Ep. 17 Deborah Sampson: How a Woman Became a Revolutionary War Hero and Why You’ve Probably Never Heard Her Name

Musket fire, soldiers yelling, chaos. It’s the summer of 1782 and Robert Shurtleff lies groaning on the ground, clutching a gash in his forehead. He’s been shot at least twice. He can feel a musket ball lodged in his thigh, another in his shoulder. The skirmish is over but that brings no relief to Shurtleff. A fellow infantryman rushes over in search of survivors. “Hospital,” he says. “No,” Shurtleff growls, “let me die.” But the soldier grabs Shurtleff and tosses him onto the back of a horse. Later, he winces in pain, nervous, adrenaline pumping as a doctor stitches up his head wound. The doctor is called away and Shurtleff drags himself off the cot, grabbing a penknife and a needle, he limps out of the tent and off into the woods. He’ll remove the musket balls himself. It’s too risky. Because, you see, Robert Shurtleff is hiding something, something big, a secret the doctor would have surely uncovered. Robert Shurtleff is not a man at all. He’s actually a woman named Deborah Sampson and women are strictly forbidden from fighting in the continental army. But did you know, Deborah Sampson wasn’t even the only woman to help form this great nation? Many “founding mothers” have slipped through the cracks of history. Let’s fix that.

Purchase Hannah's book "Remarkable Women of the Outer Banks" here!

Sources: 

• National Women's History Museum "Deborah Sampson"
• mountvernon.org "Deborah Sampson"
• Smithsonian Magazine "Diary Sheds Light on Deborah Sampson, Who Fought in the Revolutionary War"
• History Channel "What Was the 'Shot Heard Round the World?'"
• American Battlefield Trust "Women in the American Revolution"
• mountvernon.org "Key Facts About Martha Washington"
• Smithsonian Magazine "Molly Pitcher, the Most Famous American Hero Who Never Existed"
• National Women's History Museum "Margaret Cochran Corbin"
• National Women's History Museum "Mercy Otis Warren"
• North Carolina History Project "Edenton Tea Party"
• Stuff You Missed in History Class Podcast episode "Deborah Sampson Gannett, aka Private Robert Shurtliff"

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