Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/171

144 who took her husband's place when he was killed, at the battle of Monmouth, and did such execution that, after the engagement, she was rewarded with a commission. And there were many other examples, though generally of women who, having suffered incredibly from the spoliations of the enemy, lost patience, and fought manfully for the last loaf of bread or the last bed quilt for their children. But, in one case, the heroism and deeds, exploits and adventures of a woman soldier make her life seem a figment of pure imagination. This was Deborah Samson.

Deborah Samson was the youngest child of poor parents who lived in the colony of Plymouth, in Massachusetts. Poverty was the least of the evils suffered by the unfortunate children and, at length, their parents becoming so degraded that intervention was necessary, they were removed from the destructive influences, and placed in different families. Deborah found a home in the house of a respectable farmer, whose wife bestowed upon her as much attention as was usual in the case of any poor girl "bound out." The friendless and destitute girl was treated kindly, and, in exchange for her work, was provided with clothes and food, but no advantages of education. There was none to teach her, but she seized every opportunity for acquiring knowledge, even borrowing books from the children who passed the house on their way to and from school, and persevered with untiring exertion until she had learned to read quite well. Then, the law releasing her from her indenture, she found a place where, by working one-half time in payment for her board and lodging, she was able to attend the common district school in the neighborhood. In a few months she had acquired more knowledge than many of her schoolmates had done in years.

But the Revolutionary struggle had swept upon the country—the sound of the cannon at Bunker Hill had reached every