History Of Women During The Revolutionary War

During the American Revolution, not only did men have to face the struggles of war time atmosphere, but women had to as well. The country during the war was divided into three different groups of people; the loyalists, the patriots and the remaining people who did not care. Catherine Van Cortlandt, a loyalist had to endure different struggles then the patriot women Eliza Pinckney and Abigail Adams. However, parts of their stories are similar when it came to their family struggles.

They opened up their homes to the wounded, raised money for and provided food and clothing to the Army. There are even several recorded instances of women serving as spies or soldiers in disguise. Most of the active participants however, were in the form of what was called "camp followers". While some of these were women were prostitutes, many others were wives, daughters and mothers of soldiers who followed the Army because they were unable to support themselves after their men left for war. They served the Continental Army as nurses, cooks, laundresses, and water bearers. These women became the earliest American examples of women who supported the military to "free a man to fight" as they performed jobs usually done by male soldiers.

Even till today not most women were recognized for fighting in war, until a woman named Deborah Sampson changed that. Deborah Sampson was a woman who disguised herself as a man to fight in the revolutionary war in 1775. Including Deborah’s childhood, adulthood, and during and after she fought in the revolutionary war.

When Deborah was 21 when she enlisted for the army as a man. She enlisted as a man named

It’s little wonder, then some women, like many men, kept at the change for adventure by volunteering to fight when Civil War has broke out. About 250 female civil war soldier have been recognized through historical and there were probably more. They took every major battle, at the battle of Shiloh in April 1862, for example, there were about six women fought including

The American Revolution was a war between the 13 colonies and Great Britain. The colonies, trying to gain their freedom, revolted against their mother country, which resulted in a war. The war lasted from 1765 to 1783 and as a result, the colonies gained independence from Great Britain and became the United States of America. While white, male Americans participated in the American Revolution, women, African Americans, and foreigners were also involved. While women, African Americans, and foreigners participated in the American Revolution, their contributions and motivations varied.

During the Revolutionary War, women played major roles in combat. From supportive positions like maids, cooks and nurses to auxiliary roles such as spies or secret soldiers. The Daughters of Liberty did more than their share to help win America’s independence. Deborah Samson Gannett, from Plymouth, Massachusetts, concealed herself as a soldier named Robert Shurtlieff Samson. Robert was the name of her now deceased brother. (Wienkop) Deborah came from a very poor family

I’ve spent weeks upon weeks learning about the Revolutionary War, but I was not expecting to learn as many interesting facts as I did. For example, I knew about the legend of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag I just didn’t realize how many women historical figures there were. The young lady that stood out to me the most was 16 year old Sybil Ludington. On April 26th, 1777 she rode 40 miles to alert her father’s militia company that Danbury, Connecticut was under attack and to have everyone meet at the Ludington house. Knowing that women and men weren’t treated equally back then, I think that was a very heroic thing for Sybil to do. She most likely saved many lives that could have been lost. Imagine how grateful the people in Danbury were for her heroic actions. I also found some of the methods the soldiers used incredibly interesting. One of these clever methods was used with lanterns. One or two lanterns were placed in the spire of Boston’s Old North Church to alert

Deborah Sampson Gannet is known for her courage, devotion and her female heroism. Her theme of her story is she is constantly being separated from her family and getting hurt in the Revolutionary War. Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man to fight in the Revolutionary War. Deborah Sampson was born on December 17, 1760 in Plympton, Massachusetts.

Esther Hill Hawks, M.D. is one of the many women that decided to stay away from the battlefields in order to support the Union Army. She and her husband were well to do doctors that worked in a hospital that took in and cared for black soldiers. On one day Hawks was to expect over five hundred wounded soldiers.

She sewed a man's coat, waistcoat, and breeches, and bought a pair of mens shoes and a hat to wear to war to hide her true identity (“Deborah Sampson: Woman”).One example is, she was enlisting in 1782 to go to war, the others enlisting when Sampson was, had many suspicions about how she was holding her quill (Zeinert pg 6). Deborah Sampson was known as Robert Shurtlieff as she went through the Revolutionary War (Herstory Woman pg 73). At one of Sampson’s battles she had gotten shot in the leg (Bois). Sampson refused to get any medical attention. She wanted to take care of it herself by trying to cut it out, she never actually got it out. As the war went on, Deborah Sampson caught Yellow Fever, a deadly disease at that time (Herstory Woman pg 74). While in the clinic the doctors and nurses found out her true gender, making her become unenlisted October 25th, 1783 (Bois). Deborah Sampson was a true leader by showing that everyone takes risks for what they believe in, no matter the

That next summer Deborah became a school teacher. She had never been to school before ,but since all of the men were at war they needed another teacher. She loved her teaching job because she got to teach other girls how to read and write. Deborah had wanted to travel all of her life, and the only way to do that was to be in the war. That next winter after teaching she became a weaver. She made men's clothes for herself and would act like a man around the town to see if anyone noticed her. Deborah then realized that no one knew that she was a woman, so that next spring she would go to war acting like a man. One night at midnight, Deborah woke up, put her men's clothes on and started walking towards Boston. She arrived in Boston and on May 20, 1782 ,she joined the army as Robert Shurtliff. One day Deborah and some of her friends went on horseback ride to take a break from the war, but they were found by the Tories. Deborah got shot in the neck and on her leg. At the hospital she lied about her leg to keep herself undercover, and she got the bullet out of her leg by herself. After Deborah was feeling better, General Paterson called her to his personal order. This was a promotion from the job she had before. In June she went to Philadelphia with General Paterson. Philadelphia was a very sick city then because there was a severe fever going around. Deborah got the fever and suffered a coma, and the doctor that was

The contributions that Deborah Sampson made to the American people are a really big. When she entered into the war she changed the way women are looked at forever. She changed how they would be treated within everything they do especially in the army. Many women fought too but she is known for being the first woman that is known for fighting in the war. Some of her accomplishments are being very skilled mostly because of being a servant but also educational because she was a school teacher too.

There are many Primary documents on women who fought in the war as a soldier one of those women were Loreta Velazquez . Loreta joined the Civil War after her husband died as a soldier fighting for the confederacy.Loreta then joined the ranks to avenge her husband's death, even though she married three more times being widowed every time.Loreta while in the ranks of confederacy was not found out about her gender, until one day in New Orleans when she was discharged because of her gender. Even though before she was found out she fought in the battles of Bull Run, Ball's Bluff, and Fort Donelson. This was only her first attempt though She tried again and fought at the Battle of Shiloh, Still she was discovered afterwards. Then again she tried

During World War I the United States Navy and Marine Corps began allowing women to enlist. Over 12,000 women enlisted and more than 400 of them gave their live to fight for freedom. Women have taken an active role in the military starting in the Revolutionary War. The first female ever recorded to serve was Deborah Gannett who in 1782 used her brother’ name to enlist. After being shot, she removed the musket ball from her own thigh so the doctor would not discover her gender. Women in the military increase significantly in World War II with more than 351, 000 served. In fact the stateside Marine Corps Headquarters 85% of personnel was females. By 1991, women were allowed to serve in integrated units with in warzones. Even though women were prohibited from serving in units engaged in direct ground combat, in 2005 and 2008 two women were awarded the Silver Star for exceptional valor in close-quarters combat. As of 2013, there are close to 970,000 women who are enlisted and active or are serving as reservist.