Life Story: Margaret Corbin (1751-1800)

Margaret Cochran Corbin was born on November 12, 1751 in what is now Franklin County in western Pennsylvania. The French and Indian War broke out when she was only four, plunging her community into chaos. The local Delaware and Shawnee communities allied with the French and attacked the English settlements in western Pennsylvania. They hoped to reclaim territory they had lost to English settlers in the last few decades. In 1755 Margaret and her brother were sent to live with their uncle to keep them away from the attacks. Shortly after they left, Indigenous warriors attacked Margaret’s childhood home. Her father was killed, and her mother was kidnapped and never seen again. Margaret’s uncle adopted and raised his niece and nephew.

In 1772 Margaret married a farmer from Virginia named John Corbin. She was twenty-one years old. When the Battles of Lexington and Concord took place only three years later, Pennsylvania began recruiting soldiers for the new Continental Army. John joined, leaving Margaret with a difficult choice. Like so many wives of Revolutionary soldiers, she could decide to stay behind to care for their farm. Managing a farm alone was hard, and would leave Margaret vulnerable to poverty, starvation, or attack by hostile British troops. Or Margaret could decide to travel with John and endure all the hardships and dangers of life in the Army. Margaret chose to march with John and joined the ranks of the Continental Army’s camp followers.

“Camp follower” was the American term for all the women and children who traveled with the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. There is no official number for how many camp followers there were during the American Revolution—some historians estimate there may have been as many as 20,000 total over the eight years of fighting, although others think the number was much smaller. What is known is that the camp followers were women and children who had no other options. Life for camp followers was very difficult. Most were the wives or daughters of soldiers. They were paid small wages to cook, sew, and do laundry for the troops. They received meals from the Army’s rations and slept in the Army’s camps. Camp followers had a bad reputation. Rumors circulated that all of the camp followers were sex workers. Like the soldiers they followed, they were considered dirty, rough, and too prone to swearing and drinking. General George Washington did everything he could to limit the number of followers who traveled with the Continental Army, but even he recognized that their work was necessary to the health of his army. He also understood that their comforting presence kept many of his soldiers from deserting.

In 1776 the Corbins’ regiment marched to New York and was stationed at Fort Washington in northern Manhattan. When the British took control of the city in September, Fort Washington became the only American stronghold left on the island. On November 16, 1776 the British attacked. Margaret, like many camp followers, followed her husband into battle to assist with carrying water and caring for the wounded.

John was a matross, responsible for loading cannons. His team fired upon the British ships as they moved up the Hudson River. The British brought Hessian mercenaries, who were renowned for their skill and deadliness in battle. As the Hessians moved up the hill toward the fort, John and most of his team were killed. Rather than retreat to a safer location, Margaret took over firing the cannon. Her aim was so excellent the Hessians stopped their advance to focus on trying to stop her. She was hit with three musket balls and grapeshot. Her left arm was nearly severed from her body, and she had terrible wounds in her jaw and chest. Her cannon was the last to fall silent before the fort was abandoned.

When the British took the fort, they found Margaret by her cannon in critical condition. British doctors were able to save her life, but her left arm was paralyzed. When she was well enough to travel, Margaret was paroled along with the other wounded prisoners. She joined the Invalid Regiment at West Point, where she helped care for other wounded soldiers.

Margaret was now in a very bad position. She was a widow without the legal and economic protection of her husband. Her injuries meant she could not work to support herself. Even simple tasks, such as dressing and feeding herself, were impossible. She had no other family to take care of her. Many people found Margaret difficult to get along with. Women at West Point rejected her for her rough manner and drinking habit. Even a commanding officer who respected her described her as “such an offensive person that people are unwilling to take her in charge.”

But the soldiers she served with remembered her courage at the Battle of Fort Washington, and stories about her bravery made their way to the Continental Congress. On July 6, 1779 the Congress awarded her a lifelong pension in recognition of her service. It was the first time the new government officially recognized the military service of a woman, but they only awarded her half of what a man would receive. A few years later, at the urging of officers who knew her plight, Congress awarded her an additional clothing and rum allowance. General Henry Knox, the commander of the Continental Army’s artillery, personally supplied her with a servant to help her bathe and eat. She died in 1800 at the age of forty-nine.

Margaret Corbin did not receive full military honors upon her death. It wasn’t until the New York State chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution verified Margaret’s record in 1926 that remains believed to be hers were reinterred with full military honors at the West Point Cemetery. However, more recent research has proven that the remains are not hers.

• camp follower: Civilians, usually women, who travel with an army and provide essential services like cooking, laundry, and nursing.
• Continental Army: The army formed by the Second Continental Congress and led by General George Washington.
• Continental Congress: The governing body of the new United States during the American Revolution.
• Delaware: An Indigenous community related to the Lenni Lenape that lived in Pennsylvania at the time of the American Revolution. Today there are three Delaware communities with headquarters in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada.
• French and Indian War: A colonial war that was fought from 1754 to 1763 between the British and the French. Indigenous communities sided with the colonial power they expected would best protect their sovereignty. The Spanish were allies of the British. Part of the larger global conflict known as the Seven Years’ War. The British triumphed and greatly expanded their territory in North America.
• Hessian: Name for the German soldiers who fought for the British in the American Revolution.
• invalid: A person made weak or disabled by injury or illness.
• matross: The soldier responsible for reloading a cannon.
• mercenary: A hired soldier.
• parole: When a prisoner is released on the promise of good behavior.
• Shawnee: An Indigenous community that once lived in an area that spanned what is now called Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Maryland, and Delaware. Today there are three Shawnee communities headquartered in Oklahoma.
• West Point: A military post on the Hudson River that was occupied by American troops beginning in 1778. Today it is the site of the United States Military Academy.

• APUSH Connection: 3.5: American Revolution
• Compare and contrast Margaret Corbin’s contributions to the American Revolution with the following and ask students to reflect on the overall impact women had on the outcome of the conflict. 
  • Spinning Wheels, Spinning Bees 
  • A Call to Arms 
  • The Edenton Tea Party 
  • Sentiments of an American Woman 
  • Army Wife
  • Protesting Tea
  • The Wives of Soldiers
  • Life Story: Lorenda Holmes 
  • Life Story: Nanyehi Nancy Ward 
  • Life Story: Margaret “Peggy” Shippen Arnold
• To explore how social class affected the experiences of women whose husbands joined the Continental Army, compare and contrast this life story with Army Wife, Reflections from the Home Front, and Life Story: Catharine Littlefield Greene Miller.

POWER AND POLITICS

• For resources relating to the American Revolution in New York, see The Battle of Brooklyn.