The Company of St Barbara

[anteros_lmc]

I've done a bit of digging to see what I could find out about the mysterious Amazonian Company of St Barbara that so impressed Cuddy. It appears that the company were a brigade of Irish women, commanded by Lucy Fitzgerald, who fought at the Third Siege of Girona during the Peninsular War from 1808 - 1809. At the start of the siege the town was garrisoned by a division of Irish troops, the 1st Battalion of the Ultonia Regiment, led by Colonel Anthony O'Kelly from Roscommon, who were reinforced by grenadiers from the Hibernia Regiment, commanded by the splendidly named Colonel Juan Sherlock. As was common at the time, many of the officers were accompanied by their wives. Peter Berresford Ellis has written an interesting article about the Ulster regiments in Spain, which includes the following moving account of the bravery of the Company of St Barbara.



Ramon Martí i Alsina, El Gran dia de Girona

During this time, the wife of Captain Patricio Fitzgerald, Lucy, sought permission from the Spanish Army High Command, to organise a women's unit, the 12th Company (which became known as the Company of St Barbara, after the patron saint of gunners) to take ammunition to the troops and care for the sick and wounded. Permission granted, Lucy was elected commandant and the company consisted of the wives of the Irish soldiers. The Spanish Minister for War in 1808, incidentally, was General Jose O'Farrill.

French artillery fell on Gerona and still there was no surrender. Lt. General, the Marquis de Gouvion Saint-Cyr was sent to overwhelm the town with 33,000 troops. He ordered Duhesne to make a final demand for surrender on June 19. It was made clear to O'Kelly that there would be little quarter given if surrender was not forthcoming.

O'Kelly decided to put the matter to the citizens and allow them a democratic vote. The decision the people of Girona was that they would not surrender.

Lucy Fitzgerald's last despatch concerning her company of Irish women, survives in the Spanish archives. It was dated August 10, 1809. For two months the Irish had held back an overwhelming force.

"All ranks behaved with distinction. They administered untiringly to the needs of the defenders at the various points of attack. They brought much needed water and brandy to the fort of Montjiuch and carried back the wounded on litters and in their arms. Despising the dangers of shells and bombs, which rained about them without stop, they displayed heroic zeal, charity and supreme courage. Lucy Fitzgerald, Commandant."

Two days later, when the French artillery pounded the shattered walls of Girona into dust and overwhelmed the fortress, their infantry flooded into the town. Of the 800 Ultonians and 102 Hibernians 253, mostly badly wounded, were led off into captivity.

A diarist who managed to survive the slaughter wrote: "In the square of San Pedro were the Irish women of the company of St Barbara, noblest of their sex, who only moments before were filing under a rain of shells, bombs and grenades to administer to the needs of the defenders; with the silent eloquence of example, more persuasive than any words, they communicated their spirit and courage to the soldiers; in their arms they carried the wounded to the blood covered floors of the hospital. Certainly Girona was that day the abode of heroines."

Over 600 soldiers, along with Colonel O'Kelly, perished at Girona. Lucy died by the side of her husband, Patricio Fitzgerald.

Comments

[elin-gregory.livejournal.com]

What a fabulous story! Thanks for sharing.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

It's an amazing story isn't it? I would love to know more about Lucy Fitzgerald. She sounds like an incredible woman. Also can't help thinking this would make a great film.

[esteven]

What a story! How wonderful you have unearthed it, and what shame that we might not have known of it, had you not read about Collingwood's diary. May it profit research, whoever buys it. *sighs*

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Company of St Barbara and the indomitable Lucy Fitzgerald really deserve to be better known. I'm very glad to have come across her story.

[esteven]

Will you post about this find in anything_aos. Might I link from DW!Anything_AoS, unless you feel you would like to make the posts yourself?

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Hello my dear, apologies for the delay in replying. I'd be happy to cross post this to anything_aos and feel free to post this to DW if you haven't already done so :)

[esteven]

Thank you, and thank you for the permission granted. I will post to DW over the weekend.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Heroines indeed! The other day I was imagining Eric Bogle's "And the band played Waltzing Matilda" being sung by a woman nurse rather than a soldier, and up pop exactly the sort of woman I had in mind.

I confess, though, to a slight disappointment that the Company of St Barbara weren't actually shooting people.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

"And the band played Waltzing Matilda"
Gosh, I'd forgotten about that song! Yes I can quite imagine it being sung by battlefield nurses like Lucy Fitzgerald and her ilk.

I confess, though, to a slight disappointment that the Company of St Barbara weren't actually shooting people.
I suspect, given the carnage at the end of the siege that the Company of St Barbara may well have been shooting people!

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Fascinating stuff.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Another one of those if-you-made-it-up-no-one-would-believe-you stories.

[aletheiafelinea.livejournal.com]

Amazing. I'm often amazed how many surprises is in the history when one takes a closer look. Even only a bit closer.

[latin-cat.livejournal.com]

Brilliant. Can I ask what your sources were for this, besides the diary? *is getting all Academic and thinking about Third year*

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Ooh this could be a fascinating topic for a dissertation! I managed to find quite a lot of material on google books and archive.org. There's a lot written on the siege of Girona and also on the the Irish brigades and diaspora (the wild geese). I suspect though that if you did a bit more research you might find that most of the literature quotes the same sources. There's still a fair bit out there though. Here's one example The Wandering Irish In Europe. I also found a reference to a Maria Angela Bibern who led the company with Lucy Fitzgerald. How's your Spanish? I suspect if you could access the Spanish sources you'd find a lot more material. If the source quoted above is correct, Lucy's despatches survive in the Spanish archives. Let me know if you decide to follow this up! :)