Voting Station

Margaret Corbin

Please vote to return to collections.

Patriot

The Resume

    (November 12, 1751-January 16, 1800)
    Born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania
    Birth name was Margaret Cochran
    American Revolutionary War heroine
    Married Pennsylvania Artillery militiaman John Corbin, at the age of 21, in 1772
    Was widowed during the Battle of Fort Washington, when her husband was killed during a Hessian advance of 4,000 men (Nov. 16, 1776)
    According to legend, leapt to her husband's gun shortly after he was killed and fought in his stead, evading capture
    Granted the lifetime half-pay pension of a soldier by the First Continental Congress in July of 1779
    Remains were re-interred with full military honors at the cemetery of the United States Military Academy at West Point (April 14, 1926)

Why she might be annoying:

    Few details exist as to her personal or private life.
    She was variously nicknamed 'Captain Molly' and 'Molly Pitcher' by militiamen.
    Although, her actions preceded the famous Molly Pitcher's heroic stance at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 (but then 'Molly' was also a common name assigned to militia scrub women).
    This may support the argument that Molly Pitcher was less a real person than a legendary composite of several historical women during the Revolution; mainly Corbin.
    She spent her final years hanging around military posts with soldiers, chewing tobacco and smoking her pipe.
    She had a reputation as a course and ill-tempered woman, which alienated her from the other ladies of the town.
    When the Philadelphia Society of Women met with her to discuss erecting a monument in her honor, they were shocked to find her to be a hard-drinking and foul-mouthed matron (the plans were promptly cancelled).

Why she might not be annoying:

    Oral legend recognizes her as the first woman soldier in the American Army.
    She was adopted and raised by her uncle.
    Her father was killed in an Indian attack (her mother was kidnapped and was never seen again).
    She impressed those around her with the skill/accuracy she showed in loading/firing the cannon (she was one of the deadliest on the battlefield).
    Her left arm was almost severed after being hit with grape shots during the Hessian attack.
    Her jaw and chest were also lacerated beyond recognition, making it all the more remarkable that she didn't bleed to death right there on the battlefield.
    She was unable to use her left arm for the rest of her life, relying on nurses to help her bathe and dress.
    She was included on military rolls until the end of the war (discharged by the Continental Congress in 1783).
    She became the first woman in U.S. history to receive a pension from Congress for military service.
    She received only a crude unmarked stone marker in the highlands overlooking the Hudson River.
    The Daughters of the American Revolution sponsored a major effort to identify her remains and exhume them to give her proper burial rites with a monument honoring her heroism at the Battle of Fort Washington (1926).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying