The Continental Congress granted Margaret Corbin a lifelong military pension, making her the first woman in U.S. history to receive one.
On July 6, 1779, the Continental Congress, acting on the recommendation of the Board of War, formally granted Margaret Corbin a lifelong pension in recognition of the wounds and disability she sustained at the Battle of Fort Washington. The pension awarded her one-half the monthly pay of a Continental Army soldier, along with an annual issue of clothing or its cash equivalent, for the remainder of her life.
This decision made Margaret Corbin the first woman in United States history to receive a military pension from Congress for her own combat service, rather than as a widow's benefit tied to a husband's service. This distinction is critical: while other women received survivor benefits, Corbin's pension was granted specifically because of her personal actions and injuries sustained while actively fighting.
The grant represented a remarkable, if limited, acknowledgment by the fledgling U.S. government that a woman could serve—and be wounded—in a combat capacity deserving of the same institutional recognition given to male soldiers. It set an important precedent, even though it would be many decades before women's military service was more broadly institutionalized. Corbin was later formally incorporated into the Invalid Regiment (Corps of Invalids) at West Point, becoming one of the very few women officially attached to a Continental Army unit as a wounded veteran, cementing her unique status in the annals of American military history.