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
DiedJanuary 16, 1800(1800-01-16) (aged 48)
Highland Falls, New York
SpouseJohn Corbin
ChildrenAbigail
Margaret Corbin depicted on a mural in the lobby of a building on Fort Washington Avenue in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City

Margaret Cochran Corbin (November 12, 1751 – January 16, 1800) was a woman who fought in the American Revolutionary War.[1] On November 16, 1776, her husband, John Corbin, was one of 2800 American soldiers defending Fort Washington in northern Manhattan 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[2] 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.[4]

  1. ^ James, Edward T., et al. Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 385-86 (1971) (ISBN 978-0674627345)
  2. ^ a b Lieberman, Joe (1999). "Amid the Demoralizing Loss at Fort Washington, Margaret Corbin Emerged as America's First Wartime Heroine". ProQuest (Military History).
  3. ^ Howat, Kenna (2017), Mythbusting the Founding Mothers, National Women's History Museum
  4. ^ Alexander, John (February 2000). "Margaret Cochran Corbin". American National Biography Online.