Margaret Corbin

Margaret Cochran Corbin
The 1909 memorial dedicated to Margaret Corbin and her compatriots in Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan, New York City, near the location of the Battle of Fort Washington
Born	Margaret Cochran (1751-11-12)November 12, 1751 Franklin County, Pennsylvania
Died	January 16, 1800(1800-01-16) (aged 48) Highland Falls, New York
Spouse	John Corbin
Children	Abigail

Margaret Cochran Corbin (November 12, 1751 – January 16, 1800) was a woman who fought in the American Revolutionary War. On November 16, 1776, her husband John Corbin was one of 2,800 American soldiers defending Fort Washington in northern Manhattan from 8,000 attacking Hessian troops under British command. She was too nervous to let her husband go into battle alone, so she went with him. She was a nurse and was therefore allowed to accompany him and attend injured soldiers.

John Corbin was on the crew of one of two cannons that the defenders deployed. He fell in action, so Margaret took his place and continued to work the cannon until she was seriously wounded. Her husband was a trained artilleryman, and she had learned by watching him; consequently, she was able to fire, clean, and aim the cannon with great speed. This impressed the other soldiers and was the beginning of her military career.

Corbin 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 on November 12, 1751 in Franklin County. Her parents were Irish immigrant Robert Cochran and his wife Sarah. In 1756, when Margaret was five years old, her parents were attacked by Indians. Her father was killed; her mother was kidnapped and never 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.

Margaret married Virginia farmer John Corbin in 1772 when she was 21.

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. Margaret became a camp follower, accompanying her husband 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.

Corbin's company was part of the garrison that was left behind at Fort Washington when General George Washington retreated with the Continental Army to White Plains, New York, and the British attacked the fort on November 16, 1776. Corbin was in charge of firing a small cannon at the top of a ridge, today known as Bennett Park. He was killed during an assault by the Hessians, leaving his cannon unmanned. Margaret had been with him on the battlefield the entire time, and 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, and Corbin's company surrendered. As the equivalent of a wounded soldier, she was released by the British on parole.

After the Battle of Fort Washington

Plaque honoring Corbin on Margaret Corbin Drive in Fort Tryon Park

Margaret Corbin Memorial in the West Point Cemetery of the United States Military Academy

Margaret Corbin Historical Road marker, West Point, New York

Corbin went to Philadelphia after the battle, completely disabled from her wounds. She never fully healed, and she received aid from the government in 1779. On June 29, the Executive Council of Pennsylvania granted her $30 to cover her immediate needs, and passed her case on to Congress's Board of War. Members of the board were sympathetic to her injuries and impressed with her service and bravery. They granted her half the monthly pay of a soldier in the Continental Army on July 6, 1779, as well as a new set of clothes or its equivalent in cash.

Corbin was subsequently 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, and she was discharged from the Continental Army in 1783.

Later years

Corbin received financial support from the government after the war, the first woman to do so.

Legacy

A memorial commemorating Corbin's heroism was erected in 1909 near the scene of her service on the C. K. G. Billings estate in New York City's Fort Tryon Park. "Margaret Corbin Circle" lies just outside the main entrance to the park, and "Margaret Corbin Drive" connects the circle through the park to the Henry Hudson Parkway. The Chamber of Commerce of Washington Heights placed a plaque in her honor in 1982 on one of the two stone plynths which mark the start of Margaret Corbin Drive. A large Art Deco mural depicting the Battle of Fort Washington decorates the lobby of a nearby apartment building at 720 Fort Washington Avenue. 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 (DAR) verified Corbin's records through the papers of General Henry Knox. 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. The DAR erected the Margaret Corbin Monument 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 was renamed the Margaret Cochran Corbin Campus, located on East 23rd Street in the Kips Bay section of Manhattan. It was the first such facility in the United States to be named after a woman veteran.

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

• Ketchum, Richard (1999). The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton. Holt Paperbacks; 1st Owl books ed edition. ISBN 0-8050-6098-7.

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. ISBN 0-743-45330-1 OCLC 52097551
• 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. ISBN 0-891-41450-9 OCLC 26012907
• Raphael, Ray. Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past. New York: New Press, 2004. ISBN 1-565-84921-3 OCLC 54960633
• 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.