Lydia Darragh [October 25, 2007] AMH2012

Lydia Darragh

      It was late in the year of 1777 during the American Revolution, the British had taken control of the city of Philadelphia. The Continental Army was tired and hungry and could be attacked by the British at any time and be conquered by them.  The Americans needed to know what the British were planning. One woman who was willing to risk herself to help the cause was Lydia Darragh.  Lydia’s courage helped to make it possible for George Washington’s troops to defeat the British at Whitemarsh.

     Lydia Darragh was a Quaker women living in Philadelphia.  She was a nurse, midwife, and mortician.  She was an everyday citizen and a person who wanted to help others. As a Quaker, her religious beliefs prevented her from getting involved in the war. However, Lydia was a woman with a conscience and she knew she needed to do something to save lives. Many people would suffer and die if she did not do something.

     George Washington was using common people as a spy network to get him information. Lydia was part of that network.  She listened to conversations and passed on information to her son who was an officer in the army. She wrote simple codes on scrapes of paper and hid them inside large buttons that the spies wore.  When General Howe, commander of the British, decided to use her house as a meeting place, it gave Lydia the opportunity to gather more information. One night there was obviously a very important meeting being held.  Lydia listened and overheard a plan for a surprise attack on George Washington’s troops. This information had to be passed on to George Washington immediately.  He needed to be warned of an upcoming attack. 

       Lydia wanted to protect the lives of others by getting this information to Washington. The transfer of this knowledge was dangerous.  A person caught spying could face a hanging, a firing line, or imprisonment.  She did not want to risk the life of her son or other people in the process of moving this information, so she decided she should deliver it herself.  She left Philadelphia with a plan. The troops were stationed about ten miles away in Whitemarsh. She would pretend to be going to the mill for flour about five miles away.  It was on the way to Whitemarsh so she believed the British would not suspect anything.  She courageously walked through the snow to the mill where she left her flour bag and then continued to walk to deliver her information which she had smuggled in her needlebook. Once she revealed the British plan to an American officer, she returned to Philadelphia with her flour.

     Because of the information revealed by Lydia, the Americans were ready for the British attack at Whitemarsh. The British failed in the one thing they had counted on having which was the element of surprise.  The warning from Lydia allowed Washington to strengthen his lines of defense.  Through previous experience General Howe knew not to pursue the fight on well dug in American troops. Howe gave up and went back to Philadelphia.

          The British were discouraged by their failure at Whitemarsh.  Losing this battle was a disappointment and made the British realize that the conquest of America may be impossible. The British thought the Americans had been warned and they suspected Lydia’s family and eventually Lydia herself. Without Lydia’s bravery, Washington’s troops may have been destroyed. Lydia Darragh preformed a crucial task at a critical time in support of the cause which may have prevented the British from taking back the colonies.  If George Washington’s army had been destroyed that day, the American Revolution may have ended.  Lydia achieved saving lives with her information and saving the American’s from possible defeat.