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• Friday, June 18, 2021

  Manhattan VA Renamed in Honor of Woman Veteran

  

  Image of Margaret Corbin on her memorial at West Point. Photo by Ahodges7 / Wikipedia

  U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney announced June 18 the renaming of the Manhattan VA Medical Center to the Margaret Cochran Corbin Campus of the New York Harbor Health Care System. The Manhattan VA is the first in the nation to be named after a woman veteran.

  The American Legion Department of New York had supported the effort to rename the facility in honor of a woman veteran of the War of Independence.

  “The 200,000 members of The American Legion Family across New York State are excited that the name of Revolutionary War hero Margaret Corbin will be forever associated with the care of veterans at the Manhattan VA Campus,” noted Department Commander Michael McDermott. “She cared for wounded and sick soldiers before taking up the fight herself when her husband was mortally wounded. We salute Margaret and all women veterans.”

  Margaret Cochran Corbin was born in Pennsylvania on November 12, 1751. She accompanied her husband, John, when he joined the Revolutionary forces and supported the Army’s efforts by caring for injured and sick soldiers, cooking, cleaning, and helping her husband load his cannon. On November 16, 1776, Corbin took her husband’s place at the battle of Fort Washington in Manhattan after he was fatally wounded. Other soldiers commented on her steady aim and sure-shot. Eventually, however, she, too, was severely wounded by enemy fire. In recognition of her service and injuries, Corbin was awarded a lifelong pension, making her the first woman to receive a pension from the United States through military service. Corbin passed away in 1789 in Highland Falls, New York, and she is honored nearby at West Point as a hero of the Revolutionary War.