Mercy Otis Warren was a mother, not a soldier. But the pen she wielded in support of liberty was more powerful than many a sword. This is Mercy Otis Warren. Historian Lester Cohen calls her “the most formidable female of the 18th Century.” She was a pious and patriotic woman who would not be kept quiet on matters that would impact her family (and this war certainly would), and she was a historian who appreciated the historical value of a record of the players, principles, and progress of the American War for Independence.