Margaret Corbin
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Margaret Cochran Corbin (November 12, 1751January 16, 1800) was a woman who fought in the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
.James, Edward T., et al
''Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary''
Vol. II, p. 385-86 (1971) ()
On November 16, 1776, her husband, John Corbin, was one of 2800 American soldiers defending Fort Washington in northern
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
from 8,000 attacking Hessian troops under British command. Margaret was too nervous to let her husband go into battle alone, so she decided she wanted to go with him. Since she was a nurse, she was allowed to accompany her husband as a nurse for injured soldiers. John Corbin was on the crew of one of two cannons the defenders deployed; when he fell in action, Margaret Corbin took his place and continued to work the cannon until she too was seriously wounded. It is said that Corbin was standing next to her husband when he fell during battle. Immediately, she took his post, and because she had watched her husband, a trained artilleryman, fire the cannon so much, she was able to fire, clean and aim the cannon with great ease and speed. This impressed the other soldiers and was the beginning of her military career. She later became the first woman in U.S. history to receive a pension from Congress for military service when she could no longer work due to injury, and was enlisted into the Corps of Invalids.


Early life

Margaret Cochran was born in
Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...
on November 12, 1751, in what is now Franklin County. The surname Cochran is of Irish origin anglicized from maccogaráin or Ó Cogaráin. Her parents were Robert Cochran, an Irish immigrant and his wife, Sarah. In 1756, when Margaret was five years old, her parents were attacked by Native Americans. Her father was killed, and her mother was kidnapped, never to be seen again — Margaret and her brother, John, escaped the raid because they were not at home. Margaret lived with her uncle for the rest of her childhood. In 1772, at the age of 21, Margaret married a Virginia farmer named John Corbin.


American Revolutionary War

When the war began, John enlisted in the First Company of Pennsylvania Artillery as a matross, an artilleryman who was one of the members of a cannon crew. As was common at the time for wives of soldiers, Margaret became a camp follower, accompanying John during his enlistment. She joined many other wives in cooking, washing, and caring for the wounded soldiers. She acquired the nickname " Molly Pitcher" (as did many other women who served in the war) by bringing water during fighting, both for thirsty soldiers and to cool overheated cannons. On November 16, 1776, Fort Washington, where John's company was part of the garrison left behind when General
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
retreated with the
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...
to
White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...
, was attacked by the British. John Corbin was in charge of firing a small cannon at the top of a ridge, today known as Bennett Park. During an assault by the Hessians, John was killed, leaving his cannon unmanned. Margaret had been with her husband on the battlefield the entire time, and, after witnessing his death, she immediately took his place at the cannon, continuing to fire until her arm, chest, and jaw were hit by enemy fire. The British ultimately won the
Battle of Fort Washington The Battle of Fort Washington was fought in New York on November 16, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain. It was a British victory that gained the surrender of the remnant of the garrison of ...
, resulting in the surrender of Margaret and her comrades and the taking of the last American position in New York City. As the equivalent of a wounded soldier, Margaret was released by the British on parole.


After the Battle of Fort Washington

After the battle, Margaret went to Philadelphia, completely disabled from her wound, and never fully healed. Life was difficult for her because of her injury, and in 1779 she received aid from the government. On June 29, the Executive Council of Pennsylvania granted her $30 to cover her present needs, and passed her case on to Congress's Board of War. On July 6, 1779, the Board, sympathetic to Margaret's injuries and impressed with her service and bravery, granted her half the monthly pay of a soldier in the
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...
and a new set of clothes or its equivalent in cash. With this act, Congress made Margaret the first woman in the United States to receive a military pension from Congress. After Congress's decision, Margaret was included on military rolls until the end of the war. She was enrolled in the Corps of Invalids, created by Congress for wounded soldiers. In 1781, the Corps of Invalids became part of the garrison at
West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...
. She was discharged from the Continental Army in 1783. There is a historical marker near her monument at West Point.


Later years

Corbin received financial support from the government after the war, the first woman to do so.D'Imperio, Chuck
Great Graves of Upstate New York: Final Resting Places of 70 True American Legends
p.174-76 (2007) ()
She died on January 16, 1800, at the age of 48, in Highland Falls, New York, where the local historical society erected a historical marker — to Captain Molly, in her honor.


