A Revolutionary Woman
by Jessica Bryant
In honor of Women’s History Month, Jessica Bryant unpacks the legend of Georgia frontierswoman Nancy Hart, a fearless woman and devoted Patriot.
Among the legendary figures of the American Revolution, there is another person, a woman, who stands out from the rest: Nancy Hart.
Nancy Hart was born Ann Morgan around 1747 in either Pennsylvania or North Carolina. She was called “Nancy,” a nickname for Ann. Not much of her early life is known. She was described as a six-foot-tall, redheaded, muscular woman known for her bravery. She married Benjamin Hart in 1771 and the pair moved to Wilkes County, Georgia.
In Georgia, Nancy quickly developed a reputation for being a strong Patriot and savvy frontierswoman. Nancy couldn’t read or write, but she was a skilled herbalist, an excellent hunter, a skilled marksman—despite being cross-eyed—and was, above all, a fiercely brave, strong, and independent woman.
Legend has it that members of the Cherokee tribe referred to her as “Watache,” a title that roughly translates to “war woman.” Allegedly, Nancy served as the head of her household—not her husband—and raised eight children.
Because of Nancy’s reputation, British soldiers often kept close watch over her cabin. On one occasion, a soldier was spying on her and her children while they were making soap. Nancy’s daughter saw an eye looking at her through a hole in the wall, and immediately Nancy threw a ladle full of scalding soap water through the hole, burning the British soldier’s eye.
Nancy is the center of many legends like this from the Revolutionary Era; perhaps the most famous of these was based on an encounter with a group of British soldiers.
The story states that British soldiers entered the Hart property looking for a local Patriot leader who they had been pursuing. When they knocked on her door, Nancy refused to give them any information, insisting that she had not seen anyone on the property in several days. Convinced that she was lying, the soldiers went out and slaughtered the last turkey on the Hart’s property, barged into her house, and demanded that Nancy cook it for them.
As the soldiers made themselves comfortable, Nancy served them plenty of her corn liquor, getting them drunk enough that they would not notice her sneaking their weapons outside of the house each time she walked by them. Then, Nancy’s daughter Sukey snuck outside and used a conch shell to alert the neighbors that they needed assistance.
When the British soldiers caught Nancy moving their muskets and threatened her, she turned the weapon on them. The soldiers ignored her warning, so Nancy shot and killed the first to approach her.
Nancy and her daughter held the remaining soldiers at gunpoint, which is how their neighbors found them. The rest of the soldiers were hanged on a nearby tree.
While this story is steeped in legend, it was given credence in 1912 by the discovery of six bodies on the Hart property. The skeletons were buried three feet underground and had been there for at least a century.
A replica of Nancy Hart's cabin standing near its original site in Elbert County.
Following the Revolution, Nancy lived with her husband in Georgia until her death in 1830. Nancy has been honored by the Daughters of the Revolution, who erected a replica of the Hart’s famous Georgia cabin using some of the original stones. Her legacy has endured through time because of her spirit, bravery, unwavering loyalty she to the Patriot cause, and, most of all, because of her willingness to protect herself and her family.
