The King’s Engineer

The fight for North America during the 18th century involved a diverse group of brave and hardworking people, including frontier woodsmen, hearty yeoman farmers, professional soldiers, and clever politicians, as well as the merchants, tradesmen, and farmers who financed and supplied them. There is another crucial group that helped build an empire, especially one carved from the wilderness – the engineer. Skilled in planning, surveying, and map-making, engineers linked people to the land. Warfare in North America focused on land and was influenced by it. Geography shapes history.

Montresor would spend most of his
military career in North America

Servant of Empire

James Montresor

One such engineer was John Montresor. Montresor was the son of a British officer of French Huguenot descent, James Gabriel Montresor. John was born in 1736 at the key British base in Gibraltar. The senior Montresor served as chief engineer at that time. John attended Westminster School in England for four years (1746-1750). When he returned to Gibraltar, his father taught him the principles of engineering and took him to North America when he was appointed chief engineer for General John Braddock. 

Fighting the French and Indians

General Braddock

John Montresor was commissioned as an ensign in the 48th Regiment of Foot in March 1755 and appointed as an engineer in June. The Braddock campaign against Fort Duquesne is legendary (see Yankee Doodle Spies Blog Post: Road of Destruction). The defeat of Braddock’s column by native warriors and French soldiers at the Battle of the Monongahela, along with Braddock's death, had a chilling effect on the British effort. It also turned young George Washington into a hero. During that battle, young ensign Montresor saw action and was wounded himself during the massacre. 

Montresor was wounded at
The Battle of the Monongahela

Promoted to lieutenant, Montresor was assigned to New York, the main theater against the French. He sharpened his engineering skills by supervising the construction of Fort Edward. In 1757, he assisted Lord Loudoun (British commander in N.A.) in a failed campaign against the powerful French stronghold at Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. The failure did not damage his career. He would return!

Montresor's engineering skills helped
secure the fall of Louisbourg

The following year, John received his commission as a practitioner-engineer and resigned from the infantry. From a career perspective, he chose the less common path. Engineers were essential in modern warfare, but advancing beyond major was rare and certainly not a route to becoming a general. However, as was true then and remains true today, engineers prioritized their work over promotion. That summer, he joined General Jeffery Amherst’s army on another attempt to capture Louisbourg. As an engineer, he played a key role in the siege of the fortress, which this time was successful. Montresor stayed in Nova Scotia after the fort's fall and, in March 1759, conducted a reconnaissance around the Bras d’Or Lakes. 

British infantry scaling cliffs to
reach the Plain of Abraham during the
Battle for Quebec

Montresor’s skills were recognized, and he was soon sent to join the army under General Wolfe in what would become a successful but tragic campaign (commanders on both sides were mortally wounded) against the capital of French North America, Quebec.

British General Wolfe died in the battle for Quebec,
his opponent, General Montcalm, was also mortally wounded

Carving out a New Land

Montresor stayed in North America after the Treaty of Paris ended the war in 1763. A rugged new world needed mapping, and all kinds of infrastructure had to be planned and built—especially forts to protect the newly acquired empire. What better position for an engineer? He remained with the occupying army, working for the newly appointed governor, General James Murray, on a series of surveying expeditions in the freshly conquered territory. 

Probably the most important of these was helping Murray map the St. Lawrence River. Montresor was also involved in building forts in the new territory. His skills in French allowed him to serve in a pacification role, disarming local militias and securing the loyalty of the king’s new subjects. He also took time to explore the wilderness between Quebec and the Kennebec River (Maine). Ironically, his written records would later be used by Colonel Benedict Arnold in his campaign against Canada in 1775.

John Murray commissioned a seminal
map of the Saint Lawrence River 

Pontiac's War

In 1763, Montresor was stationed in New York, but the outbreak of Pontiac’s Indian rebellion forced him to return to Canada. There, General Jeffery Amherst assigned him a risky covert mission: to travel hundreds of miles through hostile wilderness and deliver dispatches to the commander of the besieged garrison at Detroit. His familiarity with the land made him the perfect choice to serve as chief engineer for the relief column sent to Detroit the next year. However, before heading west, Montresor took time to build forts along the Niagara River. 

