Who was the first woman to serve in the US Military?
Women did not officially serve in the US military until the Army and Navy Nurse Corps were established in 1901 and 1908 respectively. Prior to that time, women served with the armed forces as contract and volunteer nurses. cooks and laundresses and even in disguise as soldiers. For example, during the American Revolution Deborah Samson enlisted in the Continental Army as Robert Shurtliff and served as an enlisted soldier for approximately one year. Hundreds of women disguised themselves as men and served in the Union and Confederate Armies during the Civil War. By the turn of the century, however, this course of action was no longer available to women. The armed forces, wanting to make certain that only healthy men were accepted in the service, began conducting thorough physical examinations of all potential recruits.
