Deborah really existed, even though a lot of this story was fictional I tried to convey her badassery in this book. I didn't even get close so I'll put a bit more about her here.
Deborah Sampson became a hero of the American Revolution when she disguised herself as a man and joined the Patriot forces. She was the only woman to earn a full military pension for participation in the Revolutionary army.
She was born on December 17, 1760 in Plympton, Massachusetts. She had six other siblings and her parents were descendants from pilgrims. Her parents had some financial struggles and after her father(Jonathan) failed to return from sea, Deborah's mother(Priscilla) was forced to put her children in different households.
When she was 10 years old, Deborah worked as a servant to Deacon Benjamin Thomas, a farmer in Middleborough with a large family. At 18, self-educated Sampson worked as a teacher during summer sessions and as a weaver in winter. In 1782 Sampson disguised herself as a man named Robert Shurtleff and joined the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment.
She was given the dangerous task of scouting neutral territory to assess British buildup of men and materiel in Manhattan, which General George Washington thought about attacking. In June of 1782, Sampson and two sergeants led about 30 men on an expedition that ended with a confrontation. She led a raid on a Tory home that resulted in the capture of 15 men. At the siege of Yorktown she dug trenches, helped storm a British redoubt, and endured canon fire.
For over two years, the fact that she was a woman wasn't discovered, despite close calls. When she received a gash in her forehead from a sword and was shot in her left thigh, she extracted the pistol ball herself. She was ultimately discovered in Philadelphia, when she became sick during an epidemic.
She Received an honorable discharge on October 23, 1783. Deborah than returned to Massachusetts. On April 7, 1785 she married Benjamin Gannet and they had three children. The story of her life was written in 1797 by Herman Mann, entitled The Female Review: or, Memoirs of an American Young Lady. She received a military pension from the state of Massachusetts. Although Sampson's life after the army was mostly typical of a farmer's wife, in 1802 she began a year-long lecture tour about her experiences. The first woman in America to do so, sometimes even dressing in full military regalia.
Four years after Deborah's death at age 66, her husband petitioned Congress for pay as the spouse of a soldier. Although the couple was not married at the time of her service, in 1837 the committee concluded that the history of the Revolution "furnished no other similar example of female heroism, fidelity and courage." He was awarded the money, though he died before receiving it.
Source:
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Revolution (Hamilton)
AvventuraDeborah Sampson feels trapped in her own house, kept apart from her best friend, suppressed by the social standards of the time. She finds a way out of her home and joins the continental army, dressed as a man. Not historically accurate Warning: swe...
