The Manchester Mulan: The true story of cavalryman Sarah Roberts Taylor

In 1814, Sarah Roberts Taylor revealed to a charity officer in Manchester she had spent 21 years as a cavalryman in the British Army

It was a cold Friday morning in November 1814 and a queue was forming in Manchester’s Fountain Street.

Outside the churchwarden’s office, the town’s poor were gathering so they could plead for a few pence to survive another week.

When the door finally opened, a woman limped forward to the desk of the relieving officer and waited for the usual questions about her circumstances.

On her head was a scar caused by a blow from a sabre and the limp was from being shot in the leg with a musket ball.

The woman’s name was Sarah Roberts Taylor and she began to recount the most unexpected story — about her life on the frontline of the British Army.

Like Disney’s princess Mulan, who was based on an old Chinese legend, Sarah had been living a double life for two decades as a cavalryman.

I came across the story in a book of tales from Old Manchester, which was published in 1911.

“In giving the history of her life, a recital insisted upon by the authorities before granting relief, she made a strange revelation,” the book says.

Sarah said she was the daughter of a Manchester bricklayer and as a girl she would dress in boys’ clothes to help him with his work.

“Male attire evidently pleased her more than her proper dress,” the book says, “for at the age of 14 and being unusually tall for her age, she enlisted in the 15th Light Dragoons under her father’s name, William Roberts.”

---

---

The story goes that Sarah became an excellent rider and remained in the regiment for 21 years — rising from a private to a corporal and then a sergeant.

After two decades and having fought bravely in the Napoleonic Wars she was offered a long-service discharge, which would have brought her military career to an end.

But insted she transferred in the year 1800 to the 37th Regiment of Foot, which was then stationed on the island of St Vincent in the Caribbean.

“Shortly after she joined her new regiment, she fell ill with yellow fever, and, believing she was dying, confided her secret to a sergeant’s wife.

“When she recovered, her secret no longer her own, a soldier’s life was impossible.

“So, making the best of the situation, and not wishing to give up her military associations, she donned her natural dress and married a private in the regiment, by whom she had three children,” the book says.

---

The Monkey Parade

---

According to the story, the “intrepid, eastwhile William Roberts” followed the foot regiment back to France to again fight against Napoleon.

But then disaster struck. Sarah and her husband were captured by the French and confined in prison for two years.

After they were released in 1813, the husband died suddenly and Sarah returned to Manchester.

While awaiting her pension from the Army, she was forced to claim poor relief from the parish and that’s when she told her incredible life story.

“Of all her sufferings, she declared none had exceeded those in the French prison,” the book says.

“How she succeeded in keeping her secret for 21 years is a mystery”, it adds, “as she was wounded several times during foreign campaigns, one of which as the expedition against Napoleon in Syria”.

---

Read more - The Manchester Mulan: Finding Sarah Roberts Taylor

Thank you for reading this week’s unusual story from the Manchester History Club.

If you want to discover more about Sarah Roberts Taylor, I’ve created an extra post for paid subscribers looking at the archival evidence for her existence including a rare newspaper cutting that dates back to 1814.

If it’s something you’re interested in, then do click the link below to read the extra story. There’s currently a 30 per cent discount on subscriptions which runs out next week.

*I put some posts behind a paywall because creating this content takes time, thought, and energy—and paid subscriptions really do help support the work so I can keep doing it consistently🪴*

P.S: If you can’t afford a paid subscription and still want to show your support for my writing, you can help with my research for these stories with a one-off donation to my Manchester history book fund here. 📕

Here’s the extra paid subscriber story: