Fernig, Félicité de (c. 1776–after 1831)

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Fernig, Félicité de (c. 1776–after 1831)

French soldier. Name variations: Felicite de Fernig; Madame Van der Walen. Born at Montagne, Nord, France, c. 1776; died after 1831; m. M. Van der Walen, a Belgian officer; sister of Théophile de Fernig.

With sister, assumed male attire and enlisted in a company of National Guards commanded by father (1792); distinguished herself in battle of Jemappes which was fought between the victorious French and the Austrians; rode in a charge by the side of the Duke of Chartres (afterward Louis-Philippe); married a Belgian officer whose life she had saved; with sister, was celebrated by Lamartine in Histoires de Girondins.

See also Women in World History.

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