Margaret Corbin

Margaret Cochran Corbin (November 12, 1751 – January 16, 1800) was an American woman who fought in the Revolutionary War. She was born in western Pennsylvania. At age five, her father was killed and her mother was taken captive by Native Americans; she and her brother were raised by their maternal uncle. She married John Corbin in 1772 and took his surname.

John Corbin joined the 1st Pennsylvania Artillery Regiment in 1775. His wife joined him as a camp follower, assisting in duties such as sewing and cooking. In addition, Corbin brought tools and water to cannon crews to help them operate the guns. During the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776, her husband was killed by British artillery. Corbin took his place on his gun, being hit three times by enemy fire before the fort fell. She was captured in critical condition by British forces but released after medical care.

Corbin lost the use of her left arm. She was the first American woman to receive a military pension. She moved to West Point, New York, and was placed in the Invalid Corps until it was disbanded in 1783. She died on January 16, 1800, with her location of death unknown; some accounts state she moved back to Pennsylvania and died in Westmoreland County; others state she remained near West Point and died in the village of Highland Falls.

Early life

Margaret Cochran was born on November 12, 1751, in western Pennsylvania (modern-day Franklin County). Her parents, Robert and Sarah Cochran, were immigrants. The French and Indian War broke out in 1754, when she was only 4. Delaware and Shawnee tribes, allied with the French, attacked English settlements in western Pennsylvania. When she was 5 years old, her father was killed and her mother taken captive by Native Americans of one of those two tribes. At the time, Cochran and her brother were away; they were then raised by their maternal uncle.^: 385 In 1772, at 21, she married the Virginian farmer John Corbin and adopted his surname. They lived on a small farm in Pennsylvania.

American Revolutionary War

In 1775, John Corbin joined the 1st Pennsylvania Artillery Regiment of either the Pennsylvania Militia or the Continental Army. He was a cannoneer who held the position of matross,^: 385 a soldier who assisted artillery gunners in loading, firing, and moving cannons. Instead of staying home, Margaret accompanied her husband as a camp follower. In this role, she sewed, cooked, did laundry, and cared for injured soldiers. In some cases, women would also bring soldiers tools and water so they could operate their cannons.

Fort Washington in Manhattan was one of the last fortifications held by American troops near New York City. John Corbin's artillery regiment was subsequently moved after the Battle of Harlem Heights in September 1776.^: 385 They were assigned to the redoubt Fort Tryon, a set of outworks near Fort Washington.^: 285 American forces retreated into New Jersey after the Battle of White Plains in October, leaving a force of around 3,000 at Fort Washington. The Battle of Fort Washington took place on November 16. A force of British troops were driven back three times by defending American forces, but British forces alongside 4,000 to 5,000 German troops^: 77 from the German province of Hesse attacked American positions.^: 385

Just prior to the attack, the British bombarded Fort Washington. Corbin carried water to clean and cool the guns off. Some accounts also say she assisted in cleaning and loading the gun.^: 285 When her husband was killed by British cannon fire, he gave a cry and sank to the ground. The officer in charge ordered the cannon to be removed, but she reportedly responded: "Let me take his place! Let the gun stay! I am ready and able to do the work!"^: 78–79 Another account says she stepped in without saying a word.^: 285 Nevertheless, she filled her husband's spot and the cannon continued firing. She was struck three times by grapeshot before the position was overrun through the rear,^{: 385 : 285} and she was found in critical condition.

Corbin was captured by the British. Despite her life-threatening injuries, she was saved by British doctors; she would however, lose the ability to use her left arm.^: 385 Paroled to General Greene, she was sent across the Hudson River to Fort Lee.^: 286 and several other Continental Army prisoners were released and sent to a hospital in Philadelphia. She appealed to Pennsylvania to receive financial aid for her injuries. They gave her a small sum of $30 for relief and her case was referred to the Continental Congress' Board of War.^: 385 On July 6, 1779, in recognition of her actions at Fort Washington, she received a lifelong pension—half a soldier's pay (£30) and a suit of clothes;^{: 285–286} the Board of War later authorized an annual clothing allowance for her.^: 385 She was the first American woman to receive a military pension and was nicknamed "Captain Molly".

Corbin struggled to support herself financially. In 1780, Corbin was enrolled in the Invalid Corps,^: 385 a regiment made up of wounded soldiers who could not participate in action. As a widow with no other family, she was sent to West Point, New York, where she would remain for the rest of her life. She was assigned to assist wounded soldiers. She was reportedly "difficult to get along with", with a commanding officer describing her as an "offensive person" that people were unwilling to take seriously. Due to her injury, Corbin found it extremely difficult to perform basic tasks like dressing and feeding herself; General Henry Knox supplied her with a servant to help her bathe and eat. She remarried in 1782 to an unknown man. Her ration was raised to a full one, which included rum and whiskey, and she was given a back allowance to pay for the time when the drinks had not been allotted to her.^: 385 Her new husband died less than a year after they married. Corbin remained with the Invalid Corps until it was dissolved in 1783 at the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War.^: 385

Death

Corbin's place of death is unknown. Some accounts have her as returning to Pennsylvania, living in Westmoreland County until she died. One account specifically lists her date of death as January 16, 1800, and the burial site as the graveyard in the town of Congruity. Other accounts say she is "Captain Molly" who lived near West Point from September 1785 to August 1789. These accounts place her location of death as Highland Falls, New York, and her year of death as 1800.^: 385 Oral tradition claims she was buried "near the village".^: 385 However, multiple sources place her date of death as January 16, 1800,^: 385 at 49 years old.

Legacy

Corbin's actions at the Battle of Fort Washington made her associated with Molly Pitcher. This reportedly came about in 1848, when Benson J. Lossing was writing his Pictoral Field Book of the Revolution. He heard of the story of "Captain Molly" and erroneously identified her as the woman from the Battle of Monmouth, Mary Hays.^: 385

The Daughters of the American Revolution reportedly located her grave in the hamlet of Swimtown, New York, just outside West Point, in 1926.^: 286 The organization's New York chapter verified the records and reinterred her with full military honors at the West Point Cemetery. A monument was placed at her grave.^: 386 In 2016, bones from her gravesite were recovered following the installation of a crypt. Forensic analysis showed that the bones did not belong to her but rather a middle-aged man who lived sometime between the colonial era and the 19th century.

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".^{: 144–154}

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 female veteran.

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