Deborah Sampson was born in 1760 in Massachusetts. Her father abandoned the family and, as her mother could not take care of her children, she was sent to a maternal relative's house (which was very common in 18th century New England). Deborah disguised herself as a man and enlisted to fight in the American Revolutionary War under the name of Robert Shirtliff. She had already enlisted to fight in battle before joining the Continental Army and the Baptist Church to which she belonged took off her fellowship. This time, after the end of the Revolutionary War, she was discharged at West Point, New York.
<u>Discharge:</u> to officially tell a person to leave a place.
