Though raised as a male, upon entering diplomatic service and being sent by Louis XV to the court of the Empress Elizabeth at St. Petersburg, there is some evidence that D'Eon dressed as a woman during this commission for the purposes of espionage.
Over the next several years, the Chevalier was dispatched on several other missions in which he was to prove his usefulness again and again as a spy in the dual role of man and woman in which he was employed alternately, perhaps to confound and confuse those upon whom he was to spy.
Some years later the Chevalier was recalled to France to take on yet another assignment -- to America.
With its many possessions and economic interests in North America, France had an obvious concern in the outcome of the Revolutionary war. Louis decided that the monarchy's interests were best served, not by direct intervention, but by regular and reliable intelligence reports directly to the crown. And so the chevalier was issued his sailing orders.
What Louis had not counted on, was that while in America, the Chevalier became so impassioned with the American cause, that upon a brief return to France he made arrangements for his nephew to fight on the American side, paying for the lad's equipage out of his own pocket-- some 700 livres. D'Eon apparently felt so strongly about the democratic experiment, that he was prepared to doff his dress and himself become a soldier to fight for the American cause, but was prevented by the express prohibition of Louis, who felt that not only did D'Eon's true value and talents lay in subterfuge, not direct combat, but that such ideas were dangerous to France and to Frenchmen, which in the final year of the next decade they would prove to be.
Over the next several years D'Eon continued in his role as a French operative taking a decided if behind-the-scenes role in the 1778 alliance treaty between France and the United States.
Ongoing controversy about his sex was to plague D'Eon throughout his life. While on a prolonged mission in London there were bets made upon the London Stock Exchange concerning his anatomical sex. Wagers were also made for substantially large amounts of money at Brook's, White's, Almack's and other clubs. Betting grew so heavy that D'Eon feared that he would be kidnapped by those who "had heavy stakes on his sex, and were pressing for having the question resolved offhand."
In 1775, D'Eon, still in England amidst renewed betting on his gender identity -- bets were by now running seven to four that the Chevalier was a woman rather than a man -- grew disgusted with the whole affair. With more than 120,000 pounds wagered on the question of the Chevalier's sex, the matter was getting out of hand.
In spite of thrashing several of the offenders, repeated denials and a sworn affidavit, betting continued. He eventually wrote to the papers to ask that gambling policies be discontinued. The frequent repetition of these rumors led some people to believe in them and D'Eon began to receive offers of considerable sums of money if he would reveal his true sex. This turn of events made it more than desirable to accept a tendered offer by Louis (now the XVI) to return to France.
Upon the death of Louis XV his successor, Louis XVI, understanding that D'eon had many secret documents valuable to France sent his ambassador Beaumarchais with a royal warrant to be delivered to D'Eon. In exchange for the documents the Chevalier would be given safe conduct to France and a annuity of 12,000 livres from the crown. There was one more curious condition. He
was to re-don female attire and to so clothe himself for the rest of his life.
There he lived for several years until the specter of the approaching French Revolution reared its head. His annuity ceased, the funds diverted from sustaining D'Eon to sustaining Louis and the monarchy. D'Eon left once more for England where to support himself he began to give demonstrations of his fencing skill. These events were attended by luminaries such as the Prince of Wales, and netted the canny Chevalier a tidy sum. One day, however he sustained a serious injury from an opponent. After spending a long convalescence in an attempt to recover he died on May 21 1810
On examination of the body after his death, an autopsy was ordered, which was carried out by a surgeon, Mr. Thomas Copeland, He certified that D'Eon was of the "masculine sex and of that sex only" and so finally resolved the question which had puzzled both old world and new for over fifty years. He had kept the secret and mystery of his sex to the last, for even Mrs. Cole, who befriended him and with whom he lived his later years, is said to have firmly believed that her companion was a woman and was astounded when she heard the result of the surgeon's examination. He was buried in the graveyard of St. Pancras Church on May 28, 1810
Deborah Sampson was born near Plymouth, Mass., on December 17th 1760. Her father died soon after her birth, and she was sent to live with a family friend in Middleborough. Between the ages of 10 and 18 she lived with Deacon Jeremiah Thomas and became "acquainted with almost all kinds of manual labor." In 1779 she began teaching school and three years later, after several social forays in male clothing, left Middleborough, changed her name to Robert Shurtleff, and, at age 20, enlisted as a volunteer solder in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army because, she was "fond of adventure and had a great deal of energy." Enlisting "broadened my very narrow set of choices by enabling me to travel and to experience the world through male eyes."
Deborah fought in several battles over the next two years.
While working as an aide-de-camp to General Paterson in 1783, she often slept with other men, usually officers, without concern. "They as little suspected my sex," she wrote in her memoirs in 1797, "as I suspected them of a disposition to violate its chastity, had I been willing to expose myself to them, and to act the wanton."
Near the end of her second year as a soldier, Deborah was wounded in the leg and the shoulder during a battle. In shock, yet conscious, she had grave concerns of having the wounds attended lest her sex be discovered. She feared that the "intimate friendships I had formed with the men in my regiment might not withstand the shock of the discovery." She was treated without incident, however, and after a short stay in a field hospital she was given an honorary discharge.
In 1785 she married farmer Benjamin Gannett with whom she had three children. She published her memoirs, The Female Review, anonymously in 1797. In it she states, "wearing breeches entitled me to a freedom that I had never before experienced... a new world opened to my view... the world of politics, of honorable actions and important deeds that had propelled me to elope from the soft sphere of womanhood." Her friend, the Honorable Peter Force of Washington D.C. wrote in the foreword to the book: "She conversed with such ease on the subject of theology, on political subjects and military tactics that her manner would seem masculine.
In 1802 Deborah left her husband Benjamin and their three children to look after themselves while she organized the business details of a highly profitable tour she made through New England in her old uniform lecturing about her military experiences. The lectures were a valuable source of income and gave her a public profile that supported her request for a military pension. While journeying through New England she visited many of her former officers in an attempt to bolster her request. A pension, from both federal and state governments, was eventually granted in 1805.
After her death in 1827 the pensions office again struggled with he peculiarities of her case when considering the payment to her heirs. A special act of Congress directed the Treasury to pay $466.66 to her surviving relatives because, "as there cannot be a parallel case in all time to come the committee do not hesitate to grant relief." It was much easier for a government to recognize and reward an anomaly rather than the precursor of a trend.