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Sampson, Deborah 1760-1827

Heroine; born in Plympton, mass., Dec. 17, 1760; was moved by patriotic feeling to disguise her sex and enter the Continental army when less than eighteen years old. Under the name of Robert Shurtleff she joined the 4th Massachusetts Regiment and served for three years in the ranks; received a sabre-cut in the temple in an action near Tarrytown; and soon afterwards was shot in the shoulder. During the campaign around Yorktown she had an attack of brain fever, and was taken to a hospital in Philadelphia, where her sex was discovered. Upon her recovery she was sent to Washington, who gave her an honorable discharge, some advice, and a purse of money. After the war she was invited to the capital, and congress voted her a grant of lands and a pension. She wrote an autobiography entitled The Female review. She died in Sharon, Mass., April 29, 1827.

Harper and Brothers Publishers. . New York. 1902.

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