Show SOME SO IE AMERICA AMERI WO EN R 4 n awl A 0 0 A 7 4 W I 1 V I 1 40 aa I 1 it JF Z n bridget barq by ELMO SCOTT WATSON echo of a civil war mystery was vas heard recently when oen 11 it mclean adjutant general of the kansas national guard received in an inquiry from a nebraska Ne bratka woman who was seeking to learn the name of a woman who served two years in the first kansas res reg ciment and whose secre not discovered until her death in a hospital accompanying the inquiry was a copy of a letter written home by a soldier cordler of the first minnesota battery at camp neal lake providence iowa on april 6 1803 which said in part one oneff of the members of the first kansas regiment died in the hospital yesterday after death the somewhat startling discovery was made by those who were preparing the tha body tor for burial that weir their companion beside whom they had marched and fought for nearly two years wasa was a woman atman you cun can imagine their astonishment the regime atis camped near us and I 1 went to the hospital and bavil saw her she was large tor for a woman with rith rather masculine features she in must have been very shrewd to have kept her secret so BO long when she was wag surrounded by several hundred men the first kansas was one of the first regiments that entered the service two years BRO ago this girl enlisted after it went to Misso missouri so nothing was known of her early history she doubtless served under an assumed name she had bad always sustained an excellent reputation in the regiment she was waa aravena br avena asa a lion Im ini battlo battle and biyer never flinched from the severest fatigues or bards hardest t duties se had been tn in more than a dozen battles and she was a sergeant when she died the men in the company all speak of her in the terms of respect and affection she would have been promoted to a lieutenant in a few days and she lived although such cases are comparatively rare the kansas woman was not unique in donning mens clothes and marching away to the wars A massachusetts eachus etts girl set the style for or that away back in the days of the american Re Kevol atlon if you vi visit g it beautiful rock ridge cemetery near lalo lake you ou will find a quaint old gravestone upon the front of which Is this inscription deborah wife of benjamin gannett died april ared aged 08 68 years but it ft Is not butil you look upon the back of tile the monument that you get a hint of the story atory of this first tomboy in american history for there you will ivill read deborah sampson gannett robert Shur lett iett the female soldier service 1781 1783 deborah sampson was w as born at plympton mass in 1700 1760 A great granddaughter of isaac Issac sampson one of the of and on her mothers mother a side a direct descendant of william bradford slie she v ras us of more than average intellect and was tall for her sex As a girl she taught school a dijol a short time at Midd middleboro leboro four corners but was filled with the desire to actively engage in the cause of the colonies arraying herself in mule male attire she set forth to enlist at Ux udbridge uxbridge bridge slip sh agreed to take the place of an Ux udbridge uxbridge bridge man and was enlisted d at worcester by muster matter torp of dedham De dhani was marched to west point with other recruits where slie site became a member of capt george webbs company in tile the regiment commanded by colonel shepard of westfield anil and ili inter ter by col henry jackson of boston the fourth massachusetts during a tight fight between her regiment and a party of tory raiders deborah was twice wounded in the head and in the thigh A surgeon while bandaging the head wound was impressed with the apparent weakness of his patient ills attempt to investigate the cause of wood blood in one boot was repulsed by ills his pat patient lent not until later did the surgeon miss a silver probe proba which had been purloined by his patient deborah sampson known on the muster rolls and to her companions in arms as robert Shur lett with the instrument she he bad stolen aibe lie later removed from tier her groin grgin a bullet and thus preserved for a time the secret of her ses Recover ln g weeks later from the effects of her wound she rejoined tier her co was again wounded this time in one shoulder but once again managed to keep beep the secret of tier her sex from becoming army knowledge later when with her ber regiment in philadelphia slie she was waa stricken so III that she became unconscious and was given up for dead A physician discovered her secret tie ile stripped ripped Bt off the bandage elie had worn tightly over ever her breast and removed her in to his own home where she was nursed hack to health and her secret kept federal records of the pension office reveal that she lie enlisted in april 1781 while records record la in the bouse at boston place the lma of hr bar carlisle carli ra V tilt ai TEM 11 I 1 I 1 I 1 7 R A ladya 13 t I 1 A V 3 m V D X b NA X VV maaren cout me j p D deborah eb b forbs sorbs ed V est poh t haq e of e orah samp sampson s stara enlistment as may 1782 she was honorably discharged in november ITS 1783 was granted a pension of 18 a year from dom january 1 1803 of from april 1810 and of ar 9 from september 1818 slie she marri married edin in april 1784 Boni amla gan nett a fanner of sharon Sli aion and lived to become tile alie mother of a sou son capt earl B gannett and two daughters daugh teis miny many leaie applied for pensions from the government because of the war service sen ice of their husbands but the only case on record dof of a widower widow ei applying for or such a pension because of the war service of ills his wife Is the cage ase of benjamin Gai gannett gabinett inett several years jears after the first general pension law was passed by congress in 1831 for tile the benefit benefi of of the revolution lie he applied tip plied for a pension on the basis of deborah Debo rali Samp sampsons sons servile service la in tile continental army ile he did not live to collect it but her children did almost as interesting rig as the women soldiers who berged in our wars in mens garb gaib are those amazons ani afons who fought shoulder to shoulder with their husbands or brothers brot liers not as nien men but as women some home of them liae have become part