Deborah Sampson, American Cross-Dresser

Deborah Sampson Gannett (December 17, 1760 - April 29, 1827) was a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to serve in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. She served under the name Robert Shirtliff of Uxbridge, Massachusetts. She fought in several skirmishes. During her first battle, on July 3, 1782, outside Tarrytown, she took two musket balls in her thigh and a cut on her forehead. During the summer of 1783, she became ill and was cared for by Doctor Barnabas Binney. He removed her clothes to treat her and discovered the cloth she used to bind her breasts. Without revealing his discovery to army authorities, he took her to his house, where his wife, daughters, and a nurse took care of her. November 3rd was set as the date for soldiers to muster out. When Binney asked Deborah to deliver a note to General Paterson, she correctly assumed that it would reveal her gender. In other cases, women who pretended to be men to serve in the army were reprimanded, but Paterson gave her an honorable discharge, a note with some words of advice, and enough money to travel home. She was discharged at West Point, New York, on October 25, 1783, after a year and a half of service. She died of yellow fever in 1827 at the age of 66

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1700s Continental Cross-dresser Cross-dressing Crossdresser Crossdressing Dresser Eighteenth Gannett Patriot Sampson Samson Shirtliff

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