Montresor braved hostile Indian territory
to complete his mission to beleaguered Detroit

On his return from the Detroit expedition, Montresor was shipwrecked on Lake Erie. After switching to another boat, the engineer Montresor took some time on his way back to practice a little hydrography, exploring the depth and width of several tributaries of the lake along the way. 

Montresor made lemonade from lemons
using even a shipwreck to explore Lake Erie

Pause and a Promotion

The arrow of Eros struck him while he was in New York. Montresor married an American woman, Frances Tucker, in New York City on March 1, 1764. It must have been a good match because they ended up raising six children. 

Frances (nee Tucker) Montressor decked out
as a British officer. 

Stationed at Fort George (formerly Fort William Henry) in 1765, he observed the rise of the political movement that would eventually lead to insurgency and open rebellion, marked by the rioting in Albany and New York City protesting the Stamp Act. Montresor traveled to England in 1766. 

After returning to America, Montresor held the rank of captain-lieutenant and served as the master of the Ordnance for America. In this role, he spent much time in the mid-Atlantic region, constructing forts mainly along waterways like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. One notable fort guarding Philadelphia on Mud Island was named after him and became the site of bloody conflict a few years later. 

Montresor drew up one of the earliest
professional maps of  The Big Apple

During the interwar period, he took time to survey the boundary between New York and New Jersey and built or upgraded forts and military bases. While in New York, he bought an island in the East River, which was named Montresor’s Island after him, though New Yorkers know it as Randall’s Island. Montresor supervised the development of a map of New York City during his time there.

Chief Engineer

In April 1775, he was in Boston when open war in North America broke out again, changing the direction of his career. He was now made the de facto chief engineer for the British forces in America, which led to his promotion to captain in January 1776. 

Captain John Montresor

For a while, he seemed to be the Forrest Gump of the British effort – seemingly everywhere and meeting everyone. He secured river crossings for the march on Lexington and Concord and helped trap the British column trying to sneak back to Boston after being stung by an angry crowd. His engineering skills were used in the defense of Boston, and he was one of the last officers to leave the besieged city.

Boston

As the chief engineer during the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, he likely planned the siege works aimed at forcing Washington’s beleaguered forces out of Brooklyn. Montresor witnessed the execution of Nathan Hale in New York City the following month. He allegedly provided aid to Hale, allowing him to use his office to write final letters to his family. The British chose him to cross rebel lines to inform the Continental Army of the execution, which reportedly affected him deeply. 

Montresor witnessed Nathan Hale's Execution

He gave up his post as chief engineer and served as General William Howe’s aide de camp for a time, but Montresor was later reinstated as chief engineer. When the campaign for Philadelphia was launched in 1777, he was in the thick of the operations. He fought during the Forage War in New Jersey and served at the Battle of Brandywine later that year. He also accompanied the army to Philadelphia, where he rebuilt the garrison's fortifications and later launched a brutal series of attacks that destroyed his former Mud Island defenses, which ironically included Fort Mifflin, the fort that once bore his name. 

Plans for Fort Mifflin, once known as Fort Montresor

With the British occupation of Philadelphia, he oversaw the construction of new defenses for the American capital. Montresor also planned the building of a pontoon bridge at Gray's Ferry on the Schuylkill River. 

Fort Montressor was renamed Fort Mifflin,
giving the King's Engineer the honor of attacking
his own creation

Major Andre

A Rapid Closure

As the British occupation continued, the commander in chief, Sir William Howe, was called back to England. Montresor, Howe’s former aide, aided Major John Andre (a future spymaster) in planning an elaborate farewell celebration known as the Meschianza.  

The Meschianza included parades

This was a series of extravagant events including shows, parades, musical concerts, displays, banquets, and a ball, ending with a fireworks display worthy of Broadway or Hollywood impresarios.

Major Andre arranging a Meschianza display
with an exotic oriental theme

The spring of 1778 marked the arrival of a new commander-in-chief, General Henry Clinton, and at some point that year, Montresor was replaced as chief engineer. He returned to England in October, where he retired from the army after more than twenty years of service to the king and country, although he spent little time in the latter. 

