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Nancy Morgan Hart (c. 1735–1830) was a rebel heroine of the American Revolutionary War, noted for her exploits against Loyalists in the northeast Georgia backcountry. She is characterized as a tough, strong and resourceful frontier woman who repeatedly outsmarted Tory soldiers, and killed some outright.
Learn about the life and myth of Nancy Morgan Hart, a woman who lived on the colonial frontier and became an American heroine. Discover how her story evolved from a local anecdote to a national legend over time.
- Early years
- Marriage
- Fictional character biography
- Later life
- Legacy
Born around 1735 on either the Pennsylvania or the North Carolina frontier, Ann Morgan Hart, better known as Nancy, played an important role in the American Revolution as a notorious female rebel and spy. A cousin to American General Daniel Morgan, Hart was a stalwart Patriot, who employed her own heroic means of supporting the American cause for I...
When she was in her thirties, Nancy married Benjamin Hart, a prominent North Carolinian, and the couple had eight children. Sometime in the 1770s, the family moved to South Carolina and then into the Broad River Valley region of Georgia, where Nancy became accustomed to the frontier lifestyle.
Standing six feet tall, the red-headed and muscular Hart made an imposing figure for those who dared to cross her. Her fearlessness prompted Cherokee neighbors to call her Wahatche, which meant war woman. This nickname would prove appropriate as the Revolution moved into the Georgia backcountry, and Hart became a staunch defender of the Patriot cau...
After the death of her husband, Hart moved with one of her sons to Henderson County, Kentucky, where she became a devout Methodist and lived past the age of ninety.
In the decades after the Revolution, many of Harts adventures became the stuff of legend and inspiration. During the Civil War, a band of Georgia women formed a militia unit named in honor of Nancy Hart, illustrating how the legacy of Harts heroism has lived on. Today, the state of Georgia has memorialized Hart in several ways, including one of the...
A true heroine of the American Revolution, Nancy Hart was a larger-than-life personality who became a patriotic legend. Nancy Ann Morgan, was born in 1747 in North Carolina. Nancy was six feet tall with a muscular build and folklore describes her as having red hair, crossed eyes and a small pox scarred face.
Nancy Hart (born c. 1735, Pennsylvania or North Carolina [U.S.]—died 1830, Kentucky) was an American Revolutionary heroine around whom gathered numerous stories of patriotic adventure and resourcefulness. Ann Morgan grew up in the colony of North Carolina.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Aug 12, 2005 · Georgia’s most acclaimed female participant during the Revolutionary War (1775-83) was Nancy Hart. A devout patriot, Hart gained notoriety during the revolution for her determined efforts to rid the area of Tories, English soldiers, and British sympathizers.
Nancy Morgan Hart is the only woman to have a Georgia county named for her. Hart County was carved from Elbert, Franklin and Wilkes counties in 1853 to honor the legendary frontierswoman. Nancy was born in North Carolina some time around 1735.
