During March--Women’s History Month--we remember the role women have played in U.S. history since our nation’s inception.  To serve in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, Deborah Sampson, a school teacher, disguised herself as a man to become one of only a handful of women with documented military combat service from that era.  She was wounded in battle in 1782 just outside Tarrytown, NY, where she was struck by two musket balls in the leg.  Fearful she’d be discovered, Sampson removed one of the bullets herself using a pen knife and allowed the other to heal over.  A year later, Sampson developed a fever and the treating physician kept her secret, enabling her to serve until the Treaty of Paris.  She received an honorable discharge and a small sum of money to cover her travel expenses home after her service.  Sampson, who lectured about her Army experience, later battled Congress for a military pension, which was officially granted in 1816 after numerous attempts--including a letter written by her friend Paul Revere.

Former slave Cathay Williams followed a similar path, hiding her gender and enlisting in the Army for a three-year term in St. Louis, MO, shortly after the Civil War.  She served two years before a surgeon discovered her gender.  Considered the first documented African-American woman to successfully enlist in the Army, Williams also battled Congress for a military pension.  Without famous friends fighting on her behalf, her pension was never granted.

                                    From www.maryland.va.gov.