However, the king’s engineer faced difficulties in civilian life after the army. Montresor was unhappy with how the army treated him, feeling resentful because he had not received a promotion. He blamed the Ordnance Office for this and believed that his talents and achievements went unrecognized and unrewarded.

Sir Henry Clinton replaced Howe

It is unclear exactly why he left so abruptly. Perhaps he did not get along with Clinton because of his close association with Howe. However, it might have been related to something more basic – money. There were suspicions that he misused his broad discretion in carrying out his responsibilities as an engineer. 

In that role, he managed significant funds for procuring equipment, materials, and manpower for construction projects. The lack of effective accounting practices and financial controls may have allowed him to accumulate a substantial amount of money for himself.

Montresor was a highly precise and demanding engineer, often requisitioning the best materials for his projects. During the construction of the forts around Philadelphia, he submitted invoices for extensive materials that were ultimately denied by the colonial government. His high standards may also have put him at odds with General Murray in Quebec and possibly Henry Clinton.

A Desperate End

In 1782, his accounts went through a detailed audit, which led to him being held financially responsible for £50,000 of the roughly £250,000 he claimed as chief engineer in America. Despite vigorous appeals by Montresor, he lost. The Exchequer went after his estate, seizing his London home and property in Kent, eventually recovering £48,000. Despite his service, Montresor ended up in Maidstone prison, a debtors’ prison, where he tragically died on June 26, 1799. 

Debtor's Prisons were the final destination
of the bankrupt in the 18th century

Legacy

Two of Montresor’s sons received commissions in the British Army despite their father’s challenges, allowing the family tradition of service to king and country to persist. One is struck by the significant contribution Montresor made to British success in North America during three wars and a period of consolidation between them, yet he receives little recognition. 

This was probably partly because of the low regard for the more technical branches within an army rooted in old-fashioned tradition and social hierarchy. Had he been noble by birth rather than by achievement, or part of a prestigious regiment, his mistakes might have been overlooked. And of course, as a descendant of French Huguenots, he was not English. Just saying. This isn’t to justify sloppy accounting or ignore the facts of embezzlement, just a period of social observation.  

Cypher later adopted by
the Royal Engineers

Montresor, in an engineering style, kept a meticulous journal that recorded minutiae of daily operations and conditions. Precise distances and measurements were documented, along with daily temperatures. The surviving parts of his journal show a man with great attention to detail, but it also reveals a bit of hubris. Perhaps that hubris caused friction with peers and superiors, and possibly something worse. We will never know.

Surviving Montresor journals
provide an insight into the man and his times

Yankee Doodle Disease

An Age-Old Problem

Throughout history, the greatest threat to most armies was not enemy swords, spears, bayonets, bombs, or bullets. Until at least World War II, disease and infection killed or incapacitated more soldiers than combat. Even today, during the Coronavirus pandemic, there are reports of infections within the military at much higher rates than the general population. Like many people worldwide, I have been staying at home and watching a global epidemiological disaster unfold, while trying to ignore the uncomfortable fact that I am at the center of it. As are we all. This naturally led me to reflect on the topic in the context of the times of the Yankee Doodle Spies.

The Black Death wreaked havoc and terrorized
over centuries of outbreaks

Disease in War

In a strange irony, war unites people. Not just through direct clashes between enemies but through the essential bonding of close-knit units who are forced to eat, sleep, train, and fight together. Camps and garrisons turn into breeding grounds, especially when hygiene is neglected. It is this very closeness that makes them so vulnerable when different outbreaks occur.

Gathering of soldiers in military camps was
ground-zero for the spread of disease

Epidemics have weakened armies, sometimes rendering them unfit for combat, outbreaks have halted military operations, and of course, there is the impact on civilian populations that armies come into contact with. Geography influences the spread of disease, with both bitter cold and scorching hot climates playing a role. Swamps, coastal areas, and cities all provide environments conducive to various types of illness. Additionally, the transportation of armies involves moving soldiers to new lands where they can encounter unfamiliar diseases and potentially bring their own to affect local populations. 

