistress, met with an unexpected Repulse, which unusual Treatment made him suspect our Female Soldier. Jealousy that Moment took Possession of his guilty Breast, and he imagined, that instead of befriending him in his Amours, she had become his Rival, and had gained her over to her Inclinations. These Reflections troubled him much; Revenge reigned triumphant in his Breast, and how to punish her was his chief Aim: He took hold of the earliest Opportunity, and accused her before the commanding Officer for Neglect of Duty, upon which she was sentenced to receive six hundred Lashes, five hundred of which she received, having her Hands tied to the Castle Gates for a Crime which Nature put it out of her Power to perpetrate, and had undergone the Punishment of the other Hundred, had it not been for the Intercession of some of the Officers. . . .

Having gone so far with the Author of this Subject, I cannot refrain making a little Digression, and making a few Reflections upon the melancholy Prospect: What an Ocean of Troubles was this unfortunate Woman involved in? Behold her inwardly looking back on the past Vicissitudes of her Life, on an inhumane, ungrateful and faithless Husband, who had broke through all Engagements, sacred and civil, and had drove her into all the direful Troubles and Afflictions she was then involved in: Behold her tempted by a vicious Man, to be aiding and assisting in carrying on an immodest and abominable Intrigue; but (being inspired with virtuous and generous Sentiments) she proved the Instrument of extracting Good out of Evil, in discovering to the innocent Maid, where the Net was spread for her, that she might guard her self against the Adversary: Behold the Friendship that this virtuous Discovery produced, it chained them together in the strictest Bonds of Love and Affection, which never quitted its hold, till forced thereto by a hard Fate: Behold her suspected of supplanting the Serjeant of his Mistress, and the direful Effects his Jealousy occasioned, having her Arms extended, and fixed to the City Gates, and there receive the Number of five hundred severe Lashes, as the Effects of a partial and unjust Sentence: Behold her tender Flesh cut and mangled by these Scourgings, and the Pains and Agonies she suffered: Behold in this her Distress, the friendly Sympathy and eager Assistance of her female Friend, who administred Relief to her under this her Dilemma: Behold the Commotions she felt upon perciving one in the Regiment whom she knew, and by whom she was afraid of being discovered; the bad Treatment she met with from the Serjeant, and what a Storm must surround her upon her projecting the Means for an Escape, and the moving Seperation ’twixt her and her Friend: The Rehearsal of so many concurring Circumstances of Adversity, is sufficient to melt the most stoney Heart into a compassionate Tenderness for this our female Adventurer.

Having finished this Digression, I shall begin where I left off.  . . . [S]he courageously enlisted herself in Captain Graham’s Company in Colonel Fraser’s Regiment, and soon after there was a Draft made, to go abroad in Admiral Boscawen’s Fleet, and she chanced to be one of the Number drafted, and went immediately on board the Swallow Sloop, Captain Rosier, Commander. . .  .

On their first setting sail, they enjoyed as fine Weather, and as fair Winds as could possibly be wished for, to convey a Ship safely and expeditiously from one Harbour to another. But no sooner were they arrived in the Bay of Biscay than the Scene was altered; their favorable Weather converted into a dismal Hurricane, and their smooth placed Ocean, changed into Billows, which threatened them with immediate Death, by this Moment raising them to the Clouds, and in the next plunging them, as it were, to the Centre of the Earth. The Danger may be easily estimated, from the Circumstance, for the Swallow was as strong and well built a Vessel, as any belonging to his Majesty’s Navy of her Burden: yet such was the Stress of Weather, that she sprung her Main-mast, and lost not only the Jib-Boom, but also two Top-masts. After they had for several Days been beat about in this imminent Danger, they with great Difficulty arrived in the Port of Lisbon, which was great Joy to them, after having suffered so much in the Bay of Biscay, where every Moment they had been in danger of being swallowed up in the vast Abyss. In this Port, which to them was like a safe Asylum, or Sanctuary, to a Man pursued by a hungry and enraged Lyon, they continued three Weeks; because the Vessel was so damaged, that the Number of Hands employed in refitting her could not do it sooner. . . .

