20 Women Who Had to Pretend to Be Men to Survive

Deborah Sampson enlisted in the Continental Army during the American Revolution under the name Robert Shurtliff. She was wounded, kept her secret for as long as she could, and later became one of the few women of her time to receive a military pension for her service. 

Cathay Williams had already survived slavery and forced labor during wartime when she enlisted in the U.S. Army under the name William Cathay. The National Park Service describes her as the only woman on record to have served in the Buffalo Soldiers while posing as a man. 

Anna Maria Lane fought alongside her husband during the American Revolution, disguised as a man. She was seriously wounded at Germantown, and the pension she subsequently received was not an act of charity; it was public recognition of her courage, which had nearly cost her her life.

Sarah Rosetta Wakeman enlisted in the Union Army under the name Lyons Wakeman during the Civil War. The letters she wrote that have survived bring her story painfully to life, marked by daily worries about money, military marches, and the question of whether anyone back home understood the choice she had made.

Albert Cashier, born Jennie Hodgers, served in the Union Army and continued to live as a man for decades after the war. Many historians today approach Cashier’s case with caution, as this consistently and enduringly assumed male identity might be better understood as part of transgender history rather than simply as a wartime disguise. 

Frances Clayton is said to have fought in the Civil War under the name Jack Williams after following her husband into the army. Like many stories from the battlefields of that era, the details are unclear, but the fundamental truth remains clear: the war forced women to quickly forge new identities for themselves.

Loreta Janeta Velazquez claimed to have fought for the Confederacy under the name Lieutenant Harry T. Buford. Historians continue to debate certain passages in her memoirs, but this very uncertainty speaks volumes about the women who lived on the margins of the official records. 

In the 18th century, Hannah Snell disguised herself as a man and served in the British Army. After revealing her true identity, she did something even more daring: she sold her story, staged it, and turned her survival into a means of making a living. 

Christian Davies, often called “Mother Ross,” disguised herself as a man to search for her husband and ended up serving as a soldier herself. Her life was as rugged as the old military roads, with every kilometer fraught with danger, hardship, rumors, and unexpected twists and turns.

Nadezhda Durova enlisted in the Russian cavalry under a man’s name and fought during the Napoleonic era. Tsar Alexander I later allowed Durova to keep a male name, thereby transforming what had initially been a disguise into an official, hard-won public identity. 

Catalina de Erauso ran away from a convent, disguised as a man, and carved out a tumultuous and eventful life for herself as a soldier in the Spanish Empire. Her story seems almost too incredible to be true, but that was precisely the point: men’s clothing allowed Erauso to navigate a world that would otherwise have confined Catalina.

Jeanne Baret joined a French naval expedition disguised as a man, serving as an assistant to the botanist Philibert Commerson. She became the first known woman to sail around the world, although this journey initially required secrecy before it earned her any recognition. 

As a child, Mary Read was dressed as a boy; later, she held positions typically reserved for men, before becoming one of the most famous pirates of the Golden Age. Her story has been passed down to us through accounts that blend reality, legend, and tavern rumors. 

Anne Bonny did not simply become a pirate legend by chance; she fought alongside men who expected her to tremble with fear, but who discovered in her a fierce woman. Stories about Bonny and Mary Read have helped cement these two women’s place in maritime history as fighters who did not hesitate to don men’s clothing when danger demanded it. 

Brita Olofsdotter, a Finnish woman serving in the Swedish army, is said to have enlisted disguised as a man and to have been killed during the Livonian War in 1569. Her story is brief, as the sources are incomplete; this is often how women’s courage is passed down to us: in a flash, and then silence. 

Elisa Bernerström disguised herself as a man to enlist in the Swedish army during the war against Russia in 1808 and 1809. From a distance, this choice may seem romantic, but up close, it was nothing but mud, fear, and the daily risk of being exposed. 

Dorothy Lawrence wanted to report on the news from the front lines during World War I, so she posed as a soldier named Denis Smith. She lasted only a few days near the trenches before illness and danger forced her to reveal the truth, and the punishment that followed made it clear why she had needed to disguise herself.

Petra Herrera fought in the Mexican Revolution under the name Pedro Herrera, apparently earning everyone’s respect before revealing that she was a woman. Instead of being duly rewarded, she was sidelined—a fate all too familiar to women who have proven themselves capable of taking on such tasks and have been punished for doing so. 

Saint Marina, also known as Marinos, is more a figure of religious tradition than of modern biography, but the outline of her life is undeniable. Disguised as a monk, she entered a monastery with her father and chose to endure false accusations rather than reveal her identity. 

Euphrosyne of Alexandria, another figure in Christian hagiography, disguised herself as a monk named Smaragdos to escape the fate that awaited her. Whether we see this as an act of faith, an escape, or a survival instinct, this story highlights a harsh reality: sometimes, disappearing is the only way to stay alive.