 Hello from the National Archives public programs and education staff. My name is Sarah Lyons Davis. I'm an education specialist at the National Archives. Welcome to the National Archives Comes Alive Young Learners Program. Today we meet Deborah Sampson Gannett, one of a handful of women who fought in the Revolutionary War disguised as men. Deborah Sampson was a descendant of Pilgrim's Miles Standish on her father's side and William Bradford on her mother's. In 1781, she enlisted to serve in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment under the name Robert Schertliff. She received multiple sword and bullet wounds and received an honorable discharge in 1783. She was the only woman to earn a full military pension for participation in the Army. Deborah Sampson is portrayed by actor and artistic director Judith Calora from History at Play. The National Archives has many records related to Revolutionary War veterans. These images are from the National Archives catalog. They include images from the Revolutionary War pension application of Deborah Sampson Gannett. By the time she applied for the pension, you can see she was married and went by the name Deborah Gannett. The first page includes her name as well as her alias soldier name Robert Schertliff. Her entire application is 64 pages long and includes a letter dated 1818 outlining her service and her need for a pension. And on this slide for our education specific resource Docs Teach, you see an educational activity for Deborah Sampson. In this activity, students can analyze her letter for clues about the experience of a woman serving in the Revolutionary War disguised as a man. As you see in the image, the letter has parts of the text spotlighted to help students analyze the document. And this document is Gannett's sworn testimony that she served as a private soldier in the War of the Revolution. It states she is in such reduced circumstances as to require the aid of her country for additional compensation. Her testimony is part of her application for a larger federal pension from the US government. It references her service record was lost during the burning of Washington by the British in 1814 and it provides a thorough accounting of her service in the Revolutionary War. Gannett was one of only two women to receive a federal pension, the other being Margaret Corbyn. Our programs are brought to you from the National Archives Public Programs and Education Team and the National Archives Foundation. You can find information for free to teacher and student programs on the National Archives website, archives.gov, under Archives News, upcoming events. And if you follow the National Archives on social media and now let us give a warm welcome to Deborah Sampson Gannett. I continued to fight. My leg was slow to heal due to the wound inflicted by this musket ball. Yeah, and I continued to fight. I fought for 18 months. I was promoted to the rank of officer. I was made personal assistant to General John Patterson. I was given my very own horse and I was sent to Philadelphia on a special mission. The soldiers of the Continental Army had been released from service without payment and they now rioted upon the city of Philadelphia. The Massachusetts 4th Regiment was sent to stop the rebellion. Yet as we traveled a fever tore through our camp. My fever rose and I fainted. And before I was able to regain my consciousness, I had been taken to hospital. Where one doctor, Barnabas Binney, began to examine me. He felt my neck for a pulse. He felt my my chest for a heartbeat and he felt the bindings, the bindings wrapped around my woman's chest. The bindings were obvious upon physical examination and the doctor realized that the poor dying boy who lay before him was a poor dying woman. The doctor had a choice to expose my identity or to conceal it. The doctor chose to conceal. The doctor brought me to his home where he, his wife and a nurse by the name of Mrs. Parker, tended to my wounds. They said I needed constant supervision. There are no visitors allowed. And after several weeks in their care, my fever finally broke. I recuperated my health once more. And the doctor agreed to release me. But not before first asking one thing. Of me, what could this letter possibly hold? That would help me. I had risked my life to be a soldier and I would have rather died on the battlefield than be disgraced by a letter that the doctor had saved my life. And he had asked only one thing in return. Deliver the letter. And so I traveled from the outskirts of Philadelphia to New York, West Point, where I had been trained. I entered the study of General John Patterson, my commanding officer, and I delivered the letter I watched as General Patterson took the letter from my hand. I gazed as he unfolded the parchment and read the contents within. I examined as the message of the letter imprinted upon his mind. Can this be true? I had not read the letter. For it was sealed with wax. Of course, I knew. I knew it was true. Answer me, soldier, you answer me this instant. Can this letter be true? Yes, sir. Yes, sir, it is true. Remove your helmet, soldier. And he stared. General Patterson stared into my eyes. And still he could not see. What is your name? Soldier, what is my name? My name is Deborah Sampson. Sir, and I am a woman. General Patterson brought me to my regiment. The Massachusetts Fourth. He introduced me to my fellow soldier as Deborah Sampson. And my