[JE Sarge]

My wife and I were having a discussion about this the other night. Initially only two names came to mind.

Joan of Arc and Boudica

I was amazed at my own ignorance in this matter. I can converse all day about males from antiquity, yet I drew a blank when it came to significant female military warriors/leaders of antiquity outside of royalty or the above mentioned. I have heard of a few others, yet their names and details elude me (I am really bad with Scandinavian names). So, I opened this thread to discuss historical examples of female warriors.

Any contributions?

[Nathan Robinson]

I have a favorite source for this subject. Check it out:

Women as Warriors in History: 3500BC to the 20th Century.

(Man, I really wish this was a myArmoury.com article. It would be a great addition to the site)

[Julien M]

Also check Tomoe Gozen, who rose high in the admiration of the Bushis of medieval japan. She was the concubine of Minamoto no Yoshinaka, a general of the late Heian Period. She was bearing arms and fought alongside her "husband", and was an expert at wielding the naginata.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoe_Gozen

J

[Jean Thibodeau]

Well depends on what you count as a woman warrior: Pirate, Head of State and active as a general. violent woman in history with weapons skills ?

Pirate: Anne Bonny, she seemed to have " issues " a of a violent nature but with courage and some fighting skills.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bonny

Head of state: Caterina Sforza, maybe not a full time warrior but not adverse to strapping on a sword and resisting a siege against great odds with canon fire. Lots of courage !
http://angusmacinnes.yuku.com/topic/3179/t/Ca...Imola.html

Here is a whole list by period of woman warriors that might be a good place to start searches for individual biographies:
http://www.lothene.demon.co.uk/others/women.html

( Seems like nathan got to the last one first while I was searching and then typing ...... ).

[Alex Spreier]

Also check out the manuscript I.33, near the end it shows a woman, named Walpurgis, learning to fence with sword and buckler. Not nearly as dramatic as Joan d'Arc, but still really god evidence in my mind.

[Mark Hanna]

The women of the hussites fought alongside the men, there are numerous refrences to it. At one point a group of armored soldiers were captured and turned out to all be women.

http://webpages.charter.net/apples/hussite/

Mark

[Roger Hooper]

Below is a 15th century painting (or so says Wikipedia) of Joan of Arc

Another woman warrior is Isabel of Conches, who rode armed to war in Normandy circa 1100. She appears in the late George Shipway's, The Paladin, an excellent novel.

[I Sam]

Don't forget Xena, Warrior Princes, and Red Sonja - Shedevil with a Sword!

They're historical, right?

[JE Sarge]

Hmm, not sure about those...

I do know that Valeria would wipe the floor with Xena and Red Sonja though...

[Darren Tully]

One notable female warrior from Irish history was Grace O'Malley (Gráinne Mhaol) she was a Chieftan and Irelands pirate queen a very powerful woman indeed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_O%27Malley

[Roger Hooper]

Remember Pentheslilea, the queen of the Amazons, who fought for the Trojans after the death of Hector. After giving a good account of herself on the battlefield, she duelled with Achilles, who killed her, but afterwards was very sorry about doing that to her.

[Sa'ar Nudel]

Artemisia of Halicarnassus was in command of a small fleet of Trireme battle ships under the flag of Xerxes at the naval battle of Salamis, 480 BCE.

Many years later, at the early 19th century, chinese woman Cheng I Sao was a warlady and pirate queen over a realm of over 1500 vessels and about 50,000 pirates, at the South China Sea.

[James R.Fox]

Sirs-Don't forget Maria de Estrada, who fought in the front lines all through the conquest of Mexico. She terrified the natives, who thought she was the sister of the god of war, since her favorite weapon was the light lance. She gets alot of press in The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico by Bernal Diaz del Castillo

[Roger Hooper]

Hundreds of women disguised themselves as men and served in either the Confederate or Union army during the American Civil War - http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue...war-1.html

[David E. Farrell]

[Steven Alan]

Had to add my Two cents Please read the below artical

Soldier Earns Silver Star for Her Role in Defeating Ambush

By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 17, 2005; Page A21

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester fought her way through an enemy ambush south of Baghdad, killing three insurgents with her M-4 rifle to save fellow soldiers' lives -- and yesterday became the first woman since World War II to win the Silver Star medal for valor in combat.

The 23-year-old retail store manager from Bowling Green, Ky., won the award for skillfully leading her team of military police soldiers in a counterattack after about 50 insurgents ambushed a supply convoy they were guarding near Salman Pak on March 20.



Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester is the first female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star medal for valor in combat. (By Spec. Jeremy D. Crisp -- Defense Department Via Associated Press)


The medal, rare for any soldier, underscores the growing role in combat of U.S. female troops in Iraq's guerrilla war, where tens of thousands of American women have served, 36 have been killed and 285 wounded, according to Pentagon figures.

After insurgents hit the convoy with a barrage of fire from machine guns, AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, Hester "maneuvered her team through the kill zone into a flanking position where she assaulted a trench line with grenades and M203 rounds," according to the Army citation accompanying the Silver Star.

"She then cleared two trenches with her squad leader where she engaged and eliminated three AIF [anti-Iraqi forces] with her M4 rifle. Her actions saved the lives of numerous convoy members," the citation stated.

Hester, a varsity softball and basketball player in high school, joined the Army in 2001 and was assigned to the Kentucky National Guard's 617th Military Police Company, based in Richmond, Ky.

A female driver with the unit, Spec. Ashley J. Pullen of Danville, Ky., also won the Bronze Star for her bravery. Pullen laid down fire to suppress insurgents and then "exposed herself to heavy AIF fires in order to provide medical assistance to her critically injured comrades," saving several lives, her citation said.

Six other soldiers with Hester's unit won awards for defeating the ambush, leaving 27 insurgents dead, six wounded and one captured. They include Hester's squad leader, Staff. Sgt. Timothy F. Nein, who also won the Silver Star.

[JE Sarge]

[David McElrea]

[Gene Green]

Judith ?

Or is she more of a Special Ops kind ?

[Eric Myers]

Catalina de Erauso (1585-1650) is definitely worth reading about. here are some other women warriors listed too.