Margaret Corbin

Margaret Corbin , 1751-1800, American Revolutionary heroine, b. Franklin co., Pa. Upon the death of her husband in the attack on Fort Washington (Nov. 16, 1776), she commanded his cannon until she was seriously wounded. She was the first woman to be pensioned (1779) by the government. In 1916 her remains were moved from Highland Falls, N.Y., to West Point, where a monument was erected in her honor.

Corbin, Margaret Cochran (1752–c. 1800) Revolutionary War heroine, born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Corbin married John Corbin, an artilleryman, who was killed at the battle of Fort Washington (November 16, 1776). Corbin, according to official reports, was “wounded and utterly disabled by three Grape shott, while she filled with distinguished Bravery the post of her Husband, who was Killed by her side, serving a piece of Artillery at Fort Washington.” Disabled by her war wounds, she became a pensioner of Congress, who awarded her half of a regular soldier's pay and a complete suit of clothes annually. Enrolled in the Corps of Invalids, she performed garrison duties at West Point, where she lived thereafter, becoming known as “Captain Molly.”