Not a lot is known about Anne Bailey before she turned eighteen. Bailey was born in Liverpool, England in 1742. She was poor, but still learned to read and write by a young age.Both of her parents died when she was eighteen years old and at age nineteen she sailed to the colony of Virginia. At age twenty-three, Bailey married Patriot Richard Trotter.
Bailey's life changed when the Revolutionary War began. Bailey's husband died in 1774 when he participated in the Battle of Point Pleasant. Bailey swore to avenge her husband's death.
She began to wear men's clothing and taught herself to shoot a gun. She volunteered as a scout messenger. A scout messenger is a person who delivers messages from one camp to another. One
day when delivering a message, the Shawnee Indians saw her. They tried to capture her, so she hid in a log and no one ever found her. Some of the Shawnee Indians even sat on the log. They took her horse and left. That night, Bailey snuck into their tribe and stole her horse back. When she was far enough away she yelled and the Shawnee Indians thought she was possessed. She
never had to worry about them again. Bailey then traveled with a militia.
When Bailey's second husband died, she left the service and she became a hermit. She
continued to be a messenger for the Patriot cause. In her old age she moved in with her son; then,
she built a cabin next door. She died November 22, 1825.
Though different, Anne Bailey broke stereotypes of women through 1742 to 1825.
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