Deborah Sampson Gannett, also known as Deborah Samson or Deborah Sampson, was born on December 17, 1760 in Plympton, Massachusetts. She disguised herself as a man, and served in the Continental Army under the name Robert Shirtliff – sometimes spelled Shurtleff or Shirtleff – and fought in the American Revolutionary War. She fought in the war for 17 months before her sex was revealed when she required medical treatment after contracting a fever in Philadelphia in 1783. After her real identity was made known to her commander, she was honorably discharged at West Point. After her discharge, Sampson met and married Benjamin Gannett. In 1802, she went on a lecture tour to speak about her wartime experiences. She died in Sharon, Massachusetts in 1827.

Deborah Sampson was one of the first women to receive a pension for her military service in the American Revolutionary War and the first woman to go on a national lecture tour of the United States. And yet, her story is mostly lost to history. You would think that in the world we live in today, Deborah Sampson's story would be well known. Perhaps she would serve as a role model for young girls today, an example of what can be achieved despite the odds placed against you. However, sadly, this is not the case. Sampson's story, hidden history that has remained long forgotten, is the story of an American patriot and a developing nation that wasn't ready to honor a woman and her accomplishments.

For the rest of Deborah Sampson's story, please check out the audio link provided for EPISODE TWO of our new podcast, Hidden History:

LISTEN NOW: Hidden in Plain Sight: Deborah Sampson & the American Revolutionary War

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Images and Newspaper Articles

Deborah Sampson Ancestral House, 280 Wareham Street, Middleboro, Plymouth County, MA.

Map of Westchester County during the American Revolution.

This became a partisan battleground or “no man’s land” of continual raiding by marauding bands of Loyalist Troops.

Engraving of Deborah during the Revolution.

TREATY OF PARIS by Benjamin West (1783). The British delegation refused to pose, and the painting was never completed.

Deborah Sampson giving General Paterson the letter that would reveal the truth about her gender.

The house where Deborah Sampson spent the last few years of her life, in Sharon, Massachusetts.

The final resting place of Deborah Sampson Gannett.

A statue of Sampson outside the public library in Sharon, Massachusetts.

1838 bill granting the heirs of Deborah Sampson Gannett monetary relief.

A portion of a news article about Deborah Sampson in the New York NY Evening Post, July 6, 1898.

Glens Falls Daily Times, Saturday evening, June 21, 1902.

A portion of an article about Deborah, New York NY Evening Post, Saturday, June 27, 1914.

An article promoting Deborah Sampson as the patron saint of WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps),

Lockport, NY Union Sun Journal, Saturday, May 23, 1942.

Resources

• Mann, Herman. The Female Review : Or, Memoirs of an American Young Lady; Whose Life and Character Are Peculiarly Distinguished--Being a Continental Soldier, for Nearly Three Years, in the Late American War (1797).
• Sampson, Deborah. Diary of Deborah Sampson Gannett in 1802 (Boston: Boston Public Library, 1802), 1901.
• Young, Alfred F. Masquerade: The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier (Vintage Books, 2005).
• https://www.masshist.org/database/326 --- Letter from Paul Revere to William Eustis, 20 February 1804.
• http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ma0887/photos.075754p --- SAMPSON HOUSE
• https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/deborah-sampson/
• https://www.mass.gov/info-details/deborah-sampson-american-revolutionary-war-hero