Margaret Corbin came from the countryside in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, just west of Gettysburg during a time when people valued their independence. This is likely why her husband, John Corbin enlisted in the Army in the 1770s and Margaret went with him.
Like many women of the time, they had nowhere else to go and earned their place at camp by nursing the sick, mending uniforms, and cooking.
In November 1776 she and her husband found themselves assisting Maryland and Virginia riflemen who were defending Fort Washington in upper Manhattan, where John Corbin was assigned as an artilleryman with orders to hold off the British and Hessian attackers at all costs.
When John was fatally wounded and with no time to pause for his loss, Margaret began loading and firing the cannon alone. In short order, her aim and accuracy drew the attention of enemy cannons. Margaret was wounded during this battle and captured when Fort Washington fell.
A patriot, disabled veteran, and Prisoner of War, Margaret Corbin was the first woman in American history to receive a pension from the government because of her bravery and enduring wound to her left shoulder.
Margaret Corbin’s valor and sacrifice were all she knew, and she did not hesitate when duty called to defend liberty against tyranny.
Now we’re asking you to think like Margaret Corbin. Do not hesitate when duty calls. Do you feel like our federal government is out of control? Sign the petition calling for an Article V Convention of States, and pledge to ask three of your friends to sign as well.
