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
Resting place	West Point Cemetery
Spouse(s)	John Corbin

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 some 600 American soldiers defending Fort Washington in northern Manhattan from 4,000 attacking Hessian troops under British command. Margaret, too nervous to let her husband go into battle alone, decided she wanted to go with him. Since she was a nurse, she was allowed to accompany her husband as a nurse for the injured soldiers. John Corbin was on the crew 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. 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. She later became the first woman in U.S. history to receive a pension from Congress for military service because she could no longer work due to injury and was enlisted into the Corps of Invalids.

Margaret Cochran was born in Western Pennsylvania on November 12, 1751 in what is now Franklin County. Her parents were Robert Cochran, a Scots-Irish immigrant, and his wife, Sarah. In 1756, when Margaret was five years old, her parents were attacked by Native Americans. 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. Margaret lived with her uncle for the rest of her childhood.

In 1772, at the age of 21, Margaret married a Virginia farmer named John Corbin.

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. As was common at the time for wives of soldiers, Margaret became a camp follower, accompanying John 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.