More stories ...
You can't imagine how many women's stories there are from the Revolutionary War. I know that they had to have participated in a war that was fought in and around their homes, but I didn't realize that so many of them were documented. If their stories are a part of written history, why didn't we learn about them in school? Ugh!!!

I've chosen the second Woman from that period and I'm writing a synopsis of her story now. Look for it in the next few days.

In the meantime, consider pledging to help me make this painting a reality. You can pledge as little as $2. And remember none of the $ is collected until the end of the fund raising period and then ONLY if the goal is reached.

So I got started today on the process of finding the subjects for this artwork and of course started at the beginning with the Revolutionary War. And Oh, My Goodness …. She truly was there! There is a wealth of information on all sorts of women who fought as men, women who fought beside their men, women who fought when their men fell, women behind the lines, women spies, etc… etc…! I was fascinated for hours on end. I could actually create a painting that simply honored the women of the American Revolution! Geez!!

But I needed to focus on my original concept, which meant that I had to choose amongst the known and not so known women. As of this time, I've chosen 2 from this period to include.

The first is Margaret Cochran Corbin (1751-c.1800) A little bit about her …..

Margaret was born on November 12, 1751 near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. When she was 21 she married John Corbin. At the start of the revolutionary war John joined the Continental Army and Margaret accompanied him. Some stories saw that she was, at that time, what was known as a camp follower. Wives of the soldiers would cook for the men, wash their laundry and nurse wounded soldiers. Other accounts seem to indicate that she was a soldier in her own right and used her own name.

In November of 1776, John and Margaret were stationed in Fort Washington, New York. On the 16th of that month the fort was attacked by British and Hessian troops. The story says that at some point John took over for a gunner who was killed, then John himself was killed, at which point Margaret took over the duties of loading the cannon until she too was wounded. The grapeshot tore her shoulder, mangled her chest and lacerated her jaw.

When the fort fell to the British she was captured and treated as a prisoner of war. But the wounded soldiers of the Continental Army were paroled. After her release, she was assigned to garrison duty in the Invalid Corps at West Point, NY. Margaret never fully recovered from her wounds. She spent the rest of her life without the use of her arm.

In 1779, the Continental Congress granted her a pension ("half the pay and allowances of a soldier in service") due to her distinguished bravery. She continued to be included on regimental muster lists until the end of the war in 1783. She died around 1800 near Highland Falls, NY. In 1926, Her grave was located by the Daughters of the American Revolution and her remains were re-interred at West Point near the Old Cadet Chapel.

Trying to find a title for a painting is sometimes an agonizing process. But I think I have this one figured out already. "She was there" I really like that and I think it says it all.