Here's to the ladies that fought like demons, the ones who served their country or empire with pride, or simply fought for what they believed in. Warrior women come in all forms and across all time periods. Their stories are so varied and different, I've done my best to separate them into coherent groups, but it wasn't easy. Hopefully you're able to get the gist of why some are where they are.
Fought Through a Life of Crime:
- Anne Bonny, Pirate
- Charlotte Badger, Pirate
- Ching Shih, From Prostitute to One of the Most Formidable Pirates of All Time
- Fanya Kaplan, Tried to Assassinate Vladimir Lenin
- Mary Read, Pirate
- Pearl Hart, Stagecoach Robber and Bandit Queen of Arizona
- Rachel Wall, Possibly America's First Female Pirate
Fought with a Crown on Her Head:
- Amanirenas, Warrior Queen of Kush
- Arachidamia, Warrior Queen of Sparta
- Boudica, Burned London to the Ground
- Fu Hao, Military General and Priestess
- Grace O'Malley, Irish Chieftain and Pirate
- Isabella of France, Queen of England who Forced Her Husband to Abdicate in Favor of Their Son
- Mandukhai Khatun, Mongolian Empress who Fought in Battle While Pregnant With Twins
- Sammu-Ramat, Empress Regnant of Assyria
- Sparethra, Queen Who Led a Force 500,000 Strong Against Cyrus the Great
- Taytu Betul, Empress of Ethiopia
- Trung Nhi, She and Her Sister Led a Large-Scale Rebellion Against Their Chinese Overlords
- Trung Trac, She and Her Sister Led a Large-Scale Rebellion Against Their Chinese Overlords
- Xochitl, Queen of the Toltec Empire
- Yaa Asantewaa, Led the Ashanti People During the War of the Golden Stool
- Yennenga, Mother of the Mossi People
Fought as a Spy:
- Amy Elizabeth Thorpe, World War II Spy
- Andree Borrel, SOE Agent During World War II
- Belle Boyd, Perhaps One of the Most Famous Confederate Spies During the War Between the States
- Christine Granville, World War II Spy For the SOE
- Doris Bohrer, Allied Spy and Deputy Head of Counterintelligence at the CIA
- Eileen Nearne, SOE Agent During World War II
- Gabrielle Petit, Spy for the British Secret Service During World War I
- Hannah Szenes, SOE Paratrooper During World War II
- Harriet Tubman, Union Spy and Civil Rights Activist
- Josefina Guerrero, The Leper Spy
- Loreta Janeta Velasquez, Confederate Soldier and Spy
- Margaretha MacLeod, Mata Hari/ World War I Spy
- Noor Inayat Khan, SOE Radio Operator During World War II
- Odette Sansom Hallowes, SOE Agent During World War II
- Rose O'Neal Greenhow, Confederate Spy During the War Between the States
- Violette Szabo, Allied Spy During World War II
- Virginia Hall, Allied Spy During World War II
Fought to Save Her Country from Invaders (Outside Traditional Armed Forces):
- Erika Szeles, Martyr from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
- Freddie Dekker-Oversteegen, Dutch Resistance Fighter
- Joanna Palani, Fought with the YPJ & Peshmerga Against the Islamic State
- Lela Karagianni, Leader of a Resistance Group During World War II
- Lucie Aubrac, Schoolteacher and Member of the French Resistance
Fought as a Rebel Leader/During a Revolution:
- Anita Garibaldi, It Takes a Special Woman to Fight in Several Revolutions
- Bartolina Sisa, Indigenous Rebel Leader
- Berta Soler, Leader of the Ladies in White, who Advocate for the Release of Political Prisoners in Cuba
- Constance Markievicz, Irish Freedom Fighter
- Gregoria Apaza, Indigenous Rebel Leader
- Leonor Villegas de Magnon, Nurse and Advocate During the Mexican Revolution
