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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02437.01595 |
| From Archive Folder | The Henry Knox Papers [0046] September 17822 |
| Title | Samuel Shaw to Tench Tilghman regarding Margaret Corbin and her application to keep her ration of liquor |
| Date | 10 September 1782 |
| Author | Shaw, Samuel (1754-1794) |
| Recipient | Tilghman, Tench |
| Document Type | Correspondence; Military document |
| Content Description | Writes that it is not in his power to send him Congress's resolve of 6 July 1779, concerning Margaret Corbin. Explains that her case is "peculiar": "Her husband and son killed and herself wounded in the services, were misfortunes of so aggravated as justly rendered her worthy of public attention." Congress has provided her with "a complete ration per day, and half pay for life," which Colonel [Lewis] Nicola helped her apply for, but she has received very little of the rations and pay she deserves. Explains that "[h]er present application is in consequence of the rum or whiskey which completes part of her ration being stopped by the commissary agreeable to his common custom in the issues to women of the army in general. Hers being so singular a case, she thinks that this regulation should not extend to her." If she receives what is owed her, the items "will render her present wretchedness a little more tolerable." Adds, finally, that "I am sorry to trouble you again on this subject, but the woman is truly an object of compassion. Her present husband is a poor crippled invalid who is of no other service to her but rather adds to her trouble. She herself in bad health and far advanced in her pregnancy." See GLC02437.01591 and GLC02437.01597 for related information. |
| Subjects | Battle of Brandywine (Brandywine Creek) Revolutionary War Military History Continental Army Battle Women's History Injury or Wound Death Children and Family Military Provisions Soldier's Pay Pension Continental Congress Congress Alcohol Health and Medical |
| People | Shaw, Samuel (1754-1794) Tilghman, Tench (1744-1786) Corbin, Margaret Cochran (1751-ca. 1800) Nicola, Lewis (1717-1807) |
| Place written | West Point, New York |
| Theme | The American Revolution; Women in American History; Children & Family; Government & Politics; Health & Medicine |
| Sub-collection | The Henry Knox Papers |
| Additional Information | According to the American National Biography, Corbin was wounded at the Battle of Fort Washington, although Shaw notes she was wounded at Brandywine. Her husband was operating a piece of artillery when he was killed, so Corbin took command of the cannon and received grape shot in her left shoulder. She wasn't granted pension until 1779, when Congress granted her a complete suit of clothes and half the monthly pay of a soldier as long as she remained disabled. After Congress's action, she enrolled in the Invalid Corps (performing garrison duties). In 1781, the Invalid Corps became an official part of the garrison at West Point where she remained until her discharge in 1783. She remained in the West Point/Highland Falls vicinity and was buried in the town of Highland Falls. Corbin's body was exhumed in 1926 by DAR and reinterred at West Point. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |
| Related documents | Letter from Tench Tilghman to Samuel Shaw about Margaret Corbin who was wounded at Brandywine operating a cannon Letter from Tench Tilghman to Samuel Shaw regarding Margaret Corbin and the issue of supplying rum to women |
| Transcript | Show/hide Download PDF |