fellow soldiers, my brothers in arms, responded, it is good to see you again. Robert, General Patterson, personally delivered a letter of honorable discharge signed by General Henry Knox. I thought I would be disgraced. I thought I would be imprisoned. I was honored, but I couldn't stay. The Continental Army was the only family that I had ever known. And I couldn't stay. So I traveled back to the only home I had, Massachusetts. I wore what you see me in today, all that I owned in all the world. The wardrobe of a warrior. I went to the home of my mother, whom I had not seen for many, many a year. I knocked upon the door and she opened and it was not the face of a loving mother. It was disgust. It was hatred. And my mother knew what I had done and she could see what I had done. I was wearing what I had done. She hated me for it. She slammed the door in my face. And I was an orphan. Once more. I went to the home of an aunt, a woman I barely knew, her name, Alice. And when she opened the door, she threw her arms around me. I'm like Evie and Eve. I could hear her voice as she cried out and said, It is I, Ephron, so happy to be home. I've convinced the entire Continental Army that I was man. I could convince my family as well. And I lived with my aunt Alice for some time. And just when I thought I could go on living as a man for the rest of my life, I met and everything changed. His name is Benjamin Gannett. He is a farmer from Sharon, Massachusetts. And all at once I realized I could no longer keep up the wardrobe of a warrior. Off came the light infantry helmet put away for another day. Off came the soldiers' canteen, which had staved off my thirst. Now dry. Off came the possible's bag, which had held most anything possible and the cartridge box, which had guarded me from the enemy cartridges, discharged. Box of no use and my kit. My uniform, which I wear with pride and with honor and I could wear it no longer. Benjamin and I, we were married on the seventh day of April. In the year 17 and 85 together, we have three children, our eldest, Earl, our second, Mary and our third patients. We adopt a fourth, a young orphan girl named Susanna. Her mother had died when she was only five days old. Yet try as we may. Finances never were in our favor. We had the smallest farm in Sharon, Massachusetts, and it yielded few crops. Add to that. I suddenly found myself faced with the same decision that my own mother had been faced with when I was a girl of five years old. Should I send my children off to work or should I find a way to support my family? I could never send my children to work. I could never sell my own children into servitude as my mother had done to me. I wrote letters to Congress requesting payment for my military service. I knew soldiers who had served half the time that I had yet. They had been paid for their service. Yet every letter I sent was met with no response. I had served in the Army as Robert Shurtliffe and I now wrote to Congress as Deb Rugganett. It was confusing to say the least. It seemed like all hope was lost until one day finally fortune turned to our favor and we got a new neighbor, and I do believe many of you may know him. He is from the old north end of Boston, Massachusetts, a talented silversmith and the fastest messenger in all the town. Some refer to this man as an express rider. Others refer to him as a midnight rider. This man's silver shop in Boston grew so successful that he purchased a copper rolling mill in a town called Canton, Massachusetts, which is next door to my town of Sharon. He living in Canton, I living in Sharon. We are neighbors. And his name is... I can hear you in there, you know. Paul Revere. You know Mr. Revere. Mr. Revere is my neighbor and he realized that the rumors and the gossip about me, they are untrue. People said that I was a manly woman. They said I was too stupid to know my place. Well, look at me. Am I so manly? Am I smart enough to know that a woman is capable of so much more? Paul Revere wrote a letter on my behalf to our mutual congressman and shortly after that letter was sent, I received a letter in return. A letter signed and approved by John Hancock, governor of Massachusetts, first signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor Hancock awarded me payment for my military service. And not only would I receive payment, but also a pension. I am the very first woman in all of the United States of America to receive a full veteran's pension. I received four dollars every month, but I petitioned. I got it raised to six. And I do not want to rely on Congress to support my children. I want to support my family. And so once more, I reject my role as a woman and I begin to speak. I give speeches about my experience in the military. I tore the northern United States of America, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and New York. And everywhere I speak, they call me the American heroine. I am the very first female American professional speaker. Thank you so much, Deborah Samson, for sharing just that fascinating history with us. If you have time for it, I would love to ask a few questions. I do have to work the farm a bit, but I do have a few moments of time. Yes. Wonderful. Thank you. So as I was listening to you recount your time in the military, I was wondering if you would describe your childhood and if you remember, was there a moment when you knew maybe you would need to defy these social