“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.” Proverbs 11:22

Sleep completed eluded Lydia Darrah that night. She was completely shocked at the conversation she had overheard among the British officers, who demanded to use her home and ordered her to leave them alone while they met. But Darrah had daringly eavesdropped on their closeddoor meeting. What she learned terrified her. The British planned to march from Philadelphia and attack General Washington’s army at White Marsh. No matter what this Quaker’s religious beliefs about war, her country was in danger.

“Should she awaken her husband and inform him? That would be to place him in special jeopardy . . . No, come what might, she would encounter the risk alone. After a petition for heavenly guidance, her resolution was formed,” the American Quarterly Review wrote.

The next morning Lydia told her husband she needed to obtain flour from a nearby mill. She acquired a pass to cross British lines, dropped her sack at the flour mill, and walked in the snow “with all haste towards the outposts of the American army. Her determination was to apprise Washington of the danger.”

On her way she saw Lieutenant Colonel Craig, an acquaintance. “To him she disclosed the secret, after having obtained from him a solemn promise not to betray her individually, since the British might take vengeance on her and her family,” the article explained.

Lydia retrieved her sack, filled it with flour, and returned home. The next day a knocking on her door drained all color from her face. She mustered her composure and once again welcomed the British officer into her home. ‘‘With a pale cheek, but composed, for she placed her trust in a higher Power, Lydia obeyed the summons . . . ‘Were any of your family up, Lydia, on the night when I received company in this house?’

“‘No,’ was the unhesitating reply. ‘They all retired at eight o’clock.’

“‘It is very strange,’ the officer said, then mused a few minutes. ‘You, I know, Lydia, were asleep; for I knocked at your door three times before you heard me—yet it is certain that we were betrayed. I am altogether at a loss to conceive who could have given the information of our intended attack to General Washington! On arriving near his encampment we found his cannon mounted, his troops under arms, and so prepared at every point to receive us, that we have been compelled to march back without injuring our enemy, like a parcel of fools.’”

The man left and a relieved Lydia closed the door behind him.

“But the pious Quakeress blessed God for her preservation, and rejoiced that it was not necessary for her to utter an untruth in her own defence,” the article concluded. Lydia Darrah’s daring and discretion kept Washington’s army out of the vulture’s beak. Once again God preserved the army. This time it was through a quiet Quaker pacifist.

PRAYER: Thank you for using discretion in a mighty way during the Revolution. Show me when I need to hold my tongue and when I need to speak.

Best selling author and columnist Jane Hampton Cook, http://www.janecook.com/, is known for making history both memorable and relevant to today’s news, political events, and issues of faith. A former webmaster for President George W. Bush (1999-03), Jane is the author of Stories of Faith and Courage from the Revolutionary War, a 365-day devotional chronicling the story of the nation’s founding from the viewpoints of 20 key players.

Publisher: Living Ink Books
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©Jane Hampton Cook, used with permission.