<Tr> <Th> Relations </Th> <Td> 3 children (Earl, Mary, Patience) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Other work </Th> <Td> Teacher Weaver Soldier Lecturer Farmer </Td> </Tr> <P> Deborah Sampson Gannett (December 17, 1760--April 29, 1827), better known as Deborah Samson or Deborah Sampson, was a Massachusetts woman who disguised herself as a man in order to serve in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . She is one of a small number of women with a documented record of military combat experience in that war . She served 17 months in the army under the name "Robert Shirtliff" (also spelled Shirtliffe or Shurtleff) of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, was wounded in 1782, and was honorably discharged at West Point, New York in 1783 . </P> <P> Deborah Sampson was born on December 17, 1760, in Plympton, Massachusetts, into a family of modest means . Her father was Jonathan Sampson (or Samson) and her mother was Deborah Bradford . Her siblings were Jonathan (born 1753), Elisha (born 1755), Hannah (born 1756), Ephraim (born 1759), Nehemiah (born 1764), and Sylvia (born 1766). Deborah's mother was the great - granddaughter of William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony . Some of Deborah's ancestors included passengers on the Mayflower . </P>

Who disguised herself as a man to fight in the war