expectations as you grew older? Yes, I would love to tell you my childhood is of unfortunate circumstance. My mother and father were not unfortunately able to make ends meet to support the children. And my father, when I was quite young, went off to seek alternate employment and never returned home. My mother unable to care for any of the children except those who were still suckling, who were still infants, bound us out to various family members, as was customary in my day in the late 18th century. And most of my siblings were sent off to various aunts and uncles, myself included. Unfortunately, my aunt fell ill within a few years of taking me in. And she passed in the interim. However, prior to her passing, she taught me unspeakably important skills such as how to read and how to write. And many women did not have that talent of being able to write. It was at this point that I was sent into what's called indentured servitude. And indentured servitude is essentially like 18th century foster care meeting a very crude type of enslavement. Wherever a home needs free labour and they're willing to feed you and give you a place to sleep or a bed or it might be a pile of hay depending on the season, that's where you live. And you might live there for months or years. And the majority of my adolescence was spent living on a farm. And I think that that was when the formative ideas of my life were developing because I was living on a farm surrounded by boys. In this homestead there were ten sons, ten boys, not all were sons, some were other relatives. And they were sent to school. By law in Massachusetts you had to send your sons to school. At least for a few months of the year generally in the summertime when we weren't doing as much harvesting or planting. But having those boys come home from school and watching them do their lessons I learned numbers and I learned history and I was able to read from the library. And it was that exposure to knowledge that I never would have had as a young woman that showed me that I was capable of doing whatever those around me were doing. In fact, I was capable of attending the farm and doing things as well as the boys. And as I was caring for many of them who were younger than me, I knew I possessed both the skills of a maternal figure and the skills of a paternal figure. So as the war was on our doorstep I knew I had to adopt both of those skills to do what was best for my country. Interesting. And in doing so what was the most difficult part of convincing the soldiers around you that you were a boy? Well believe it or not the quiet times are far more horrifying in that regard than the war-like times when you are in any sort of hand-to-hand combat which is what I was exposed to skirmishes more so than formal battles. The blood flowing through your body is so hot that all other mind all other movements of the mind cease to exist. And when you are seated in a camp for hours or days or even a week not moving figuring what the next movements of the unit or the regiment are. Of course a regiment is a lot of soldiers you can have upwards of a thousand soldiers in a regiment and part of the Massachusetts Fort within that you have various battalions and units and so on and so forth. So we would often be waiting many many days before we knew where we were going that's when I was most frightened because that's when people started asking questions and I'll tell you of the utmost of these times when I was frightened was in the middle of the night we slept in canvas a-frame tents that sometimes slept six or seven men at a time although not all the men would be sleeping at the same time some would be standing guard and watching at various hours as we took shifts but that was when I had to rebind my bindings around my chest so I couldn't just walk away I had to find a reason that I wasn't sleeping obviously when I was supposed to sleep but I couldn't leave my post when I was standing guard and watching that would be grounds for dishonorable discharge but I had to go into the woods and I had to rebind my bindings so that my shape would continue to appear as that of a young boy a young man that was the most horrifying scary time was those late in the night adventures expeditions to the woods. Oh I'm sure was there something that surprised you the most about being a soldier? Surprised me the most respect how much respect a person can be given I never knew respect I never knew anyone looking at me with any sort of esteem I never knew anyone looking at me with any sort of admiration like they were hoping they could be like me someday that as a soldier it was the opportunity the prospect of a true career which is not afforded to a young woman in the late 18th century and when you speak about respect when you returned to Massachusetts after the war how were you treated by the community? Well there was a lot of as I mentioned gossip and rumors you know manly brute too stupid to know their place in society and all of these things were being said by people who had never actually met me but they've heard through the grapevine what I had done unfortunately didn't help the circumstances were helped by my mother my mother and I had had a falling out not because she bound me out because in the depths of my mind and my heart I know she would not have bound me out had she not had to bound me out but she when I turned 18 and my indentured servitude was legally terminated was legally