Deborah Sampson
Continental Army soldier
Died when: 66 years 131 days (796 months)Star Sign: Sagittarius
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 1785.
In 1802, she became one of the first women to go on a lecture tour to speak about her wartime experiences.
She died in Sharon, Massachusetts in 1827.
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