On November 16, 1776, John Corbin was killed manning a cannon at Fort Washington in northern Manhattan. Margaret Corbin took his place and continued firing until she was struck by grapeshot that left her permanently disabled in her left arm. On July 6, 1779, the Continental Congress awarded her a lifetime pension: the first military pension granted by the United States government to a woman. The Journals of the Continental Congress entry is the primary document.
Margaret Cochran was born on November 12, 1751, in western Pennsylvania. She married John Corbin in approximately 1772. When John enlisted in the First Company of Pennsylvania Artillery in 1775, Margaret accompanied him as a camp follower. Camp followers performed essential support functions for the Continental Army: cooking, laundry, nursing, and in some cases assisting with artillery.
Fort Washington was one of the last major Continental Army positions near New York City. On November 16, 1776, approximately 8,000 British and Hessian troops attacked the fort, which was held by roughly 3,000 American defenders. John Corbin was killed at his cannon during the assault. Margaret Corbin immediately took his place, continuing to load, aim, and fire until she was struck by grapeshot wounds to her left arm, chest, and jaw. The British won the battle. She was paroled as a wounded prisoner and made her way to Philadelphia.
Corbin had been in Philadelphia, completely disabled from her wounds, when the Executive Council of Pennsylvania granted her thirty dollars in temporary relief on June 29, 1779. Her case was forwarded to the Board of War. On July 6, 1779, the Continental Congress voted to award her a lifetime pension of half the monthly pay of a soldier in service, plus a clothing allowance.
Resolved, That Margaret Corbin, who was wounded and disabled in the attack on Fort Washington, whilst she heroically filled the post of her husband who was killed by her side serving a piece of artillery, do receive, during her natural life, or the continuance of the said disability, the one-half of the monthly pay drawn by a soldier in the service of these states.
She was subsequently enrolled in the Corps of Invalids and mustered out of the Continental Army in April 1783. She died in 1800 near West Point. In 1926 her remains were reinterred with full military honors at West Point, where she is the only Revolutionary War soldier buried at the Military Academy.
The primary document is the Journals of the Continental Congress entry for July 6, 1779. The full Journals are digitized at the Library of Congress American Memory collection. The National Archives holds the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File for Margaret Corbin, Identifier 54299769. The Library of Congress also holds an 18th-century map of the attack on Fort Washington by Claude Joseph Sauthier, providing geographic context for the battle.
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