03/09/2023
“Let it be clearly understood that no man need hesitate to challenge me because I am a woman, or think he will be called on to show me any consideration for that reason. I grant no favors and I certainly ask none… I hope someone who desires to sustain the reputation of his s*x will challenge me before I get to be an old woman and give the ‘new woman’ another chance to prove she is the superior of man.”
Ella Hattan (1859-190?), known as “Jaguarina,” was one of the greatest swordswomen of the nineteenth century, and perhaps of all time. As America’s champion fencer, and proficient in the use of the foil, broadsword, rapier, dagger, and Bowie knife, Hattan would defeat more than sixty men in high-profile combats on both horseback and on foot; more than half of whom were fencing masters. In 1903, she recalled:
"A woman always labors under a disadvantage in any athletic tournament. Being a woman, she has to do twice the work any ordinary man would have to do to prove ability. In my case the audiences always seemed to take it for granted that there was a certain amount of gallantry on the part of the man fencing against me, simply because he was not fencing with one of his own s*x. If any point was in doubt and was finally allowed to me, the spectators were sure to say; 'Oh, he’s gallant, and has allowed her that point.'
That was why I always put forward my utmost efforts to beat an opponent so hard, fast and decisively that there could be no possible doubt as to my superiority. Some of the scars I carry on my face, sword arm and body show conclusively how much chivalric consideration was shown me because I was a woman."
After retiring around 1907, Hattan completely disappeared from the public record. To this day, her ultimate fate remains a mystery.
