Soldaderas: Mexico’s Hidden Heroes
Women in history: a new column by Dami Adedoyin-Adeniyi highlighting revolutionary women of the past.
November is a month of remembrance for many people, it’s a time to look back and think about all that has happened in our world. In the UK it’s the month of remembrance day, for Canada it’s AIDS awareness week, so many things have happened during this month that are important to consider. However,something that I think is especially important that happened this month, although perhaps not as well known in the UK, is the Mexican Revolution.
Mexico is a country with a beautiful history, with an amazing culture and inspiring stories about the fight for freedom and independence, and it just so happens that November is the anniversary of their revolution. From 20th November 1910 to 1st December 1920 Mexico dealt with a series of armed regional conflicts that eventually led to the replacement of a federal army by a revolutionary army.
There are probably a thousand different ways to look at the Mexican revolution, some may even call it the defining moment in modern Mexican history. There is the corrupt President Porfirio Diaz, Madero the man brave enough to challenge him, or even Pancho Villa, one of the leading revolutionary fighters. All of these men have their role to play in this country’s history, yet that is not a secret. Their roles are told all the time and seen as essential to understanding the history. Yet these men only really tell half the story. In some ways, some of the bravest heroes are the ones whose stories aren’t told as much, whose lives are reduced to fun facts or footnotes that no one bothers to read, or songs that aren’t listened to. These forgotten heroes are known as the Soldaderas and they are integral to the revolution.
Soldaderas, also known as Adedlitas, were women who worked in and with the military. They worked as nurses, providing domestic help to the military, without them the army wouldn’t have functioned. But they did more than just take care of them fighting, these women also found a way to fight for themselves and their country. Very few were given any credit and even less got the credit they deserved, some of these women achieved officer status, others managed to command men at points but all of them contributed in some way to their country.
Sadly, this was not a period where women had the complete freedom to fight in whatever way they wanted, many people who were assigned female at birth often took male identities in order to fight without discrimination. For example, Ángela Jiménez, also known as Lieutenant Ángel, who worked as spy and a flag bearer – roles that would be seen as more feminine version of a soldier – but also was known to be an expert in explosives. Soldaderas like Jiménez had been a part of the Mexican military for as long as it had existed, helping in a number of ways. Yet even so, the fact that Jiménez is known is minor miracle because of how few of them were able to reveal their identities at a point in time and the number of those who did and had their histories recorded is even smaller
Even so, there is one individual who in some ways encompasses all of what it meant to be a woman fighting during this time. She was a fighter, a leader, and most importantly so herself that it was impossible to ignore her, she was a brave woman who truly exemplified what it meant to fight for her country – her name was Petra Herrera.
Petra Herrera was an active participant in the Mexican revolution. She entered historical records definitively in 1913 but she could have been there as early as 1911, according to estimates she would have been in her mid twenties at the time. Once she joined she served under the command of General Pancho Villa. She was known for several skills, including excellent marksmanship and her ability – according to the anthropologist L.L. Cummings – to create grenades from the sacks of goat testicles filled with shrapnel and gunpowder with a fuse. However her most notable talent was most likely her excellent leadership, which eventually earned her enough respect that she was able to reveal her identity as a woman. As previously she had hid her identity and gone by the name Pedro (she was even known for pretending to shave every morning as a way to keep up with this facade).
Records surrounding her life history are a bit complex, however there are some sources which help definitively place her. In January 1914 the Mexican Herald published ‘Rebel leaders were pleased to receive the first report from Petra Herrea, a young Mexican woman who is commanding a force of 200 men in the state of Durango. She holds the rank of captain in the rebel army’. This was incredibly significant in a number of ways, the fact that this woman was able to present as a woman and still hold the command of men was impressive on its own but in addition to that she was acknowledged by name as a captain in the rebel army, demonstrating how much of an impact she had during this time.
Despite the clear impact she had, Villa refused to give her military credit. He even refused to record her in the official records of the Second Battle of Torreon. Regardless of his efforts to reduce the impact she had during this time, Herrera was so influential that another soldier from this battle remarked that she was the one to ‘turn off the lights’ when they entered the city and placed her at the front lines of the battle. This is not the only source that places her there; however, in a corrido (a Mexican traditional song based on storytelling) she is credited as the leader of the battle. The Corrido del Combate del 15 en Mayo en Torreon also names her as ‘being first to start the exchange of fire’, again this is monumental in a way as very few corridos mention soldaderas, yet to have have her be named in two is a testament to how incredible she was.
After this point however historical records become slightly more confusing. It is unclear whether she was removed by Villa or she left due to him denying her the rank of general but eventually she separated from him and began her own independent force, this time of exclusively women. Some estimate it was 25 women, others say it was closer to 1000. The concept of this brigade in itself was revolutionary all the same. This was still a time when most female fighters were hiding their identity by dressing as men or were simply refused the right to fight, yet she found a way to go against the system all the same. Additionally this brigade was apparently fairly impressive as they were possibly the ones to hold the line at the Battle of Zacatecas in late June 1914 and ensure there were no escapes.
Her bravery was recognised eventually as she began to support Venustiano Carranza who by 1917 was an enemy of her former leader, Villa. He was rather moderate politically, but socially conservative, so when she requested to be promoted general he denied her but did promote her to colonel. Still, all good things must seemingly come to an end as she was still ordered to retire, along with all her female soldiers. Herrera’s journey did not end there though, instead she transitioned to work as spy against Villa (who was still causing trouble in northern Mexico).
Depending on which source you look at, you may find that she worked in Jimenez, Chihuahua, as a girl in a canteen, while others will say it was in Ciudad Juarez. As a spy, a role common for many soldaderas at the time, she collected intelligence and presumably reported it to those higher up. Sadly, even though she still wished to help her country it was as her time as her spy that her story ended.
While the exact date is unknown and the story not entirely clear, the majority of historical record seems to agree that one night three drunk men found her, insulted her and then shot her. Although the shooting itself did not kill her, the subsequent infection did. In some ways it’s sad that her life’s end is so unclear, but I think it’s important in a way to showcase all that memorable things she did when she was alive, rather than have a dramatic death.
Petra Herrera is just one example of the soldaderas of Mexico. Her role in the military is just one of hundreds but her colourful life is important in showing the many ways women found to fight for their beliefs even when being denied the opportunity by the same people on their side. During this month of remembrance, I think it’s important to remember the people that did so much yet weren’t truly valued in their time for something out of their control. And going forward it’s important to consider every single individual involved in telling the full story.