Yankee Doodle Disease

The American Revolution, in many ways, exemplifies all of these factors. Men from farms and forests mixed with men from towns and seaports. Undernourished, often poorly dressed and exposed to the elements, these men (and women) often faced an enemy worse than any redcoat or Hessian—a foe invisible to the naked eye that, in most cases, even the best medicine of the time could not understand or fight. Simply put, they faced germs that delivered a punch as deadly as any .69-inch musket ball or 17-inch bayonet. Diseases such as smallpox, dysentery, and malaria were common among American, British, and Hessian soldiers alike. This enemy didn't pick sides. Given the close quarters of 18th-century camps, these diseases spread through a camp like a windstorm across the high plains.

Disease killed more men than
musket balls or bayonets

A Different Kind of Battle

The soldier of the American Revolution faced highly professional armies equipped with the best weapons of the late 18th century. But if musket and cannon did not kill the soldier, the state-of-the-art treatment for a wound or illness might. Data indicates the typical combatant had a 98% chance of surviving battle but about a 75% chance of walking (or limping) out of the hospital. Unsanitary conditions, ignorance of vectors, and lack of practical remedies combined in a tragically unfair fight for the wounded or sick patriot. There were no antibiotics, but plenty of bleeding. No anesthetic, but plenty of bullets to bite. And if things looked really serious? Not to worry — there was an abundance of trained surgeons and their assistants who could cut off a limb or bleed the lifeblood from you.

State-of-the-art medical kit of the Rev War

A Different Kind of Surgeon

During the American Revolution, almost anyone could claim to be a doctor and start practicing medicine as long as they apprenticed with another doctor for a few years. Very few were trained surgeons from Edinburgh or London. Even if they were, medical science at the time was based on theories—often false—not on real scientific knowledge. This was especially true for illnesses, particularly infectious diseases. Doctors often believed most illness resulted from “an imbalance of the humors”—blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. How to restore the humors’ balance? The common methods included bloodletting or using herbal mixtures to induce vomiting or bowel movements. Many approaches aimed to rebalance the humors.

Bleeding was a common treatment for bad humors

A Different Kind of Pharmacist

Medicine during the time of the Yankee Doodle Spies was hard to find. Before the war, medicine, like nearly everything else, had to come from England. That was one reason we rebelled. The war broke that supply chain until the French alliance in 1778. A new supply line from France brought medicine to America. But even when medicine reached the army camps, most of it was of limited use, if not dangerous. In a medical field that had no anesthetics, opiates were the main painkillers, followed by hard liquor and the bullet previously mentioned. For various ailments, some surgeons used mercury compounds, lavender spirits, and cream of tartar.

Medicines of the day were interesting

Climate Change

Disease could strike regardless of climate. Winter brought seasonal flu and pneumonia that overwhelmed soldiers with their own lungs. The years of the American Revolution saw harsh winters, partly due to a mini-ice age. Many perished at Valley Forge, Morristown, Newburgh, and other winter cantonments. Summer, especially in the South, swamps, and low-lying coastal flats, produced noxious vapors—often malaria, but more frequently deadly yellow fever. Of course, these vapors, traditionally called miasmas, were not the actual cause. Insects, specifically mosquitoes, were the real vector.  

Swamps along the Georgia and Carolina littoral were a breeding ground
for the"noxious and bilious vapors" that plagued both sides

The war in the South was heavily affected by disease. It was one of the biggest concerns for the British high command, who had experience sending soldiers into warmer regions. The outbreak of disease repeatedly weakened General Charles Cornwallis’s army in the Carolinas, affecting battles and strategy. At crucial moments, key lieutenants got sick, as did Cornwallis himself. When he finally had a reasonably fit and equipped force at Wilmington, he chose to move north to Yorktown instead of back into South Carolina, partly to get his army into a healthier climate. We know how that turned out.

Disease factored into the strategy
 of Lord Cornwallis, with unpredictable results

Mother of All Maladies

Smallpox was a deadly disease during the time of the Yankee Doodle Spies. It could leave permanent scars even if it didn't kill you. Armies and their camp-followers were highly vulnerable, and outbreaks threatened both sides. Smallpox somewhat resembles the coronavirus in how it appears. It spreads through direct contact, not through insects or other vectors. The incubation period can be up to two weeks before symptoms appear. Its symptoms are similar to those of the flu and COVID-19, including fevers, headaches, and body aches.

