The Price of Freedom: One Woman’s Bravery in the Revolutionary War

By Kim Villalva

How long have women served in the military?   Would you be surprised to learn that they have been serving for 245 years?  That may seem hard to believe with all the news stories that circulate today of “firsts” for women in the military.  Could women really have been serving for that long?

Yes.  As far back as the Revolutionary War, women found ways to serve in the military, regardless of whether they had official titles or pay.  When the Revolutionary War broke out, women were expected to be caretakers of the home.  Family came first and army camps were no place for women. 

This perception of the roles of men and women would become a challenge that women would face over and over in our nation’s wars and conflicts. 

Many women who looked for a way to serve the army in the Revolutionary War, became known as “Camp Followers.”  Camp Followers was the term used for women, and even children, who traveled with the Continental Army.  Women found jobs like laundry and cooking in the camps that allowed them to stay on and to earn a small wage.

Now, some extraordinary women found themselves facing opportunities to serve outside of their limited roles. And when they were confronted with that choice, they often took it.

Take Margaret Corbin. 

She was a camp follower who had followed her husband, John Corbin, when he joined the army.  John was in the First Company of the Pennsylvania Artillery.  His job was to load and fire cannons.

On November 16, 1776, the British attacked Fort Washington.  Margaret, as camp follower, would have just taken care of laundry and other similar duties for the camp.  But on this day, like many of the camp followers, she followed her husband to battle.  She and other women would help with bringing water or caring for the wounded when they fell.

But when John was killed at his cannon, Margaret set down her camp follower duties and immediately took over firing his cannon.  The battle was fierce, and she was severely wounded, getting hit in the jaw, chest, and left arm.  She literally fought until she could do no more. 

The British captured Margaret and were able to save her life, but she was left with debilitating injuries until she passed away at the age of 48.  The American Revolution Institute notes in their blog that, “She paid the cost of liberty, and in doing so lost the personal independence she was probably fighting to maintain, or secure for herself, her husband and the family she never had.  Her arm crippled, her face disfigured, she is not the way we imagine Liberty.  Perhaps we should.”

What a powerful way to rethink the role of our early women veterans. 

Faced with difficult choices for how to survive when their husbands went off to war, women made sacrifices that we do not always know about.  We are thankful for the stories that have survived through history. Margaret’s story is just one such example of sacrifice and the high price that some women paid.

Three years after the Battle of Fort Washington, Margaret was recognized for her bravery.  She became the first woman to be awarded a pension for her service although she was only paid half of what a soldier would make each month.   

Women like Margaret Corbin showed our country just who women could be in the military.  The Revolutionary War may have ended in 1783, but the impact that women would make in the military was just beginning.