"She Served as a Private Soldier"
Deborah Sampson Gannett enlisted in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment in 1781, using the name Robert Shurtleff. She was honorably discharged in 1783 after receiving several wounds in combat. In 1792, the General Court of Massachusetts recognized her "female heroism [while] discharging the duties of a faithful and gallant solider" and gave her a soldier's pension. Thirteen years later, Gannett appeals for an invalid's pension due to her ill health; notably Paul Revere supported her petition.
The following primary source is Gannett's testimony which was given as part of her application for a pension from the U.S. Government. She eventually received a Federal pension—one of two known women from the American Revolution to receive this recognition and support.
Deborah Gannett, of Sharon, in the county of Norfolk, and District of Massachusetts, a resident and nation of the United States, and applicant for a pension from the United States, under an Act of Congress entitled an Act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States, in the revolutionary war, maketh oath, that she served as a private soldier, under the name of Robert Shurtleff, in the war of the revolution, upwards of two years in manner following [illegible]. Enlisted in April 1781 in the company commanded by Captain George Webb in the Massachusetts regiment commanded then by Colonel Shepherd, and afterwards by Colonel Henry Jackson - and served in said corps, in Massachusetts, and New York - until November 1783 - when she was honorably discharged in writing, which discharge is lost. During the time of her service, she was at the capture of Lord Cornwallis, was wounded at Tarrytown - and now receives a pension from the United States, which pension she duly relinquishes. She is in such reduced circumstances, as to require the aid of her country for her support---
Deborah Gannett
Mass. District September 14, 1818
“Sworn to before me
[illegible] Davis
Dis[trict] judge
Mass. District
Source:
Testimony of Deborah Sampson Gannett; 9/14/1818; Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S 32722, Deborah Gannett, Mass.; Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, ca. 1800 - ca. 1912; Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/testimony-deborah-sampson-gannett, March 5, 2025]