- Margaret Corbin, Revolutionary War Soldier
- Mildred Fish-Harnack, The Only American Civilian Woman to be Executed by the Nazis
- Nakano Takeko, Samurai During the Boshin War
- Nancy Hart, Scout & Spy During the Revolutionary War
- Pingyang, General Who Led 70,000 Soldiers Against the Emperor
- Qiu Jin, China's Joan of Arc
- Lady Trieu, Fought to Free Her Country from the Chinese
- Wang Cong'er, Leader of the White Lotus Society and Warrior
Fought in Her Country’s Army:
- Agustina de Aragon, Fought During the Spanish War for Independence
- Aleksandra Samusenko, Tank Commander During World War II for the Soviet Union
- General Ann E Dunwoody, The First Woman to Become a Four-Star General in the US Army
- Bessie Stringfield, Motorcycle Dispatch Rider during World War II
- Catalina de Erauso, The Lieutenant Nun
- Cathay Williams, The First Woman to Enlist in the US Army
- Catherine Davidson, Union Soldier During the War Between the States
- Ltc. Charity Adams Earley, The First Commissioned Officer in the Women's Army Corps
- Deshauna Barber, the First Miss USA Winner to be Active Duty in the Armed Forces
- Evelyn McHale, Subject of LIFE Magazine's "A Beautiful Suicide" Photograph; She Served as a WAC in World War II
- Frances Clayton, Union Soldier During the War Between the States
- Helen Purviance, Donut Queen of World War I (Salvation Army)
- Ida Remington, Union Soldier During the War Between the States
- Joan of Arc, Heavenly Warrior
- Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Deadliest Female Sniper in History
- Marina Yurlova, Teenage Cossack during World War I
- Mariya Oktyabrskaya, Soviet Tank Driver During World War II
- Mary Galloway, Union Soldier During the War Between the States
- Maxine Dale, World War II Veteran, Machinist, and Mother
- Milunka Savić, Probably the Most Decorated Female Soldier in the History of Ever
- Nancy Wake, The Most Decorated Servicewoman from World War II
- Naziq al-Abid, The First Woman to Become a General in the Syrian Armed Forces
- Rachel Washburn, First Lieutenant in the US Army
- Rebecca Peterman, Union Soldier During the War Between the States
- Roza Shanina, Soviet Sniper With 59 Confirmed Kills
- Sarah Bowman, Possibly the First Female Officer in the United States Army
- Private Sarah Edmonds, Union Soldier during the War Between the States
- Tatyana Baramzina, World War II Sniper
- Tomoe Gozen, Samurai Warrior
- Ulrika Stalhammar, Soldier in the Great Northern War
Fought in her Country's Coast Guard:
- Capt. Dorothy Stratton, Commanding Officer of the SPARs (World War II)
- Florence Finch, Allied Spy Turned Enlisted Woman in World War II
- Dr. Olivia Hooker, The First African American Woman to Enlist in the US Coast Guard
Fought in Her Country’s Navy:
- Anna D Allen, World War II Veteran and Schoolteacher
- Grace Hopper, Navy Rear Admiral, Computer Coder, Dazzling Daughter
- Lillian Fishburne, The First Female African American Rear Admiral in the US Navy
- Mary Anne Talbot, Soldier Who Fought in the French Revolution
- Capt. Mildred H McAfee Horton, Director of the WAVES During World War II
Fought in Her Country’s Marines:
- Catherine Farrell Adler, The First Female Marine to Serve in Arlington's Marine Corps Honor Guard
- Hannah Snell, Soldier and Sailor
- Corporal Megan Leavey, Her Fight to Adopt Her K-9 Partner Made National Headlines
- Sergeant Opha Johnson, The First Woman to Enlist in the US Marine Corps
Fought in Her Country’s Airforce:
