Anne made quite a name for herself by her actions, working as a scout and messenger. Here is part of her story!
‘MAD’ ANNE BAILEY: Frontier Scout and Messenger
A statue of 'Mad Anne' Bailey along the Ohio River. (Credit: Nicole Beckett/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)
Anne Hennis Trotter Bailey, known as “Mad Anne,” worked as a frontier scout and messenger during the Revolutionary War. Originally from Liverpool, England, Anne sailed to America at the age of 19, after both her parents died. She eventually married a veteran frontiersman and soldier named Richard Trotter and settled in Staunton, Virginia.
Richard, who joined the Virginia militia as tensions between frontiersmen and Native Americans grew, was killed in the Battle of Point Pleasant, West Virginia in late 1774. After learning of her husband’s death, Mad Anne showed her mettle: She dressed in buckskin pants and a petticoat, left her son with neighbors—and sought revenge.
With rifle, hunting knife and tomahawk in hand, Anne became a scout and messenger recruiting volunteers to join the militia and sometimes delivering gunpowder to the soldiers. She couriered messages between Point Pleasant and Lewisburg, West Virginia—a 160-mile journey on horseback.
Her most famous ride took place in 1791. After soldiers at Fort Lee got word that the Native Americans were planning to attack, and discovered that their gunpowder supply was desperately low, Anne galloped to the rescue. She rode the 100 miles to Lewisburg, where she switched horses, loaded up with gunpowder and rode back to Fort Lee. Her journey was memorialized in an epic poem by militiaman Charles Robb, “Anne Bailey’s Ride.”
Anne remarried to John Bailey, a member of the Rangers, a legendary group of frontier scouts, in 1785. As the group worked to defend new settlements from Native American attacks, Mad Anne once again used her skills as a scout and courier. After her second husband’s death, she spent the rest of her days living a solitary life in the woods.
This was probably one of those women you didn't want to mess with.
Coffee outside again. Looks and feels like Spring.
