Hannah Snell (1723–1792) was a British woman who disguised herself as a man and became a soldier. #CelebratingWomen

She was born in Worcester on 23 April 1723. Local contemporaries of hers claimed that she played a soldier even as a child.

In 1740, she moved to London and married a soldier, James Summers, on 18 January 1744. She named herself Bob Corrigan so she could fight alongside him.

In 1746, she gave birth to a daughter, Susannah, who died a year later. Snell borrowed a male suit from her brother-in-law James Gray, assumed his name, and began to search for Summers, who had abandoned her while she was pregnant with his child.

She later learned that her husband had been executed for murder. She moved to Portsmouth and joined the Marines, boarding the ship Swallow at Portsmouth on 23 October 1747.

In August 1748, her unit was sent to an expedition to capture the French colony of Pondicherry in India. Later, she also fought in the battle in Devicottail in June 1749. She was wounded eleven times.

In 1750, her unit returned to Britain and traveled from Portsmouth to London, where she revealed her sex to her shipmates and announced her retirement. She then petitioned the Duke of Cumberland, the head of the army, for her pension.

She was honorably discharged and the Royal Hospital, Chelsea officially recognized Snell's military service in November and granted her a pension in 1750, a rare thing in those days, even for a man.