When they arrived at the Cape [of Good Hope], they there met with the Admiral in the Namur, which was great Joy to them; and our Heroine being disappointed hitherto of meeting her faithless Husband, and now seeing the Fleet all in Company, was in hopes of acquiring some Glory as a Soldier, knowing the Reason of this Fleet’s being fitted out was to annoy the Enemies of her Country, which soon happened according to her Wishes, as the Fleet soon sailed from this Port for Morusus, on which Place they began their first Attack; and though unexperienced in the Use of Arms, except in learning her Exercise, she behaved with an uncommon Bravery, and exerted herself in her Country’s Cause.

This Attack did not hold long; our brave Admiral finding this impracticable, and unwilling to lose his Ships and Men, for whom he had great Regard, left that Place, and sailed for Fort St. David’s, where they arrived in a little Time, and the Marines being put on Shore joined the English Army, and encamped, and in about three Weeks marched and encamped before Elacapong, and laid Siege to it, with an Intent to storm the Place. This fresh Adventure inspired her with fresh Hopes of shewing her undaunted Courage, which she did to the Admiration of her Officers; but on the tenth Day of the Siege, a Shell from the English took the Magazine of the Enemy, and blew it up, which occasioned them to surrender at Discretion. . . .

During this long Voyage, they often used, as I have just said, on account of her smooth Face, to burlesque her, by swearing she was a Woman. This Expression, however indifferently they meant it, gave her abundance of Trouble; she foresaw what the Consequence would be, in case this Joke was carried too far; to prevent which, she with a masculine but modest Assurance, told them, that if they would lay any Wager, she would give them ocular Demonstration of her being as much a Man as the best in the Ship; which Reply had the desired Effect, seeing it put a Stop to their further Suggestions: Next, they began to declare her to be a Woman on account of her smooth Face, seeing she had no Beard; but she told them that she was so very young, that it could not be supposed she should have a Beard so soon; however, she could not prevent their calling her by the Name of Molly Gray, which Appellation she went by during the Voyage, until they arrived at Lisbon.

While they lay at Lisbon, she often went on Shore in Company with the Ship's Crew, upon Parties of Pleasure, and was always their Companion in their Revellings; this Part she acted, not out of Choice, but for wise Ends. She remember’d in what Manner she had been reflected upon by them during the Voyage from St. David’s to Lisbon, therefore she pointed out this Method as the most effectual, to prevent any further suspicious Reflections for the future. She very wisely judged, that by associating herself with them, by shewing a free and cheerful Disposition, and by being ready to come into their Measures, she should banish from their Imaginations the least Suspicion of her being a Woman, and by that Means enjoy a free and uninterrupted Passage to her native Country, without discovering her Sex. There was one of the Ship’s Crew, named Edward Jefferies, an intimate Acquaintance, a Marine, and Mess-mate of her’s; they two had contracted an Acquaintance and Familiarity with two young Women in Lisbon, the handsomest of which was the favorite of our Heroine; but Jefferies taking a greater liking to her Choice than his own, proposed to toss up who should have her, which she readily agreed to, not caring how soon she should be rid of such a Companion: This Jefferies on tossing up gained the Lady, upon which she readily resigned her into his Hands, and made that serve as a good Excuse for being rid of them both. This Intimacy subsisted between them and the Portuguese Women while they remained at Lisbon, and when they were about to set sail for England, their Sweethearts came to the Ship’s side in order to take Leave of them, but was prevented from coming on board, by the Command of the Captain.

