Some arguments are not easy to settle. For example, many people say Rebecca and Abigail Bates were real heroes of the War of 1812. Others think that’s just not so.
What did Rebecca and Abigail do? They saved their town from a British warship1. At least that’s what Rebecca claimed in 1874, the year St. Nicholas, a children’s magazine, published the first of several versions she gave of her story.
The Bates family lived in Scituate, Massachusetts, a fishing and farming village about thirty miles south of Boston. In early June 1814, the British attacked the village. Two barges3 from a British warship entered the harbor and set fire to Scituate's fishing fleet. Ten ships were lost, and the militia4 was called in to defend the town.
For twenty-year-old Rebecca, the raid hit close to home. Her father, Simeon Bates, was keeper of the town’s lighthouse at Cedar5 Point on the north side of the harbor. Rebecca and her family lived next to the lighthouse in the small keeper’s cottage.
As keeper, Mr. Bates operated the lanterns in the light tower each night. But during the day he and other family members were sometimes away from the light-house. After the June attack, however, full-time6 lookouts7 were needed. The militia posted guards.
Weeks passed. No new enemy ships were sighted, and the militia was told to go home. But for a while, guards continued to stand watch at the lighthouse. To pass the time, they taught the Bates children to play the fife and drum. Rebecca learned four tunes8 and thought her “Yankee Doodle” was especially good.
But more and more, the light-house was left unguarded. This was the case one late-summer day in 1814.
According to Rebecca, she, her mother, and sixteen-year-old Abigail were alone in the cottage. As Rebecca was about to boil water for the evening meal, she spotted9 a British warship from the kitchen window. Too large for the town’s shallow harbor, the warship had anchored just beyond the lighthouse.
It was early afternoon and the harbor was quiet. Rebecca and Abigail ran to the lighthouse for a better look and watched as a boat was lowered from the warship. The barge2, full of soldiers, headed toward the harbor. Then Rebecca and Abigail saw a second barge follow the first. The memory of burning ships was still fresh in their minds.
But more than Scituate’s boats were in danger. Tied to the town wharf10 were two merchant vessels12, each carrying a full cargo13 of flour. Food supplies were extremely scarce at this time, and the raiding parties were sure to seize the cargoes14. Losing the flour would be devastating15 to the town.
Rebecca thought fast. The guards’ muskets16, fife, and drum were still at the lighthouse. She and Abigail could use the muskets to shoot at the boats, but that would be risky17. The soldiers might answer with cannon18 fire.
Then Rebecca had a bold idea. Calling to Abigail to follow, she dashed to the room where the firearms were stored. But instead of reaching for the muskets, she grabbed the fife and the drum. Rebecca handed the drum to Abigail and explained her plan.
The two young women ran down the wooded path that led to the edge of the water. When they reached the shore, Rebecca cautioned Abigail to stay low. “We must keep out of sight,” she warned. “If they see us they’ll laugh us to scorn.”
Hiding behind tall cedar trees, Abigail and Rebecca played the instruments. Abigail beat out “Roll Call.” Rebecca joined in with “Yankee Doodle.” The sound of military music drifted across the bay. When Rebecca looked up, she saw that the soldiers had stopped rowing. Was it because of the music?
The girls continued playing. A moment later, a flag was raised on the warship—the signal for the barges to return. Once everyone was on board, the enemy vessel11 raised anchor and set sail for the open sea.
The British were fooled. They thought the town militia had been warned and was coming to stop them. Instead, they were chased away by two young women with a borrowed fife and drum.
Today, a plaque19 at Scituate Light honors the bravery of Rebecca and Abigail Bates—“The Army of Two.”
The First Woman
