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Women Soldiers
Women who fought in the war were met with the ambivalence that fluctuated between admiration and contempt, depending on the particular woman's motivation and activity. Devotion to following a man was admired, while those who seemed enticed by the enlistment bounty warranted the scorn of enlisted men. Anna Maria Lane and Margaret Corbin fit under the first category, while Anne Bailey (under the name Samuel Gay) belonged to the second. Anne Bailey was discharged, fined, and put in jail for two weeks. Anne Smith was condemned for her attempt to join the army to secure the enlistment fee. Deborah Samson served in the Continental Army as Private Robert Shurtleff for over a year; when her gender was discovered, she was honorably discharged and granted a veteran's pension by the state of Massachusetts.

The "Molly Pitcher" of legend is likely a composite character based on several women who carried water to the troops (presumably in a pitcher), either for them to drink, or to cool down the cannons. Some historians believe her story is based on that of Mary Ludwig Hays and Margaret Corbin.

Some women fought the British without leaving home; for example, Nancy Hart of Georgia reportedly shot two loyalist soldiers in her kitchen, and held several others at gunpoint until help arrived. Martha Bratton blew up her husband's cache of gunpowder before it could be stolen by loyalists. When British troops seized the home of Rebecca Brewton Motte, she permitted patriot forces to destroy it.

Other Patriot women concealed army dispatches and letters containing sensitive military information underneath their petticoats as they rode through enemy territory to deliver it. Deborah Champion, Harriet Prudence Patterson Hall, and Lydia Darragh all managed to sneak important information past the British to their American compatriot. On the night of April 26, 1777, sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington rode 40 miles through the villages of Putnam County, New York, knocking on farmhouse doors to warn militiamen that British troops were on their way to Danbury, Connecticut.

Female Poets
'''Instead of fighting physically, many women chose to fight using their words; women at the time were able to catalog significant events throughout the war within their poetry about their struggles for genuine equality as well as the terror of their husbands or family members that were at risk as they chose to fight. One well-known and influential female poet of the time was Annis Boudinot Stockton; a member of the Mid-Atlantic Writing Circle, Stockton wrote poetry about several historic events including the Revolutionary War. Alongside being a member of the Mid-Atlantic Writing Circle, she was the only woman to join the American Whig Society, for which she guarded sensitive documents during the war. Another influential poet during this time was Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson; another member of the Mid-Atlantic Writing Circle, Fergusson was only lightly supportive of the American Revolution in comparison to Stockton. Fergusson's poetry tended to be more emotional as well; through her work shines a glimpse of what life was like for married women throughout the Revolutionary War.'''