We shall leave the candid Reader at liberty to judge the Disorders, Terrors and Distractions that so many various Scenes must have plunged her into; such a Disquiet, that she had not felt the like in all her past Enterprises. A thousand Inquietudes rolled in upon her, like so many Billows, and almost sunk her down into the Abyss of Despair. She began to reflect upon the many Vicissitudes she had underwent, since her first launching out into the boisterous Sea of War, occasioned by the Cruelty of a perfidious Husband. What Dangers, what Hardships, and what Fatigues she had underwent! The many Inconveniences she had overcome, and the Difficulties she had surmounted, in preserving her Virtue untainted in the midst of so many vicious and profane Actions, as had often been represented in their blackest Sable to her view, and that she had hitherto come off Conqueress, and when almost at the Door of her native Country, unsullied and undefiled by any of these Temptations wherewith she had been assaulted; then to be in the greatest Danger; then to have that Virtue, which had hitherto been her assistant and comfortable Companion in all her adverse Fortune, tore from her Breast, and nothing left behind but Shame, Guilt and Confusion.  . . .

I would have my candid Readers survey in Imagination, the many various Scenes that here display themselves with a most surprising Luster. Here is a Woman, and an English Woman, who, notwithstanding the many Dangers and Vicissitudes she underwent for near the Space of five Years, during her Travels, was never found out to be of the feminine Gender. It is true many threatened Discoveries were attempted by her Shipmates and Fellow-Adventurers, which derived its Influence from her not having a Beard; but her ready Turns of Mind undeceived all those who shewed themselves overbusy in prying into this Secret: This her Conduct, very surprisingly preserved her Virtue from becoming a Sacrifice to the Impetuosity of the carnal Desires of both her Superiors and Inferiors; for can it be imagined, that in the midst of so many Dangers, where there was no Back-Door to creep out at, if her Sex had been discovered, but she must have fallen a Victim to the loose, disorderly, and vitious Appetites of many on board, especially those whom she was more immediately concerned with, to wit, her Officers. These Reflections must possess the Reader with generous Sentiments of this our Heroine, who by her Subtilty, and ready Inventions, destroyed in the Embryo, everything advanced by her Fellow-Shipmates, that she imagined might be a Means of exposing her Virtue.

Such an Adventure as this, is not to be met with in the Records of either antient or modern Observations, therefore, for the Sake of the British Nation, ought to be recorded in Golden Characters on a Statue of Marble for succeeding Ages, to peruse with Admiration, that an English Woman should, Amazon like, not only enter herself upon the List in behalf of her Country at Home, but boldly and resolutely launch out into the most remote Corners of the Earth, upon enterprizing and dangerous Adventures, the like never attempted before by any of her Sex, even daring Fate, as it were, to execute her most rigorous Inflictions upon her; the many Struglings and Conflicts she encounter’d during the Course of her Travels, not being used to the watery Element, and the many Revolutions that often happen upon the Surface of the Deep; the many Duties she was obliged to execute, in the midst of Hundreds of the most unpolite Part of Mankind, such as Tars; the many Fears and Suspicions she harboured least her Sex should be discovered, to avoid which, she proved her own Physician, in extracting the Ball out of her Wound, to prevent that Discovery which must unavoidably have happened, had she permitted the Surgeons to have performed their regular Operations: These, with many more, (seemingly insurmountable Difficulties) did this our British Heroine undergo, and overcome, by her safe Arrival in her native Country, as before-mentioned. . . .

When she arrived in London, she went to her Brother in Law’s House, in Ship-Street, Wapping. . . . There was at this Time a Female Lodger in Mr. Gray’s House, of whom Mr. Gray requested, that she would admit a Sister of his for a Bedfellow, to which she readily agreed: But when the Sister was introduced, the young Woman, who was then in Bed, was very much surprised to see a Soldier sit down to undress himself in her Bed-Chamber; but Mr. Gray and his Wife discovered the Secret, which, notwithstanding, she would not Credit, until she had ocular Demonstration. This was the first, next to her Brother and Sister, that she discovered herself to, and ever since they have been Bedfellows, which made the Neighbours report (imagining her to be a Man) that the young Woman was married to a Soldier, and this great Untruth was reported for Fact throughout the whole Neighbourhood.

