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A ceremony at West Point Tuesday marked 100 years since a monument honoring Margaret Corbin — one of the first women to fight in the American Revolution — was dedicated on its grounds.
Corbin is best known for her actions during the Battle of Fort Washington in 1776. After her husband, an artilleryman, was mortally wounded, she stepped in to operate the cannon — and kept firing even after she was severely injured.
“She is the inspiration to our cadets. She ran to the fight. She didn’t run from it,” said Jennifer Voigtschild, command historian at the U.S. Military Academy. “That’s what we like to teach our cadets — personal courage, selfless service and teamwork.”
Another key part of Corbin’s story is what happened after the war — and why she’s honored at West Point today.
“She comes to West Point after the Revolutionary War because it’s the only continuously run garrison at that point,” said Colonel Katie Matthew, a professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership. “It’s the only place in the Army to come — and she settles in Highland Falls.”
Corbin is not buried at West Point. Her remains were never definitively identified. Still, officials say her connection to the Army — and her time living in the area after the war — makes West Point a fitting place to honor her legacy.
Corbin later became the first woman to receive a military pension from Congress.
The monument was originally dedicated in 1926 by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Tuesday’s ceremony marked its centennial — as the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding.
Officials say Corbin’s story continues to resonate today, especially among cadets at West Point, where her example of courage under fire remains part of the institution’s history.
