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Who was Robert Shurtleff?
Robert Shurtleff, the newest member of Captain George Webb’s Fourth Massachusetts Regiment. None of her comrades suspected that a woman had joined their ranks, and the lack of beard and mustache was attributed to the recruit’s youth. So she joined her comrades in arms without experiencing any insurmountable obstacles.
How was Samson treated once her true identity was revealed?
Her identity was finally revealed during the summer of 1783 when she contracted a fever while on duty in Philadelphia. The physician who treated her kept her secret and cared for her. After the Treaty of Paris she was given an honorable discharge from the army by Henry Knox.
What name did Deborah Sampson go by in the war?
After a childhood as an indentured servant, she worked as a school teacher for a few years. The venturesome Sampson decided to enter the Continental Army to participate in the American Revolutionary War. Assuming a man’s identity, she enlisted as “Robert Shurtleff” in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment in 1782.
Who disguised herself as a man to fight in the Civil war?
She spent three years in the 95th Illinois Infantry as Pvt. Albert D.J. Cashier and lived as a man for the next 45 years until she was hit by a car and the doctors treating her discovered her sex. She was later committed to an insane asylum and forced to wear a dress, which she pinned to make into pants.
Who was the first black United States Army officer in the Civil War?
Martin Delany was commissioned as a major, the first African-American field officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and was active in recruiting blacks for the United States Colored Troops.
Was Elizabeth Shurtliff in the military?
Amazingly she also has a paper trail concerning her combat service in the army, where she fought under the alias of Robert Shurtliff, the name of her deceased brother, in the light infantry Company of the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment.
Who disguised herself as a man in the Continental Army?
One of the best examples of a woman who disguised herself as a man to fight in the Continental Army was Deborah Sampson from Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
What happened to Deborah Shurtliff after the Revolutionary War?
With no sign she had ever acted inappropriately with her male comrades, Private Shurtliff was given an honorable discharge on Oct. 25, 1783. Deborah returned to Massachusetts, where she married Benjamin Gannett and settled down on their small farm in Sharon.
How did Elizabeth Shurtliff get to New Bedford?
She ended up walking from Middleborough to the port of New Bedford, where she considered signing on to an American cruiser, then passed through Boston and its suburbs, where she finally mustered in as “Robert Shurtliff” in Uxbridge in May 1782.