Sometime after this, she, in Company with her Sister and supposed Wife, went to Westminster, in order to see her Friends, who were very much dissatisfied at her carrying a strange Woman in Company with her supposed Brother, who perhaps, upon receiving his Money, might decoy him into some Place of bad Fame, where he might chance to lose it all in an Instant. This, together with some former Passages, constrains me to observe how much the Publick, both at Home and Abroad, have been deceived in this Woman, she being so long in the Army and Navy, where there were many penetrating clear-sighted Gentlemen, and ashore in foreign Countries amongst Men, Women and Children; and notwithstanding all these publick Characters, her Sex not discovered. This must cause Admiration in every Reader; but she counterfeited the Man so dexterously, and does to this very Day, that the most excellent Judge of Features, Symmetry or Gesture, cannot discover the Deceit.

But that I may not suffer any of my inquisitive Readers to remain in suspense concerning some particular Adventures that befell her, the bare Relation of which may not be altogether so satisfactory, I shall explain those which appear most Paradoxical, in order not only to satisfy every Reader, but also to prevent any future Reflexions that might occasionally arise from such a Neglect.

When she first entered into the Service at Coventry, she marched to Carlisle, where she was Whipt for Neglect of Duty, being unjustly accused by Serjeant Davis, as is fully mentioned in the preceding Pages. The Method she used to prevent the Discovery of her Sex was this, according to her own Declaration: Her Breasts were then not so big by much as they are at present, her Arms being extended and fixed to the City Gates, her Breasts were drawn up, and consequently did not appear so large; and besides this, her Breast was to the Wall, and could not be discovered by any of her Comrades; and when she was Whipt on board, her Hands being lashed to the Gangway, she stood upright, and tied a Handkerchief around her Neck, to prevent, as it were, any Lashes that she might accidentally receive there, to conceal her Breasts, which were covered by the Ends of the Handkerchief falling over them, and thereby prevented a Discovery which must unavoidably have happened, had not she thus acted. And what the Consequences of such an unraveled Secret would have produced, she was at a Loss to imagine, the Thoughts of which perplexed her incessantly; however, she escaped being discovered at this Juncture also, as well as at many more, when she imagined herself in the most imminent Dangers: But all those adverse Turns gave an Edge to her Inventions, and by that means extricated her out of the many Difficulties she was involved in.

This the Reader may plainly perceive throughout the whole Narration; and I am convinced, that no Age or Country, ever produced a more distinguished Instance of Virtue, Conduct and Resolution, than is to be met with in this our Heroine’s Adventures, which is worthy to be transmitted to latest Posterity; to inform succeeding Ages, that such an Instance of Heroism was not to be found in the British Annals, that the like could not be met with, in the Observations of any Nation in the World, that a Woman, whose mould is tender, delicate and unable to endure Fatigues, and who is terrified at the Name of Dangers, should undergo so many Scenes without relinquishing her Resolution of keeping her Sex a Secret. . . .

I shall conclude this Subject, with observing, that notwithstanding the many Reflections thrown upon the Fair Sex on Account of their Weakness in Point of Secret, the Conduct of our Heroine in this Particular is a plain and demonstrative Proof of this Truth, that a Woman is not only capable of confining a Secret in her Bosom, but actually do so upon sundry Emergences, seeing she concealed her Sex in the midst of the greatest Dangers and Hardships; no Difficulties, no Pains, no Terrors, nor Prospect of future Calamities, could prevail upon her to discover a Secret, which, if once divulged, might have proved more fatal to her Repose, than all the Difficulties she had undergone during the past Course of her Adventures.

The Adventures of this Female Soldier, as the like is not to be parallelled in History, should never be forgot by our British Ladies, but whenever satirized by any of the Masculine Gentry, they should always have this Repartee ready, Remember Hannah Snell.

I shall now conclude with informing the Public, that she still continues to wear her Regimentals; but how she intends to dispose of herself, or when, if ever, to change her Dress, is more than what she at present seems certain of.

FINIS.

As this Treatise was done in a Hurry from Hannah Snell’s own Mouth, and directly committed to the Press, occasioned by the Impatience of the Town to have it published, it is not doubted but that such Part of it as appears somewhat incorrect, will be candidly overlooked, that, being made up in the Veracity and Fullness of her surprising Adventures; the like not to be met with in the Records of Time.

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