Oh those patriotic women….
Margaret Cochran Corbin was the first woman to receive a military pension.
She was born in what is now Franklin County, Pennsylvania in 1751. 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 was not home at the time and was not captured. She lived with her uncle for the remainder of her childhood.
When the war began, her husband, John Corbin, whom she married in 1772, enlisted in the First Company of Pennsylvania Artillery as a an artilleryman for a cannon crew. Margaret became a camp follower, accompanying John. It was at this time she became known as “Molly Pitcher” because she brought water to thirsty soldiers.
On November 16, 1776, Corbin dressed as a man and joined her husband in the Battle of Fort Washington on Manhattan Island. There, she helped him load his cannon. John was killed during a Hessian assault… so his cannon was unmanned.
Margaret took over firing the cannon against the British. Other soldiers commented on “Captain Molly’s” steady aim. Eventually, however, she, too, was hit by enemy fire, which nearly severed her left arm and seriously wounded her jaw and left breast. When the British took the fort, they found Margaret on the ground by her cannon. British doctors were able to save her life, but she was unable to use her left arm for the rest of her life.
The British having won this battle, paroled her among the prisoners of war and released back to the care of Revolutionary hospitals.
Margaret then went to Philadelphia, After further recovery, Corbin joined the Invalid Regiment at West Point, where she aided the wounded until she was formerly discharged in 1783.
Women at West Point rejected her for her rough manner and drinking habit, and even a commanding officer who respected her described her as “such an offensive person that people are unwilling to take her in charge.”
On July 6, 1779, the Continental Congress Board of War, in recognition of her brave service, awarded her with a pension equal to half that of male combatants. She was also given a new a suit of clothes to replace the ones ruined during the conflict.
Corbin was rough around the edges and made few friends among women. She died on January 16, 1800, at the age of 48, in Highland Falls, New York. Today there is a historical marker to honor “Captain Molly”. In 1926, her remains were moved to West Point, where she was buried with full military honors.
Sources:
*www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/margaret-cochran-corbin
*wams.nyhistory.org/settler-colonialism-and-revolution/the-american-revolution/margaret-corbin/
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