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Deborah Samson Gannett
Massachusetts native became a Revolutionary War hero -- or should
we say, heroine.
By Carla Charter
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| Statue of Deborah
Samson Gannet (Sculptor Lu Stubbs) Sharon Public Library,
Massachusetts |
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On May 20, 1782, Robert Shurtliff appeared
before Muster Master Noah Taft in Bellingham, Massachusetts to enlist
in the Revolutionary
War. He mustered with 40 others into Massachusetts Fourth Regiment,
under the command of Captain George Wood, and marched to West Point
where he received uniforms and equipment.
Although the last major battle in the war had been fought the previous
October, with Cornwallis surrendering in Yorktown, Shurtliff found
himself involved in fighting guerilla warfare with Tories who refused
to give up. Among the battles Shurtliff became involved in was a skirmish
near Tarrytown, New York with a specially trained Torie Unit led by
Colonel James DeLancey.
While participating in hand-to-hand skirmishes during the battle,
Shurtliff received a forehead wound from a saber slash as well as
a musketball to the thigh. Captain Ebenezer Sproat and his soldiers
arrived and chased off the attackers, sending Shurtliff to the local
field hospital where he received treatment for his head wound. However,
he did not inform the doctor about the wound to his thigh, and while
the doctor treated another patient, Shurtliff limped out of the hospital,
later extracting the musketball from his thigh with his knife.
For Shirtliff had to conceal his real identity -- that of former school
marm Deborah Samson. Samson had grown up in poverty. Her parents were
Jonathan Samson Jr. and Deborah Bradford, who had six children in
addition to Deborah. When Samson abandoned the family, Deborah was
"bound out" at age 5 to several families, eventually arriving at the
home of Middleborough Farmer Deacon Jeremiah Thomas. Receiving no
formal schooling, Deborah received much of her education by having
the farmers’ ten sons review their school work with her after returning
from school every day.
At 18 she became a school teacher, and to
supplement that income she did spinning and weaving at local homes
and Sproat's Tavern, a gathering place for men to discuss the Revolutionary
War -- yes, named after the same Sproat who saved Shurtliff in Tarrytown.
After the Tarrytown incident Shurtliff/Samson found herself serving
in Philadelphia, where she acquired a fever. The doctor treating her
discovered she was a woman and after nursing her back to health Shurtliff/Samson
was honorably discharged October 23, 1783. Samson began receiving
a pension in $4 a month in 1804.
Samson is the first known American woman to impersonate a man in order
to join the army and take part in combat. She is the official state
heroine of Massachusetts, the only state to bestow such an honor.
She is buried in Rock Ridge Cemetery in Sharon, Massachusetts, a short
distance from where her grandson, George Washington Gay, erected a
monument to her and to Civil War veterans many years later.
If you know of any interesting historical military persons or events
you would like to see highlighted please contact cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net.
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