DEBORAH SAMPSON

Plympton, Massachusetts
December 17, 1760–April 29, 1827
Deserved a Chestful of Purple Hearts

Deborah Sampson, serving under the name of Robert Shurtleff, was one of the few women to serve as a combat soldier in the Continental Army. She paid a major price for her participation. Deborah was wounded in her first battle and never recovered fully. Nor was she compensated for her service until later in life. But, she soldiered on, happy to do what she could for her country.

Living a Life of Servitude

Deborah Sampson’s early life was difficult. Her family was as poor as her opportunities for education, especially after her father drowned in a shipwreck in 1765. (Some accounts say he abandoned the family; either way, she and her five siblings were left without a father.) Deborah was indentured to a family named Thomas for eight years, starting at age ten.

When Deborah was released from her servitude in 1778, she had acquired enough education to become a schoolteacher, but she was too restless to follow that route. There was a war in progress and Deborah wanted to be a part of it. She did not see much future in rolling bandages for the army, the role commonly assigned to women. Deborah wanted to be a soldier. She had the physical and mental attributes—and the determination—required to enlist.

Revolutionary Revelations

Deborah Sampson was about 58 tall, heavy boned, and strong, with a light complexion. Even her mother had a hard time picking her out once she donned her soldier’s uniform.

Deborah Joins the Army

The Continental Army did not allow women to serve during the Revolutionary War. That did not stop Deborah. She tried to enlist as Robert Shurtleff of Carver, Massachusetts, early in 1782, selecting the name out of respect to her deceased brother. But she suspected that the recruiters recognized her as a woman because of the dainty way she held her quill pen. She failed to appear the next day for induction. Deborah tried again on May 20, 1782, in Uxbridge, where Noah Taft was forming a muster. This time she was successful. “Robert Shurtleff” was assigned to the Light Infantry Company of the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment, commanded by Captain George Webb. It was not long before her unit was in action.

Revolutionary Revelations

The First Baptist Church of Middleborough, Massachusetts, excommunicated Deborah after her unit left Massachusetts because of a strong suspicion that she was “dressing in man’s clothes and enlisting as a Soldier in the Army.”

Fighting the British—and Detection

The regiment marched off to West Point to protect the area from the British still occupying New York City, fifty-five miles south. Skirmishes between the two sides were common. Deborah’s first taste of combat came at Tappan Zee on July 3, 1782, where she reportedly fought well but sustained serious wounds. Two musket balls dug into her thigh and a British soldier scraped his saber across the left side of her head. She refused to go to a hospital, lest her gender be discovered. Good Samaritans transported her to one nonetheless.

Sampson had to be on guard constantly to protect her identity. Once, she was caught with a group of soldiers who grew suspicious of her behavior among them. Another time she was altering her uniform when comrades commented on her skill with a needle. She explained that there were no girls in her family, so “he” had to learn how to do his own sewing.

She used her ingenuity to escape detection. Deborah showed the surgeon her scalp wound, rather than the musket balls. He released her, and she tried to dig out the musket balls with her pen knife and a sewing needle. She could not extract both. She dug one out, but the other ball became embedded permanently.

Love Proves to Be Deborah’s Undoing

Life got a little easier for Deborah once the Fourth Massachusetts was transferred to Philadelphia after the Treaty of Paris was signed. She was assigned to be General John Patterson’s orderly. But health problems tripped her up. A fever rendered her unconscious and forced her into the hospital. Barnabas Binney, the doctor who treated her, discovered her secret.

Sampson pleaded with Dr. Binney not to tell anyone. He agreed, and moved her to his house for privacy and further treatment. Unfortunately, his niece fell in love with Robert Shurtleff. Sampson’s deception unraveled.

Dr. Binney told General Patterson about Deborah. Patterson told General Henry Knox, who advised General Washington. The general confusion resulted in Robert Shurtleff’s discharge from the Continental Army.

General Knox signed Shurtleff/Sampson’s honorable discharge on October 25, 1783. General William Shepard, Colonel Henry Jackson, and General Patterson presented letters of commendation regarding her bravery.

Separation, Marriage, and Death

After a year and a half of service to her country, Robert Shurtleff was a free woman. For a while after her discharge, she traveled around New England and New York presenting lectures about her experiences in the military to raise some money. She wore the military uniform during her lectures, which always excited the audience. She returned to Massachusetts and married Benjamin Gannet on April 7, 1785. They had three children and adopted a fourth. She finally took up teaching to earn some money, which she needed badly.

Deborah was in debt for several years. That prompted her to exercise the same determination that had gotten her into the army in order to be paid in full for her service.

The army held back some of Sampson’s pay after her discharge. She petitioned the state of Massachusetts and the U.S. Congress for back pay and a pension, becoming the first woman to ever apply for a military pension. Eventually, she received compensation and a pension.

Quotations to Live (and Die) By!

“[DEBORAH SAMPSON] EXHIBITED AN EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCE OF FEMALE HEROISM BY DISCHARGING THE DUTIES OF A FAITHFUL GALLANT SOLDIER, AND AT THE SAME TIME PRESERVING THE VIRTUE AND CHASTITY OF HER SEX, UNSUSPECTED AND UNBLEMISHED.”

—THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS

Finally, age and ill health caught up with Sampson. She died of yellow fever. Her legacy was commendable, though. She exemplified the ferocity and patriotism with which the colonists fought for their freedom, regardless of gender.

The country could never forget Deborah Sampson, and she never forgot the war. She had a constant reminder. When Deborah Sampson died, she still had that musket ball in her thigh—forty-five years later.