Sarah Mary Benjamin, Heroine of Yorktown

Histories of the American Revolution have traditionally focused on famous leaders and soldiers. Far less has been said about the everyday people, especially women, whose lives and labor shaped the struggle for independence.

One such woman was Sarah Mary (Mathews Osborn) Benjamin. Sometimes compared to “Molly Pitcher,” Sarah left vivid accounts of her time accompanying her husband, Aaron Osborn, during several Revolutionary War campaigns. Her story reflects the many women whose contributions are rarely mentioned in formal histories.

Born in Blooming Grove, New York, circa 1750, Sarah moved with her family to the Bushkill River region of Pennsylvania when she was 7. She grew up amid frontier conflict between colonists and Indigenous communities and later claimed to have witnessed the 1779 Battle of Minisink.

Her first husband, William Read, was killed in the Revolution. She later married Aaron Osborn, a commissary sergeant in a New York regiment. Though Sarah initially resisted following him to war, she agreed to go after learning he would be working with the commissary rather than in front-line combat.

Sarah Mary Benjamin
Wayne County Historical Society, Honesdale, PA, Photo Archives

From 1780 to 1783, Sarah traveled with the army through New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Williamsburg and Yorktown. She sewed, washed clothes, cooked meals, carried water, and tended to the sick and injured. In one well-known account, she said she took her husband’s place on guard duty at Knightsbridge, where Gen. George Washington, mistaking her for a soldier, spoke with her before continuing his plans for the Yorktown campaign. At Yorktown, she helped organize other women to bring food and coffee to troops under fire and care for the wounded. She later recalled that during the battle, Washington asked if she was afraid; she told him she was not.

After the war, Sarah and Aaron settled in New Windsor, New York, and had two children, Phebe and Aaron Jr. A few months after their son’s birth, Aaron abandoned the family.

In 1787, Sarah married another Revolutionary War veteran, John Benjamin. They had three children, Helen, Samuel and Christiana, and moved to Pleasant Mount in Pennsylvania’s Wayne County in 1822. John died in 1827. Despite years of delayed or denied payments to veterans, Sarah successfully petitioned the court for the pensions of all three husbands, as well as her own service as a camp follower.

In her later years, Sarah became known locally for her exceptional yarn and textiles and for the stories she told about frontier life and the war. Her obituary described her quick wit, strong will, and energetic character. She lived past 100, long enough to be photographed, leaving us a rare image of one of the Revolution’s unrecognized heroines.

The Pennsylvania Historical Marker for Sarah Mary Benjamin was installed at 319 Great Bend Turnpike in Pleasant Mount, Wayne County, and dedicated on May 30, 1992.

Alli Davis is the coordinator of the Pennsylvania Historical Marker Program.