Mayor Fernández de Cámara y Pita, María Pita.
AGAINST NAPOLEON
The name of Agustina de Aragón, the
female artillery gunner, was perhaps
the most famous of all the women
who joined the fight during the War
of Independence (1808-1814) against
the Napoleonic Empire. She is one
of the many hundreds who remained
unknown, but that represents the
courage of all those women.
Agustina Raimunda María Zaragoza
y Doménech was born in Barcelona in
1786 and moved to Saragossa in 1808
to join her husband, Sergeant Roca.
During the French siege, she took up
positions at the Portillo gateway, which
was being heavily attacked. She helped
with the supplies, encouraging the
troops by shouting “come on gunners,
the women are here for when you can’t
go on”. She saw the men falling and did
not hesitate to run forward among the
dead until she reached a cannon that she
fired, managing to contain the enemy.
After that, she went to the Provincial
Council of Teruel, where she joined the
Army and continued fighting against
the French until the end of the conflict.
Women were very present
in the War of Independence
Right, picture of the
Ruins of Saragossa,
reflecting women’s
participation in the fight
against Napoleon. Below,
Elizabeth II’s uniform.
Army Museum
María Agustín, with
hidden ammunition for
the “patriots”, and Casta
Álvarez, bayonet in hand,
two more defenders
of Saragossa.
Central Military Library Military History Museum in Corunna
Agustina became a second lieutenant.
In the General Military Archives in
Segovia, there are valuable documents
about “Female artillery gunners” –
including information on Francisca
Puerta and Luisa Villalba – which
are a testimony of the participation of
women in missions of force, intelligence
and logistics in those years.
SANTA BARBARA COMPANY
Saragossa was not the only city in
which women rose against Napoleon.
Gerona also had its own heroines.
There, they established a series of
military units made up only by women
and driven by the wives of the officers
who were on the front line.
After the storming of San Daniel
Hospital, which they helped evacuate,
they decided to continue with the task
in an organized manner and requested
the corresponding authorization from
Governor Mariano Álvarez, who
announced the creation of a female
military unit on June 22nd, 1809.
Recruitment was such a success that
four squadrons were formed with the
(1808-1814)
enlistment of more than 200 women.
Each of them had a female commander
in charge, who was chosen among
them: Lucía Jonama y Fitz-Gerald,
Raimunda Nouvilas de Pagès, María
Angela Bivern and María Curti.
A RED RIBBON
Under the name of the Santa Barbara
Company, they divided Gerona
into four sectors, one per squadron.
They provided health care and went
wherever their assistance was needed.
A red ribbon on their left arm showed
that they were on duty.
During the attack against Montjuïc
Castle (Barcelona), “they had their
baptism of fire under a hail of bullets,
bombs and grenades”, as the historian
Javier Santamarta states in his book
Siempre estuvieron ellas (The women
were always there).
In Madrid, on May 2nd, 1808,
two women gave their lives, and will
always be remembered: Manuela
Malasaña, shot in the Artillery Park
in Monteleón, and Clara del Rey,
who fought with her husband and her
56 Revista Española de Defensa April 2020
Central Military Library
Central Military Library