{{Short description|American combatant in the American Revolutionary War (1751-1800)}} {{Infobox person | name = Margaret Cochran Corbin | image = File:2015 Fort Tryon Park Margaret Corbin memorial.jpg | caption = 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 | birth_name = Margaret Cochran | birth_date = {{Birth date|1751|11|12}} | birth_place = Franklin County, Pennsylvania | death_date = {{Death date and age|1800|1|16|1751|11|12}} | death_place = Highland Falls, New York | spouse = John Corbin | children = Abigail | office = | predecessor = | successor = }}
'''Margaret Cochran Corbin''' (November 12, 1751{{spaced ndash}}January 16, 1800) was a woman who fought in the American Revolutionary War.<ref name="notable1">James, Edward T., et al. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rVLOhGt1BX0C&pg=PA385 ''Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary''], Vol. II, p. 385-86 (1971) ({{ISBN|978-0674627345}})</ref> 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.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Lieberman|first1=Joe|title=Amid the Demoralizing Loss at Fort Washington, Margaret Corbin Emerged as America's First Wartime Heroine.|journal=ProQuest|date=1999|issue=Military History}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{citation | last = Howat | first = Kenna | title = Mythbusting the Founding Mothers | publisher = National Women's History Museum | year = 2017 | url = https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/mythbusting-founding-mothers}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
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.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Alexander|first1=John|title=Margaret Cochran Corbin|journal=American National Biography Online|date=February 2000}}</ref>
==Early life== Margaret Cochran was born in Western Pennsylvania on November 12, 1751, in what is now Franklin County. The surname Cochran is of Irish origin anglicized from maccogaráin or Ó Cogaráin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sloinne.ie/surname/ga/o-cogarain/|title=Sloinne|website=Sloinne.ie|access-date=2020-02-12|archive-date=2019-06-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626224307/https://www.sloinne.ie/surname/ga/o-cogarain/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her parents were Robert Cochran, an Irish immigrant<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aoh.com/2019/03/29/irish-american-heritage-month-captain-molly/|title=Irish American Heritage Month: Margaret Corbin, "Captain Molly"|website=aoh.com}}</ref> and his wife, Sarah. In 1756, when Margaret was five years old, her parents were attacked by Native Americans.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Margaret Corbin {{!}} American heroine {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Margaret-Corbin |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name="WAMS">{{Cite web |title=Life Story: Margaret Corbin |url=https://wams.nyhistory.org/settler-colonialism-and-revolution/the-american-revolution/margaret-corbin/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Women & the American Story |language=en-US}}</ref> Margaret lived with her uncle for the rest of her childhood.<ref name="WAMS"/>
In 1772, at the age of 21, Margaret married a Virginia farmer named John Corbin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Margaret Cochran Corbin |url=https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/margaret-cochran-corbin |access-date=2022-03-08 |publisher=National Women's History Museum |language=en}}</ref>
==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.<ref>[http://www.teachtnhistory.org/File/Margaret_Corbin_Molly_Pitcher.pdf "Margaret Corbin: Molly Pitcher?"] ''Teaching U.S. History''</ref><ref>[http://mrdsneighborhood.com/2011/03/08/margaret-corbin-the-first-molly-pitcher/ "Margaret Corbin: The First 'Molly Pitcher'"] ''Mr. D's Neighborhood'' (March 9, 2011)</ref><ref>SAS [http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/youasked/070.htm "Molly Pitcher"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026064347/http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/youasked/070.htm |date=2015-10-26 }} Valley Forge Historical Society</ref>
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.<ref>Ketchum p.111-"The most disastrous defeat of the entire war"</ref> 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=== thumb|right|237px|Plaque honoring Corbin on Margaret Corbin Drive in Fort Tryon Park [[File:Margaret Corbin Memorial, West Point Cemetery, United States Military Academy.jpg|thumb|right|237px|Margaret Corbin Memorial in the West Point Cemetery of the United States Military Academy]] [[File:Margaret_Corbin_Historical_Road_Marker.JPG|thumb|right|237px|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.<ref name="graves1">D'Imperio, Chuck. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wg2ZO1SsQhgC&pg=PA174 Great Graves of Upstate New York: Final Resting Places of 70 True American Legends], p.174-76 (2007) ({{ISBN|978-1600080203}})</ref>
==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.<ref>[http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/fort-tryon-park/monuments/533 "Fort Tryon Park: Fort Tryon Memorial"] on the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation website</ref> "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.<ref>[http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11275 Margaret Corbin Circle] in Fort Tryon Park, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Accessed October 24, 2007.</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/fort-tryon-park/monuments/332 "Fort Tryon Park: Margaret Corbin Plaque"] on the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation website</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite journal|title=Notes and Comments|journal=The Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association|date=April 1926|volume=7|issue=2|pages=144–154}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dillon |first=Ann |date=December 5, 2017 |url=https://blog.dar.org/new-chapter-story-revolutionary-heroine-margaret-corbin |title=A New Chapter in the Story of Revolutionary Heroine Margaret Corbin |publisher=Daughters of the American Revolution}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=December 5, 2017 |url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/not-capt-molly-1776-war-hero-not-in-her-west-point-grave-462171203.html |title=Not Capt. Molly: 1776 war hero not in her West Point grave |work=Winnipeg Free Press |agency=Associated Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206141215/https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/not-capt-molly-1776-war-hero-not-in-her-west-point-grave-462171203.html |archive-date=December 6, 2017}}</ref>
Every year, the DAR presents the Margaret Cochran Corbin Award to a woman in military service.<ref>{{cite web |title=Margaret Corbin’s Legacy Lives On |url=https://www.dar.org/national-society/margaret-corbin%E2%80%99s-legacy-lives |website=Daughters of the American Revolution |access-date=14 February 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite press release |date=June 18, 2021 |url=https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/news/press/release/gillibrand-maloney-announce-renaming-of-manhattan-va-to-honor-margaret-corbin-manhattan-va-is-first-in-the-country-to-be-named-after-a-woman-veteran_/ |title=Gillibrand, Maloney Announce Renaming Of Manhattan Va To Honor Margaret Corbin; Manhattan Va Is First In The Country To Be Named After A Woman Veteran |publisher=Senator Kirsten Gillibrand |access-date=February 7, 2025}}</ref>
==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''' {{Reflist}}
'''Bibliography''' *{{cite book|last=Ketchum|first=Richard|title=The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton|publisher=Holt Paperbacks; 1st Owl books ed edition |year=1999|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== {{Commons category|Margaret Corbin}} {{Library resources box}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20041125144601/http://www.cbsd.org/pennsylvaniapeople/level2_biographies/Level_2_biographies/margaret_corbin_level_2.htm Biography of Margaret Corbin] *Michals, Debra. [https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/margaret-cochran-corbin "Margaret Cochran Corbin"]. National Women's History Museum. 2015.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbin, Margaret}} Category:1751 births Category:1800 deaths Category:18th-century American women Category:People from Franklin County, Pennsylvania Category:People from colonial Pennsylvania Category:People of New York (state) in the American Revolution Category:Women in the American Revolution Category:Continental Army soldiers Category:Burials at West Point Cemetery Category:Women in the United States Army Category:Female revolutionaries