However, smallpox also causes pustules to form across the body. Soldiers suffered for about another two weeks before they either recovered or succumbed. The disease killed about one out of three infected (a 30% mortality rate, in Dr. Fauci’s terms), and survivors often took weeks to fully recover. Of course, the characteristic scars served as a constant reminder for both the individual and those around them.

The Continental Army experienced outbreaks during the siege of Boston and the defense of New York, when large numbers of soldiers were gathered in cramped conditions. There were two main approaches to fighting the disease, neither of which was particularly effective when it came to waging war.

Soldiers from over a half-dozen states gathered outside
Boston, providing conditions ripe for the spread of disease

Social Distancing

The first was quarantine, the social distancing of the day. Hard to do when men are organized in units such as companies, regiments, and brigades. Harder to do in winter quarters, where men huddled freezing around smoky campfires and shared common meals together. Meals were often sparse and unnutritious. The Continental Army could not telework. Well, at least not for long.

Winter cantonments such as Valley Forge, Morristown
 and Newburgh offered little chance for social distancing

Variolation

As controversial in the time of the Yankee Doodle Spies as it is today, smallpox was one of the few diseases preventable by inoculation, then called variolation. The variolator used a lancet with fresh matter taken from the pustule of someone with active smallpox. The material was then scraped onto the arms or legs of the recipient, or introduced through the nose. There were risks associated with this; recipients often developed symptoms like fever and a rash. However, fewer people died from variolation than if they had contracted smallpox naturally. In a study conducted during an outbreak in Boston in 1722, those without variolation died at a rate of 14%, while the variolated died at 2% (.14 versus .02 in Dr. Fauci's terms). This might have been one of the earliest examples of data in medical science.

Surgeon-in-Chief

Besides serving as commander-in-chief and spymaster-in-chief, General George Washington was the ultimate decision-maker on medical procedures used to fight outbreaks. He had a mild case of smallpox earlier in life during an expedition to the West Indies. However, military needs in 1775 and 1776 prevented him from ordering widespread variolation. Meanwhile, the British were administering it to any recruits coming to America. 

The year 1777 required forced inoculation to
prevent the army from wasting away from smallpox

By 1777, the situation shifted. A series of outbreaks that year claimed as many as 100,00 lives in North America. The colonies had only 2.5 million residents, not including native tribes in the colonies, Spanish America, and Canada. But that's still a pretty large “numerator,” as the good doctor would say. Washington had to weigh the risk that mass inoculation might weaken the Continental Army and finally approved the procedure, starting with all new recruits. By the next year, however, a significant number of men had still somehow avoided the process. This time, Washington issued strict orders that these men would undergo inoculation. Washington made variolation for smallpox "settled science."

Father of Public Health

Just as the ravages of infectious disease helped signal the end of the Roman Empire, Medieval Europe, and other civilizations, the major smallpox outbreaks in America during the fight for independence may have achieved what large numbers of redcoats and Hessians could not—break the resolve of the patriots. It is not hyperbole to say that the mass inoculation ordered by Washington saved the army and, consequently, the American cause. He may even add the honorific, the “Father of Public Health,” in addition to the “Father of His Country.”

First in War, First in Peace,
First in Public Health

Captain Molly

Female First Patriot

The American War for Independence would not have succeeded without the dedicated efforts of many women, from all walks of life. Besides the obvious morale support women provided the cause, they maintained the farms or ran the shops when the men-folk were with the army or the militia. They raised money and engaged in the day to day commerce that kept the economy going and helped feed the revolution. They organized efforts to sew and knit, providing badly needed garments, blankets, and the like for an army poorly served by traditional logistics. Many also followed the gun, joining husbands or sweethearts with the forces as camp-followers. This female first patriot’s service began that way. But it did not end that way. Her name was Mary Chocrane Corbin, and she was indeed, a female bad-ass.

Captain Molly - an original bad-ass

Frontier Orphan

Margaret Chochrane (later changed to Chocran) was born near today’s Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on 12 November 1751, of Scotch-Irish settlers. Pennsylvania was a battlefront during the French and Indian War, however, and in 1756 and Indian attack changed her life for the worse. In a savage raid so common then, her father was killed and her mother carried off never to be seen again. Margaret escaped but now an orphan, she was raised by an uncle. This was not uncommon in those days. One can only think her hardscrabble youth steeled her for the challenges that lay in store for her.