ended at that time she approached me for the first time in years and said I found a suitor for you Deborah so now you'll be married and I told her that I had been a slave and a servant since I had been 5 years old and I certainly was not going to have a master at any other point in my life and therefore I refused to wed what they call a masterless woman of course I didn't realize that that would change in some years time we never say never of course but that the experience that I had with my mother going back to try to make amends it ended very poorly and she was quite ashamed that I had brought disgrace upon the family and my family's motto is disgrace is worse than death so I believe my mother would have preferred that I had been lost on the battlefield as much as I hate to say it and come back and make myself public and I do believe she made some of the her feelings known to others around the end and word did spread because of those rumors around the community neighbors would speak about me whisper as I walked by my children were bullied when they were young they never spoke about the fact that I had served in the army only my grandchildren have come to start calling me the old soldier and they will talk with their friends about what I had done in the years past and when you mentioned speaking about your past and your service in the military why did you decide to go on a national lecture tour well finances unfortunately still were not in our favor the payments issued by the government the early government at this time were not nearly as substantial as payments that would be issued to us after 1814 when Congress passed a new pension plan for veterans of the American War for Independence I think they saw that we did need to take care of our soldiers more after the war of 1812 where we did not have a formal army to send into to keep the British regulars at bay and of course therefore lost our capital city of Washington as well as we mentioned my records of my service so thereafter Congress began to see the importance and the impact of caring for its soldiers and its veterans to ensure we had a military that would be ready a standing professionally trained military that would be ready to fight at the moment's notice because it became evident we needed that now that said I went on this tour because I wasn't receiving enough income to support not only my four children of course one adopted but we also have a domestic family with us by the name of Patience Payson who is a part of our family she's been with us for decades now and we support her as she is one of the family within the household and I needed more money and there was a gentleman called Herman Mann who had heard of my story with quite an allure he had interviewed me for several hours he wrote a book called the Female Review and then he asked me if I would consider doing a book tour to advertise that I could be released I could give a speech that he himself would pen which he did and that I could give that oration in various towns throughout the northern United States and I gave that oration wearing my woman's attire and then I went off stage and after I completed the speech I put my male kit my uniform on and I returned on stage and I did the full manual of arms using my Charleville musket that I had been equipped with during the war and it allowed me to make money and it also allowed me to have respect and admiration that I had always wanted and never thought I would have again never thought I would have until my service but never thought I would have again thereafter it was very very rewarding and I could take care of my family because of it and I know that you're busy and you mentioned you have work to do after you leave us today so this is our final question what advice to you as Deborah Sampson Gadot have for young people today? Well as you recall I mentioned that when I returned from service there was a lot of rumors there was a lot of gossip and even some might say bullying which I'm sure there are quite a few watching who may have known or know what that feels like amongst their colleagues their classmates their neighbors their family even and I just want you to remember that same person who they bullied and they criticized and they ridiculed right after I did something that was very rebellious and very unexpected and very uncomfortable for many people to understand I am the same person to whom they build statues for whom they name parks for whom they name roads for whom the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has an official day where my life is celebrated every year May 23 the anniversary of my enlistment to whom even they are discussing building a statue to me in Beacon Hill where the Massachusetts State House stands just remember the people that they make fun of today are the people that they are building statues to and creating holidays for tomorrow What fantastic advice thank you so much and thank you for sharing your story it is my pleasure and my honor thank you to you and the National Archives and now one last look at the docs teach educational activity related to analyzing records and the letter written by Deborah Sampson in her application for a federal pension for serving in the Revolutionary War and I hope you can join next month for our Young Learners Program with George Washington Carver agricultural scientist, educator and inventor thank you all for participating in our program today