Feature 102812

In battle when a man is first exposed to the horrors of war he adjusts, becoming resigned to the blood and brutality.  A woman in the same battle reverts to her nature becoming vicious, enjoying inflicting pain and death without consequences.  Women were banned from the battlefield for humanitarian concerns not for their protection but rather for pity for prisoners and innocents exposed to their depravity.

Women warriors are common across cultures and time.  Women warriors are particularly prominent during resistance movements in modern history.  The histories of; Spanish Civil War, European resistance organizations as well as those of the Chinese and Russian are enriched by their exploits. Often that history however is exceptionally bloody as the women extracted their revenge on occupation forces. In an arbitrary order consider these women warriors:

The Amazons, a tribe of woman warriors of central Asia, fought so fiercely for Troy during the Trojan War they were immortalized in Greek epic poems.  Amazons have been adopted by many cultures to describe their woman warriors.  Athena the Greek goddess of war was a favorite child of Zeus and often used his thunderbolts to decide battles.  Athena became the patron of the American Women’s Army Corps (WAC).

The vision of blood splattered, bare breasted Nordic Valkyrie maidens wildly charging out of the mist, screaming and swinging massive double bladed battleaxes terrorized Europe.  One must question this as origin of the derogatory term ‘Battleaxe’ describing some modern women. The word Valkyrie means choosers of the slain, a Nordic heroine, Blenda, led women in an attack that annihilated a pillaging Danish army.  Shieldmaidens were Scandinavian women who took up arms as warriors before raising a family.

The Roman gladiatorial games often featured “gladiatrix” in brutal female fighting for entertainment of the masses.  Ancient forerunners of the voyeuristic interest in catfights and mud wrestling.

Nusaybah bint Ka'ab; was the first female to fight in defense of Islam and Prophet Muhammad as part of a regular army.  This was over a thousand years before western women became part of modern armies. Aisha, wife of Muhammad, led an army against Ali, fourth caliph of Islam. Muslim history records a number of women who fought and led forces with great valor. Khawlah bint Hakim fought in battles against the Romans in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine.  Captured along with a number of other Muslim women, Khawla decided death was more honorable than the disgrace of rape.  Armed only with tent poles, she led the women in a desperate attack on their Roman guards, killing 30 before escaping. Modern Muslim women continue to earn a ferocious reputation.  During the occupation of Afghanistan, Soviets who fell into the hands of women warriors were never the same.

Africa has a rich history of female warriors in vicious tribal warfare and rebellions.  The West African Dahomey had an all-female militia serving as the king’s bodyguard.  Legionaries would commit suicide rather than fall into the hands’ of Riff tribal women.

The Russian Princess Olga of Kievskiy (945 to 960 AD) avenged the death of her husband, King Igor, by burying alive twenty ambassadors and setting fire to a bathhouse with another group inside.  She provided intoxication to 5000 enemy soldiers before attacking; finally she burned down the entire city of the offending tribe.  During the Great Patriotic War a large number of Soviet women became “heroes of the Soviet Union” for killing German invaders.  Legendary Baltic female resistance snipers known as the “White Tights” inflicted numerous casualties on the conquering Russians.

Rani Lakshmibai was one of the leading figures of the “Great Indian Mutiny” of 1857. She was described by the British as "remarkable for her beauty, cleverness and was the most dangerous of all the rebel leaders".

Christian Marco Polo and Muslim Ibn Battuta both record the feats of Khutulun, a great-great granddaughter of Genghis Khan, as a warrior in Central Asia.  The Japanese have a word for it, Onna Bugeisha (woman warrior).  In the first century CE the Trung Sisters repelled the Chinese invasion (of now Vietnam) for three years, winning against considerable odds.  Phung Thi Chinh fought with the Trung sisters and according to legend gave birth in the front lines, and then carrying her newborn in one arm and with sword in hand cut her way through Chinese ranks.  The epics of these women warriors inspired Vietnamese resistance to French and American colonialism.  Americans reported an all-female Viet Cong unit that was considered particularly dangerous.

In first century England the Celtic Queen Boudica with her two daughters led a revolt against the Roman Empire. Queen Cordelia fought off several contenders for a throne, personally leading the army in its battles. Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, as leader of the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses, introduced conscription, massed armies, and won several battles before defeat by the Yorkists.  Catherine of Aragon as Queen Regent and Captain General of the King's Forces (1513) defeated a Scots’ invasion. Catherine led the army, and rode north in full armor with the troops, despite being heavily pregnant at the time. Not to be out done the Scots have also fielded a number of renowned women warriors.

 Joanna of Flanders organized resistance in the siege of Hennebont; taking up arms, dressed in armor, and conducting the defense of the town. She led a raid outside the walls demolishing one of the enemy's camps. She was an early patron for women’s rights, and a possible an influence on Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc asserted that God told her to recover her homeland from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent her to the siege at Orléans as part of its relief force. She gained prominence when she lifted the siege in only nine days of fighting. Winning a number of other battles she was burned at the stake at age 19 for being too successful.  The Pope declared her a martyr 24 years later.

Agustina de Aragón was a famous Spanish resistance leader who defended Spain during the Spanish War of Independence, later becoming an officer in the regular Spanish Army. She saved the day at the siege of Saragossa when Spanish troops broke to a French Bayonet charge, she rushed forward loaded and fired cannons at point blank range, shredding the French line. The sight of a lone woman manning the guns inspired the fleeing Spanish troops to return to the battle.

If the objective is to terrorize, then deploy the women.