Margaret's mother was carried off in an Indian raid

Newlywed... New Recruit

In 1772, at the relatively old age of twenty-one, she married John Corbin, a Virginian who came to Pennsylvania during the war and lingered on. In the run-up to the War for Independence, John Corbin enlisted in Captain Thomas Proctor’s company of the 1st Continental Artillery. Corbin was a matross, a gunner’s assistant in an artillery crew. As a matross, it was John Corbin’s duty to assist the gunner in loading, firing, and sponging the guns.

John Corbin served as a matross, assistant gunner

Follow the Army

Like many women of her day, Margaret joined the army with her husband and served his unit as a camp follower. Camp followers were an essential component of 18th-century armies, providing essential services such as cooking, washing clothes and blankets, fetching firewood and water. In combat, they often attended the wounded or carried water for the troops. Without the service of these dedicated women, soldiers of the Revolutionary War would have suffered even more than they did. Especially the Americans, whose logistics often lacked.

Camp Followers were critical to the armies

Active Service

Margaret was with the Continental Army in this capacity in New York in 1776. By November of that year, General Washington’s army had been driven from Brooklyn, had abandoned most of Manhattan, and had withdrawn to the Jerseys in the face of overwhelming British land and naval power. In Manhattan, the Continental Army was clinging to a small piece of rock at the northern tip of the island. Fort Washington stood high above the North (Hudson) River and the Harlem River, making it a critical piece of land.  On November 16, General William Howe ordered a three-pronged bombardment and assault on Washington’s namesake bastion.

Fort Washington

Captain Molly

The fort’s defenders put up a desperate fight at first, stymieing the efforts of British and Hessian regulars. But soon the endless pounding of guns and determined assaults took its toll on the outnumbered defenders.  John was assisting a gunner until the gunner was killed. At this point he took charge of the gun and Margaret stepped in to assist him. Before long, the intense British fire took him down - John Corbin was killed in combat. Undeterred, his wife now stepped in for him. 
Margaret was often reported to have a feisty nature. On this day it would serve the forlorn cause at the fort.  With no time to grieve her fallen husband, Margaret sprang into action and began serving one of the guns in his place, personally loading and firing round after round at the attackers. But the British soon trained their guns on the belching American cannon. Before long, Margaret herself was struck by a blast of grapeshot from the HMS Pearl firing from the river below the fort. A swarm of lead balls tore into her shoulder, mangled her chest, and lacerated her jaw. Several soldiers carried her to the rear where she received what little treatment they could give. 

Captain Molly working a cannon at Fort Washington

Wounded in the Line of Duty

The fort soon surrendered, and thousands of soldiers were marched off to eventual death on prison hulks. But Margaret’s wounds were so severe she was paroled by the fort’s new commandant, Hessian General von Knyphausen. Margaret and the other wounded were ferried across the river to Fort Lee. Bleeding from multiple wounds, and an arm hanging by a thread, Margaret suffered a wagon jolting and bumping along poor roads all the way to Philadelphia. She survived the journey and the wounds, although they would plague her for the rest of her life. In addition, she permanently lost the use of her left arm.

Corbin suffered horrific wounds in
the service of her country

Corps of Invalids

In time, Corbin’s condition was made known to the Pennsylvania Executive Council, which granted her a small sum of money and referred her to the Continental Congress. The Board of War, impressed by her reputation as “Captain Molly,” then voted her a soldier’s half-pay for life on July 29, 1779. Afterward, Corbin was allowed to join the Corps of Invalids at West Point, New York. Congress created the corps to garrison posts, using soldiers no longer fit for full active service.

Corbin was assigned to the Corps of Invalids
for the remainder of the war

Honorable Discharge & Second Marriage

She was also allotted one free suit of clothing per year or the equivalent in money. In 1782, Congress allowed her to receive a daily ration of rum due to veteran soldiers.  As the war drew to a close, she was formally discharged from the military in April 1783. While serving at West Point Margret married again. Her new husband was also invalid, and the couple lived several years in grinding poverty. When he died, "Captain Molly" lived hand and mouth, often relying on the charity of locals.

