Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Hannah Snell-Royal Marine

This is not Civil War related, but I wanted to share her brief story and a neat video to go with it.  Hannah
Snell was an English woman who disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the Royal Marines in the mid-1700's in order to search for a wayward husband who had abandoned her while she was pregnant with their child.  Following the death of the the little girl died at a year old, Snell took to the seas as "James Gray."  After fighting in India, during which she was wounded, she and her fellow marines sailed back to England where she revealed her secret.  Her comrades urged her to seek a pension, which she did.  Hannah was honorably discharged, and after the Royal Hospital of Chelsea officially recognized her service, began to receive a pension in 1750.