biography
| sex:
| female
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| lived:
| (1760–1827)
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| biography:
| Revolutionary soldier and lecturer, born in Plympton, Massachusetts, USA. After a youth as a domestic servant and a few months as a teacher, she left town in 1782 to enlist in the American Revolution by disguising herself as a man and adopting the name Robert Shurtleff (or Shirtliff). She concealed her identity while participating in several battles, including one near Tarrytown, NY, where she was wounded. Only when hospitalized with fever did a doctor discover her sex, and she was discharged from the army. After marrying Benjamin Gannett and having three children, she inspired a romanticized biography (1797), and this led to her making a lecture tour in 1802. Thanks in part to the intercession of Paul Revere, she was awarded a federal pension (1805), and 11 years after her death Congress voted her husband and heirs special payments in recognition of her military service. |
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