The Corps of Invalids garrisoned West Point

Legacy

Our female first patriot died just shy of her 50th birthday at Highland Falls, New York on January 16, 1800, and was buried in an unmarked grave.

The DAR helped move Margaret Corbin's remains to its
final resting place

There she lay until in the early 20th century, Corbin’s remains were subsequently rediscovered and, through the intervention of the daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), she was interred at the US Military Academy in 1926 with full military honors. Her grave was marked by a bronze memorial. Corbin was the first woman of the Revolutionary War to receive a disability pension for military service. Ir is fitting that she was laid to rest with some of the great military heroes of America's wars.

Margaret Corbin finally laid to rest at West Point's cemetery?

However, the tale of America's first female veteran took on a strange twist in 2016. Her grave was accidentally dug up and it was decided to conduct a post exhumation forensic analysis. Unfortunately, the results determined the remains were of a very large male. When notified, the DAR remained undaunted and have resolutely pledged to continue the search for Margaret Corbin's actual remains. But you do not have to travel to West Point to visit a Captain Molly memorial. A plaque was erected on the site of Fort Washington in upper Manhattan, in today's Fort Tryon Park. Visitors to the Big Apple can visit it and visit the site of her gallant action in the service of her nation.

In an interesting side-note: Mary Corbin’s association with the artillery often causes her to be confused with another gunner, Mary Ludwig Hays, or Molly Pitcher, a common name for camp followers at the time. The other Molly may be the subject of a future Yankee Doodle Spies profile.

The Surgeon General from Scotland

Fans of Outlander will instantly recognize the unique connection this first patriot shares with the main characters of the cherished books and TV series. A strong, passionate Scotsman with fiery temper meets a calm, strategic medical professional who faces the British across two continents. Yet in this case, both qualities are embodied in one person—Hugh Mercer, a man who blazed a trail from the streets of Aberdeen to the bloody fields of Culloden, through the war-torn mountains of Pennsylvania and the frozen farmlands of New Jersey.

General Hugh Mercer

The Streets of Aberdeen

Hugh Mercer was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1725 to Reverend William Mercer, a Church of Scotland minister, and Ann Monro. He graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a medical degree in 1744. That same year, he joined the Jacobite army of Prince Charles Edward, the Pretender, and served as an assistant surgeon during the disastrous engagement at Culloden in April 1746. He escaped the massacre that followed the battle, and after months on the run, fled to America.

Country Doctor

The young surgeon, a war veteran and fugitive, settled in present-day Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, to work as a doctor. When the French and Indian War started in 1755, he put aside his eight years of comfortable medical practice and offered his services to the provincial forces, taking part in several notable battles. 

Another Massacre

On the western frontier of Pennsylvania, Mercer helped care for the survivors of General Braddock’s defeat on the Monongahela River. Shocked by the suffering of the wounded, Mercer set aside his disdain for the crown and joined Britain’s fight for America.

Punitive Expedition

In September 1756, the newly appointed captain joined Colonel John Armstrong on his punitive expedition against the Indian villages at Kittanning and was severely wounded. Isolated, he survived for two weeks on his own, wandering over 100 miles before reaching the friendly outpost at Fort Shirley. His devotion and gallantry were recognized. 

Mercer served under Col John Armstrong
in western Pennsylvania raid

Fort Duquesne

Two years later, he served as a lieutenant colonel during the capture of Fort Duquesne (renamed Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh) and later took command of the fort. Mercer's first task was to build a temporary fort to control the two forks of the Ohio in case the French returned from the northwest. During this campaign, Mercer met and formed a lasting friendship with Colonel George Washington of the Virginia Regiment. 

The Old Dominion

The war ended in 1763, and because he had befriended several Virginians, he chose to settle in a small port town with a tight-knit community of Scottish ex-pats. Although Mercer arrived in Fredericksburg to start a medical practice, he discovered much more. The town filled a void that had existed since he left his homeland.

