Margaret molly corbin biography

Margaret corbin britannica

When Margaret was five, her father was killed in an Indian raid and her mother was kidnapped. Margaret and her brother escaped and went to live with their uncle. At 21, she married a local farmer, John Corbin. Margaret accompanied him, joining other women in cooking, washing and caring for the wounded. Margaret sprang to action and began loading and firing the cannon herself.

She fell wounded by grapeshot which tore her shoulder, mangled her chest and lacerated her jaw. After the Brits captured the fort, the wounded were ferried to Fort Lee and transported in a jolting wagon to Philadelphia. Margaret never fully recovered from her wounds and lost the use of her left arm. However, in she received unprecedented aid as the Congressional Board of War granted her half the monthly pay of a soldier and an annual clothing allowance; she was even given a rum ration.

Margaret Corbin became the first woman to receive a U. There she helped with cooking and laundry. She was brusque, coarse, red-haired, wholly wanting in feminine charms and one of her biographers recorded that she made use of swear words! Today, three memorials celebrate her memory. In , the Golden Anniversary of the Revolution prompted a search for her grave and the body was re-buried with full military honors in West Point and a Margaret Corbin Memorial erected.

She is the only Revolutionary War veteran so honored. In , a study of remains was made after her grave was accidentally opened by excavators digging near her monument. Tests showed that the remains were likely those of a middle-aged man who lived in Colonial time.