On one April evening in 1775, Prudence Cummings Wright captained a group of over 30 “minutewomen” in an ambush and captured two British Loyalist spies. Nearly two years later, their town of Pepperell, Massachusetts voted to make the all-female militia some of the first women to receive compensation for their courageous act during the Revolutionary War.
Wright had always been a patriot, and, when she was 21 years old, she married David Wright who was also dedicated to the American cause. But once the Revolutionary War broke out, two of her brothers, Thomas and Samuel Cummings Jr., joined the British Loyalists and swore allegiance to the King.
On April 19, 1775, Pepperell heard that shots had been fired at Lexington, and the British Army was on the move to destroy the Patriots’ weapons and ammunition facilities. All of the men in town quickly joined the cause and headed out to intercept enemy troops.
At the time, Wright was mourning the loss of one of her young children and visited her mother in Hollis, New Hampshire. During her trip, Wright overheard her brother Samuel and his friend and fellow Loyalist Leonard Whiting talking about their plans to deliver a letter to the British Army giving information on the location of the Patriots’ gunpowder.
Wright snuck away from her mother’s home without drawing suspicion and returned to Pepperell. Since her husband and all of the other local men were away fighting the war, Wright knew she and other women must take action. She rounded up a group of 30 to 40 women (with the youngest being 17 years old).
The newly formed group of minutewomen formulated their plans. They dressed up in their husband’s clothing and rounded up muskets, pitchforks, and anything else that could be used as weapons. They knew that anyone who planned to pass messages from Canada to Boston had to travel on one road that led through Pepperell. They also knew that anyone headed to Boston would have to cross over Jewett’s Bridge, or be forced to forge the Nashua River. The women hid in bushes next to the bridge and blocked the light of their lanterns.
The women sat in their hiding spots until they heard the sound of horses. What they thought might be a whole Loyalist Army turned out only to be two men on horseback, Samuel Cummings (Wright’s brother) and Leonard Whiting.
Once the men arrived at the bridge, the women jumped out of hiding and surrounded the men. Whiting drew his pistol and almost started shooting, when Cummings said. “I recognize Prude’s [Prudence’s] voice, and she would wade through blood for the rebel cause.”
The minutewomen told the men to dismount and searched them. After finding treasonous letters hidden in Whiting’s boot, the women marched the Loyalist spies back to town. They held them in custody at a local tavern before they were taken to Groton, Massachusetts to the committee of safety. The culprits were then released on the condition that they leave the colony.
After the successful capture, the people of Pepperell celebrated the actions of Wright and her militia. But, at the time, minutewomen were not an official militia, so on March 19, 1777, the town voted that Wright and her makeshift militia be paid “seven pounds, seventeen shillings and six pence” for their service during the early stages of the Revolutionary War.
