What did Anne Warner Bailey do in the revolution?

Answer 1

On September 6, 1781, a major battle took place at the fort. The Battle of Grotton Heights was a decisive victory for the British. Many of the Americans were killed or seriously wounded. Anne found her Uncle Edward, wounded and slowly approaching death. She set out assisting the wounded anyway she could, getting them water, wrapping bandages, going from one soldier to the next until all the wounded were cared for.

While assisting the wounded one thing became clear to Anne, the American soldiers did not have enough flannel. The flannel material was used for making cartridges for muzzle loaders. In short, because they did not have

enough flannel they did not have the tools necessary to make enough bullets to win the war. Anne knew something had to be done so she set about going door to door asking everyone to donate all the flannel items they had to be given to the soldiers.

Women would use flannel to make petticoats to wear under their dresses during the winter. The flannel material provided warmth which obviously added to the value of material. Although women wanted to help the soldiers and wanted to aid the cause of freedom they did not want to give up their warm petticoats. Many were afraid they would "catch their death of cold." Anne took the lead by surrendering her own valuable flannel petticoat encouraging the others to do the same. Soon the towns around had heard about "The Heroine of Grotton" and began surrendering their flannel as well.

If it had not been for Anne Warren Bailey the American army and militia would have been at an even greater disadvantage than they were. Because of her willingness to do what she could, small though it may have seemed, the soldiers were able to continue the fight without which the history of our nation would have been greatly different.