Legacy

A memorial commemorating her heroism was erected in 1909 near the scene of her service on the C. K. G. Billings Estate, in what would later become
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
's
Fort Tryon Park Fort Tryon Park is a public park located in the Washington Heights and Inwood neighborhoods of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The park is situated on a ridge in Upper Manhattan, close to the Hudson River to the west. It extends ...
. In addition, after the park was constructed, "Margaret Corbin Circle" lies just outside the main entrance, and "Margaret Corbin Drive" connects the circle through the park to the
Henry Hudson Parkway The Henry Hudson Parkway is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access Parkways in New York, parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is in Manhattan at 72nd Street (Manhattan), 72nd Street, where the parkway continues south as the We ...
. A plaque honoring Corbin, placed by the Chamber of Commerce of Washington Heights in 1982, is located on the eastern of the two stone plynths which mark the start of Margaret Corbin Drive. A large
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
mural depicting the Battle of Fort Washington scene decorates the lobby of a nearby apartment building at 720
Fort Washington Avenue Fort Washington Avenue is a major north-south street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. It runs from Fort Tryon Park to 159th Street, where it intersects with Broadway. It goes past Bennett Park, the highest natural point ...
. According to the New York Historical Association, Corbin was "honored as no woman of the revolution has ever been honored before". In 1926, The New York State Chapter of the
Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...
(DAR) verified Margaret's records and recognized her heroism and service to the United States through the papers of General
Henry Knox Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 – October 25, 1806) was an American military officer, politician, bookseller, and a Founding Father of the United States. Knox, born in Boston, became a senior general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionar ...
. Remains believed to be hers were exhumed and re-interred with full military honors at the cemetery of the United States Military Academy at West Point behind the Old Cadet Chapel in the
West Point Cemetery West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, West Point, New York (state), New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Continental Army s ...
. The Margaret Corbin Monument was erected by the DAR at the gravesite. However, a 2017 archeological study revealed that the remains that had been moved were not those of Corbin, but rather an unknown male. The location of Corbin's remains is unknown. Every year, the DAR presents the Margaret Cochran Corbin Award to a woman in military service. In June 2021, the Manhattan Campus of the New York Harbor Health Care System of the Department of Veterans Affairs, located on East 23rd Street in the Kips Bay section of Manhattan, was renamed the Margaret Cochran Corbin Campus. It was the first such facility in the United States to be named after a woman veteran. A bill to rename the facility was introduced to
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
by Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York since 2009 ...
and Congresswoman
Carolyn Maloney Carolyn Jane Maloney (née Bosher, February 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2023, and for from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long I ...
; the bill was signed into law in January 2021.


See also

* Deborah Sampson, a woman who fought in the Revolutionary War, but disguised as a man * Anna Maria Lane, a Virginia woman who fought, dressed as a man, alongside her husband in the Revolutionary War * Sally St. Clair, a South Carolina woman who fought in the Revolutionary War and was killed during the Siege of Savannah * Mary Ludwig Hays, a woman who fought in the Battle of Monmouth * Molly Pitcher, who may have been Corbin or Hays


References

Notes Bibliography * Further reading *Bohrer, Melissa Lukeman. ''Glory, Passion, and Principle: The Story of Eight Remarkable Women at the Core of the American Revolution''. New York: Atria Books, 2003. *Downey, Fairfax. 1956. "The Girls Behind the Guns". ''American Heritage''. 8, no. 1: 46–48. *Holm, Jeanne. ''Women in the Military: An Unfinished Revolution''. Novato, Calif.: Presidio Press, 1992. *Raphael, Ray. ''Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past''. New York: New Press, 2004. *Teipe, E. J. 1999. "Will the Real Molly Pitcher Please Stand Up?" ''PROLOGUE'' -WASHINGTON-. 31: 119–127.


External links


Biography of Margaret Corbin
*Michals, Debra.
"Margaret Cochran Corbin"
National Women's History Museum. 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Corbin, Margaret 1751 births 1800 deaths 18th-century American women People from Franklin County, Pennsylvania People from colonial Pennsylvania People of New York (state) in the American Revolution Women in the American Revolution Continental Army soldiers Burials at West Point Cemetery Women in the United States Army Colonial American women in warfare