pait of our national tradition certainly such Is the case with the celebrate molly pitcher of the battle of monmouth faine anine during the years since her heroic deed there so much legend lias has gathered about molly that it Is to be sure buie of all the facts about tier life part of this Is due to the fact that she ache Is often confused with another molly of war tame fame but from the best evidence avid available lable it seems that molly pitchers rit cherB 1 real name was vas mary ludlo Ludw lg and that she khe was born orn in n mercer county new jersey near trenton Tien tou october 13 17 M when she was about fourteen years old mrs william irvine wife of a physician in carlisle pa happened to visit the vicinity find and took milry mary back with her as a hired girl there she met john copper flays a barber and they were marbled marl led in at the outbreak of the revolution flays enlisted la in capt francis proctors independent artillery company and ills his wife marched away aay to war ft with ith him ills eulls enlistment tinen t expired december 1 1170 and it Is said that mary alays urged him blin to re le enlist which he did this titue in tile the seventh pennsylvania regiment of the line com handed by her former lem employ pr doctor irvine again his wife se seems ius to have been a ad didon to the troops for she not only cu cared for her husbands clothes clot lies and clophed for him blia but she also performed similar services for lils lili coi nales on a blazing july day in 1778 the battle of monmouth was fought fou glit it was so hot that many of the jo jold idlers leis on both sides dropped dead from the tha lacut all during the battle mary alays was busy carrying water to the 04 soldiers sold leis lers in ili her husbands hils bands re regiment ament the well where she tilled tier her pitcher may still ile be seen near tennant N J aud and her services tint that day won for her froin tile thirsty ty soldiers sold leis tile sobriquet of molly Vit ditcher cher hut but slie she proved to be more moie than just a water carrier her trus trisband band although an infantryman because or of his previous service gen 16 the artIllery was called upon to serve pue of tie ne guns during the lie battle when he fell wounded she directed the so soldiers idlers to carry him away then she sprang to the gun eun and legan began to fire and load with almost us aa much skill as a that shown by her husband it Is athla incident for which slie she Is famous and which Is preserved in atone in two monument ane one over her grave at carlisle pa and the other on the monmouth Mou mouth but at Free freehold lold K N J after the revolution molly lived tor for some years in an old guard house built by hessians taken prisoner at tile the battle of trenton then slie she moved back to Cir corlisle carilsle lisle le and her husband having died she married nun led another veteran of the revolution george mccolly or mccauley McCau lei both na names ines are recorded oo on the carlisle as are her two previous pre ilous names and uns the date dofher of her donth death as Is the case with the date of her birth Is in dispute one account says she died in january 1833 but the carlisle monument which gives her birth as october 13 1741 instead of 1754 as the alie new jersey tradition has it gives the date of her death as Jani iary 22 1811 the other oilier famous molly of the revolution was margaret corbin who followed her husband john corbin to the war and stood at ills side when lie he was vi us killed while serving his cannon at the battle of fort washington on Nov november imber 10 1770 she immediately leaned over took the ramrod from his dond hand and continued to berve tile the gun until she was severely roundel woun del when a charge of grapeshot tore away part of tier lier breast and almost severed her arm she was taken prisoner by the british when fort fell then paroled to general greene nt at fort lee and later was as sent seat on to philadelphia with tile wounded undaunted by this experience captain mollie as she was now known by tile the soldiers in tile continental army enlisted in an lava invalid ld regiment was sent to west point aud remained with her unit there until mustered out of service in april 1783 if you visit the cemetery of the united states military tary academy at west point today you will hill find there a monument which bears the following inscription in memory memo i ry of margaret corbin a heroine of the revolution known as captain mollie 1 1731 1800 who nt at tile the battle of tort fort washington new york fork city when ft hen her hei husband luis bind john corbin was vins killed kept his field piece in action until severely seve iely wounded and thereafter by act of congress con giess received half the pay and allowance of A soldier in the service she lived died und and was burled on the tha hudson river bank near the village now called highland rails falls in appreciation of her deeds for the cause of liberty ant anil that her heroism may not be forgotten her dust was nas moved to this spot and the memorial erected by j th the e national at lonal society of the daughters of the american revolution in new york state 1020 11 no lesi a person than mary A livermore famous for her connection with the hospitals and relief work of the sanitary commission during the civil chil war Is authority for the statement that tile the number or of conion soldiers in service in that war wits little less than four hundred I 1 cannot vouch for the correctness of this estimate but I 1 am convinced that a larger number of women disguised themselves and enlisted in ili the beryl service ce for on one giue or another am itier than as dreamed of une due 0 0 the most famous of eliw was bridget decetis di De vetis known as 11 michigan bridget badget she went with the michigan cavalry in ili which her husband avs it i private sometimes whai a soldier fell she took his place fighting in lila ills stead with courage says miss livermore some she rallied retreating troops sometimes she brought nir wounded from froin tile field always fearless lid aid darlne daring always doln doin good service tie as soldier pir jer fier lovo love of army life conti nufA af after ter th war beaded and with her husband she joined I 1 regiment of the regular army stationed on abo pining ab b ky by union s |