Born in England in 1742, Ann Hennis Trotter Bailey was 34 and living in western Virginia when the Declaration of Independence was signed.  From Staunton, Virginia, to what are now Lewisburg, Charleston, and Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio, she was an unusual sight -- clad in buckskin leggings, petticoats, heavy brogan shoes a man's coat and hat, a belt around her waist in which was worn her hunting knife, with a rifle slung over her shoulder -- the embodiment of pioneer spirit in the late 1700s.

     In October of 1774 her first husband, Richard Trotter, was killed with his militia detachment of soldiers as they fought Indians on the western frontier.  On learning of his death, she left their young son in the care of neighbors and rode her horse from one recruiting station to another, making appeals to all she met to join the Virginia Line to fight for freedom from the Indians, and later the British as well.

     Although she primarily rode up and down the western frontier, she was known to have recruited for the Continental Army, as well as delivered messages between various Army detachments.  Who knows, as you walk through a typical encampment of soldiers in the relaxation of the evening repast, you may spot the unusual sight of this woman as she visits weary soldiers around the campfire.

     Kristy -- our very own unit secretary -- portrays "Mad" Ann Bailey at some events.  She is dressed out in her buckskin leggings, petticoats, razor sharp hunting knife, man's coat and floppy hat.  All she lacks is the rifle slung over her shoulder and her faithful horse, Liverpool.