Mercer opened an Apothecary in his
adopted town of Fredericksburg

First Mother's Physician

Besides practicing medicine, Mercer opened an apothecary in town. Like many settlers, he bought land. He served as a doctor to George Washington’s mother, Mary Ball Washington, and acquired the Ferry Farm from her as his family homestead. 

One of Mercer's celebrated patients
was Mary Ball Washington

Civic Leader

He became active in local town issues and was a prominent businessman. Along the way, he joined the Masonic lodge, which included Washington and many other notable Virginians. To say he was finally comfortable with life is an understatement. But he would soon leave his comfort to follow the drum one last time.

Mercer, George Washington, and numerous founders
belonged to the Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge

The Minuteman

By 1775, the tensions between Britain and its colonies in North America had shifted from resistance to rebellion and eventually to war. It was only natural that the brave freedom-lover Mercer would join the cause and face his former enemies again. He became a member of the Fredericksburg Committee of Safety. In September, Mercer was appointed commander of all Minuteman companies in the four counties around Fredericksburg. 

Virginia Minutemen

The Continental

In January 1776, his talents were once again recognized. Virginia’s provincial congress appointed him a colonel in the 3rd Virginia Continental Line. He set to work training it into a sharp, disciplined unit, but that command was short-lived. His old friend and fellow soldier, George Washington, was now the commander in chief of the new Continental Army. Mercer enjoyed a strong military reputation, so Washington petitioned the Continental Congress to appoint him brigadier general that June.

Mercer commanded a Continental Line regiment
but was quickly promoted to the rank of
Brigadier General

Flying Camp Days

Washington quickly assigned him to lead the so-called Flying Camp, a mobile military reserve. He tried to use it to support the main army during the New York campaign, but the unit faced desertions, manpower shortages, and supply problems. The Flying Camp was disbanded that winter. 

Fort Lee before evacuation

Battle Across the Jerseys

Mercer was also responsible for constructing what became Fort Lee on the New Jersey side of the North (Hudson) River. Although the fort fell without resistance during the British invasion of the Jerseys in late 1776, Mercer still held Washington’s full confidence. He played a key role during the bold and skillful counter-attack at Trenton on December 1776, 1776. His brigade was instrumental in pushing the Hessian garrison out of the town, where they were compelled to surrender in a nearby field.

Mercer commanded a brigade at the crucial
assault on the Hessian garrison at Trenton

Escape from Assunpink

The Americans eventually moved to Assunpink Creek to wait for the inevitable British counterattack by a column of about 5,000 troops led by Major General Charles Earl Cornwallis. Some say Mercer may have suggested the famous ruse of leaving fires burning. Regardless, the British were fooled when the Americans slipped away into the night, got behind Cornwallis’s column, and launched an attack on Princeton. 

After repulsing Cornwallis's columns at Assunpink Creek
the Americans slipped away in the night

Advance on Princeton

On January 3, 1777, Mercer, leading the advance unit ahead of the main force, faced a brigade of about 1200 British regulars under Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood of the 17th Regiment of Foot. A fierce volley exchange broke out near Stony Brook Bridge. Instead of retreating from the redcoats' pressure, the formidable Scot charged into battle against the better-trained British troops. However, his men were pushed back after intense combat.

Mawhood's brigade was all that stood
between Mercer and Princeton

Clash and Flurry of Blades

While trying to rally his men, Mercer was shot from his horse. Refusing to surrender, he drew his saber but was overpowered and stabbed multiple times by furious British soldiers (who might have thought he was Washington). Wounded fatally, he was carried to the nearby home of Thomas Clarke, where a British surgeon's mate and some local women cared for him. When Washington learned his fate, he contacted Cornwallis, who kindly allowed Washington’s top doctor, Dr. Benjamin Rush, to tend to the dying general. 

British bayonets mortally wounded
the gallant Scot turned Yankee

Final Home

The brave soldier-surgeon Mercer lingered but eventually died from his wounds on January 12, 1776. His body was taken to Philadelphia for burial. Had Mercer survived, he likely would have played an even more important role in fighting for America's independence. Still, the greater tragedy is that this educated and committed soldier-surgeon never got the chance to help build the nation whose freedom was bought with his blood.

Gen Hugh Mercer's grave