A patriot, soldier and hero during the American Revolution, Prudence Cummings Wright (1740-1823) organized a militia of local women. Dubbed the “Prudence Wright Guard,” they dressed as men and brandishing muskets and pitchforks, successfully apprehended and captured several loyalist spies at Jewett’s Bridge over the Nashua River in Pepperell, Massachusetts intercepting vital dispatches regarding troop movements. The “Minutewomen” were compensated for their heroism at a town meeting on March 19, 1777. Wright continued to support the patriot cause while raising eleven children. Her epitaph reads: “In Memory of the Captain of the Bridge Guard April 1775.”

Image courtesy of the American Battlefield Trust