The Secret Soldier by Ann McGovern

First published: 1975; illustrated

Type of work: Historical fiction

Themes: Gender roles, coming-of-age, jobs and work, and war

Time of work: The late eighteenth century, during the American Revolution

Recommended Ages: 10-13

Locale: Massachusetts Bay Colony

Principal Characters:

• Deborah Sampson, a poor girl, who became a servant for ten years, a teacher, and then disguised herself as a man to enlist and fight courageously in the Revolutionary War
• Cousin Fuller, an elderly woman, who cared lovingly for Deborah for three years and taught her to read
• Deacon Thomas, a minister, who took Deborah in as a servant to his family for ten years
• Robert Shurtliff, the male identity Deborah assumed when she enlisted as a private in the Continental Army
• General Paterson, an officer, who made Robert Shurtliff his orderly and admired Deborah’s courage as a soldier
• Dr. Binney, a doctor, who discovers that the soldier Robert Shurtliff is really the woman, Deborah Sampson
• Benjamin Gannett, a farmer, whom Deborah Sampson marries and with whom she rears a family in Sharon, Massachusetts

The Story

AlthoughThe Secret Soldier is historical fiction in the genre of biography, it reads as an adventure story in which the protagonist overcomes great odds with perseverance, integrity, and courage during three periods of her life.

In the period of childhood, adolescence, and servitude, five-year-old Deborah Sampson, born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, is sent away from her destitute mother after her father dies in a shipwreck. Deborah spends three happy years in the care of Cousin Fuller, an elderly woman, who teaches her to read. After Cousin Fuller dies, Deborah is sent to care for an elderly invalid woman. Deacon Thomas, a minister, takes eight-year-old Deborah into his household as a servant for ten years. Deborah, a bright child, works hard caring for and teaching his six children, but she longs for a life of her own.

During her second period of young adulthood and independence, Deborah is freed from her servitude and obtains her first paid job as a schoolteacher. Deborah longs to travel, have adventures, and meet new people. To fulfill her dreams she disguises herself as Robert Shurtliff, a young man, and enlists in the Continental Army as a common soldier during the American Revolutionary War. Deborah, disguised as Robert, quickly experiences the horrors of war as she sees friends wounded and killed, lacks food and shelter, and engages in fierce battles. The disguised Deborah gains the respect of her fellow soldiers as a courageous, determined, and honorable soldier. Her commanding officer, General Paterson, rewards this good work as a soldier by appointing Robert Shurtliff to the position of his personal orderly. Only when Deborah is wounded in the leg during a raid does Dr. Binney, an army surgeon, discover that Robert Shurtliff is really Deborah Sampson. General Paterson is informed and admits to his great admiration for her deeds as a soldier. After serving a year and six months as a soldier in the Continental Army, Deborah Sampson is honorably discharged.

In the final period of adulthood and maturity, Deborah marries Benjamin Gannett, a farmer, and rears a family with him in Sharon, Massachusetts. Because of the publicity surrounding her military experience, Deborah Sampson Gannett begins a lecture tour throughout New England speaking about her adventures and against war. She was one of the first women in the United States of America to travel alone and give talks for money. Deborah received governmental compensation for her wounds acquired during the Revolutionary War for twenty-two years until her death on April 29, 1827, at the age of sixty-seven.

Context

The Secret Soldier is McGovern’s sixth book of historical fiction written as a biography. She has previously published biographies about Christopher Columbus (1962), Harriet Tubman (1965), Abraham Lincoln (1966), Robin Hood (1968), and western Native American chieftains (1970). The Secret Soldier, like Runaway Slave: The Story of Harriet Tubman, is about a woman in history whom young readers should admire, concentrates on events about women whom traditional historical fiction and biography have long ignored, and attempts to dispel damaging stereotypes. In writing The Secret Soldier, McGovern believed that there were too few heroines for today’s society. She chose to write this book because she felt Deborah Sampson’s struggles and accomplishments—in overcoming gender confinement and poverty in order to accomplish an independent, adventurous life—to be unique to eighteenth century women’s experiences and worth sharing with young readers. In writing historical fiction, McGovern tries to ferret out the truth, even when it is not popular, and tell history as it really was for ordinary people.

McGovern has written in a variety of children’s literature genres, such as historical fiction, biography, other nonfiction, poetry, riddles, and picture-books. Many critics regard the body of her work in children’s literature as excellent and original. McGovern notes that her writing for children reflects ideas she strongly believes in, expresses her desire to transmit knowledge, and provides information about her own exciting personal experiences. She believes that she tries to write books which reinforce humanistic values such as love, individuality, and honesty.