Florentia Wynch Sale

Born in Madras in 1790, Florentia Wynch Sale spent much of her life traveling through the British Empire alongside her husband, Sir Robert Henry Sale, an army officer. Her experiences took her to places including India, Mauritius, Burma, and Afghanistan, and her toughness earned her the nickname "the Grenadier in Petticoats."

She is best remembered for her firsthand account of the disastrous British retreat from Kabul during the First Anglo-Afghan War. Captured in 1842 and held for months, she kept a journal through the ordeal, recording events with clarity, steadiness, and sharp observation.

That journal was later published as A Journal of the Disasters in Affghanistan, 1841–2 and became the work for which she is still remembered. She died in Cape Town in 1853, leaving behind a vivid historical record that still stands out for its immediacy and courage.