- Elaine Harmon, WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot) During World War II
- Lydia Litvyak, Soviet Air Force Pilot
- Marina Raskova, Pioneering Pilot and Navigator
- Nadezhda Popova, Night Witch and Soviet Pilot During World War II
- Ruth Law Oliver, Pioneering Aviatrix and the First Female Pilot to be Awarded a Combat Uniform from the United States (Before the Creation of the US Airforce)
Fought for Her Country Before They Had Named Armed Forces:
- Asia Ramazan Antar, Freedom Fighter With the YPJ
- Clara de la Rocha, Soldadera in the Mexican Revolution
- Deborah Sampson Gannett, Revolutionary War Soldier
- Elisa Griensen, Fought in the Mexican Revolution
- Manuela Saenz, Revolutionary Leader & Suffragette
- Senora Dona Maria Luz Corral de Villa, Pancho Villa's Wife
- Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, one of the inspirations for Molly Pitcher
- Mekatilili wa Menza, Leader of a Revolt Against the Colonial British
- Onake Obavva, Real-Life Whack-a-Mole Champion
- Petra Herrera, Soldadera who Fought in the Mexican Revolution
- Mai Bhago, Sikh Khalsa (Warrior/Saint) Who Fought the Mughal Empire
Native American\Indigenous Warrior Women:
- Ehyophsta, Cheynne Warrior who Fought in the Battle of Beecher Island
- Gouyen, Warrior with a Vendetta Against the Comanche
- Lozen, Chihenne Apache Warrior and Medicine Woman
- Marie Aioe Dorion, The Second Woman to Trek Across the Western United States After Sacagawea
- Moving Robe Woman, Fought at the Battle of Little Bighorn
- Nancy Ward, Cherokee Warrior and Beloved Woman
- Osh-Tisch, Crow Bade Warrior
- The Other Magpie, Crow Warrior Woman
- Toby Riddle, Modoc Interpreter
- Truganini, The Last Full Blooded Member of the Palawa People
- Weetamoo, Sunksqua and War Chief to the Pocasset People
A Warrior in Any Other Form:
- Agnes Randolph, Defender of Her Castle Home During a Five Month Siege
- Alice Huyler Ramsey, The First Woman to Drive Across the United States, Coast to Coast
- Angelina Eberly, Hero of the Texas Archive War
- Annis Stockton, Used Her Poems to Ignite Rebel Fervor in the American Colonies
- Augusta Chiwy, Volunteer Nurse During the Battle of the Bulge
- Candalyn Kubeck, Airline Pilot Who Fought For Her Passengers Until the End
- Clare Hollingworth, The Journalist Who Broke the News World War II Had Begun
- Claudette Colvin, Fought Back Against Segregation Laws Nine Months Before Rosa Parks
- Edith Garrud, The First Teacher of Suffraijtsu
- Elizabeth Jennings Graham, She Did it 100 Years Before Rosa Parks
- Epicharis, Tried to Assassinate Nero
- Freydis Eiriksdottir, Pregnant Viking Warrior
- Hannah Duston, She was Kidnapped and Took Revenge By Murdering Ten Others
- Irene Morgan Kirkaldy, She Did It Eleven Years Before Rosa Parks
- Isabel Godin des Odonais, Survived Trekking Through the Amazon Rain Forest on Her Own
- Isabel de Guevara, One of the First Female Spanish Colonizers in the New World
- Khutulun, Mongol Warrior
- Kurmanjan Datka, United Kyrgyzstan as a Country
- Lola Greene Baldwin, The First Female Police Officer in the United States
- Mary Bankes, Defended Her Home During the English Civil War
- Mary Fields, aka Stagecoach Mary
- Neerja Bhanot, Airline Stewardess Who Saved Hundreds of Passengers from Terrorists
- Ona Judge Staines, Risked Her Life to Escape Slavery by Walking Out the Front Door
- Serena Shim, Journalist who Died After Daring to Report the Truth
- Sophie Scholl, Member of the White Rose Resistance Movement
- Sybil Ludington, The Real Midnight Rider