Molly Pitcher

While there are some debates over who the real Molly Pitcher was, Mary Ludwig Hays is typically credited as the source of the legend. Born on October 13, 1754, she was the daughter of an unknown woman and John George Ludwig, a German settler and butcher in Philadelphia. Mary was hired by Anna Irvine of Carlisle, who wanted a young girl to help with housework. She lived for some years with Anna and her husband, doctor William Irvine, and it was in Carlisle that she met her future husband, William Hays, who was a barber. They married on July 24, 1769.

On December 1, 1775, William Hays enlisted as a gunner in the 4th Pennsylvania Artillery. In 1777, he re-enlisted as a private in the Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line, commanded by Colonel William Irvine. This regiment was at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-1778 and marched to Monmouth under General George Washington. Like some wives of enlisted soldiers, Mary followed her husband’s regiment, nursing the sick and assisting in cooking and washing. Men who knew her described her as a "twenty-two-year-old illiterate pregnant woman who smoked and chewed tobacco and swore as well as any of the male soldiers" (Alexander).

According to Washington’s orders, the proportion of women in the military camps was not to exceed the ratio of one per thirteen men. From this order, historians estimate that camp followers numbered about three thousand at any given time. The war caused many women to become displaced and destitute; these women, including military wives, mothers, and widows, sought protection as well as food rations for themselves and their children. Although initially Washington prohibited females in the camps, as the war progressed, he recognized that camp women contributed to the survival of the soldiers and insisted that the men treat them as regular army personnel. The official responsibilities of camp followers included washing, cooking, and providing medical care, but many women also engaged in combat-supporting activities such as making bullets and supplying water.

Hays earned the nickname "Molly Pitcher" on June 28, 1778, at the Battle of Monmouth, which took place in what is now Freehold, New Jersey. The day was extremely hot and Hays went back and forth to bring water to men suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration. On one of her trips into the battlefield, she saw her husband collapse next to his cannon, unable to fight. She took his place and was seen firing the cannon throughout the battle until victory was achieved. An eyewitness, Private Joseph Plumb Martin, humorously described Hays’ bravery in his diary:

A woman whose husband belonged to the artillery and who was then attached to a piece in the engagement, attended with her husband at the piece for the whole time. While in the act of reaching a cartridge and having one of her feet as far before the other as she could step, a cannon shot from the enemy passed directly between her legs without doing any other damage than carrying away all the lower part of her petticoat. Looking at it with apparent unconcern, she observed that it was lucky it did not pass a little higher, for in that case it might have carried away something else, and continued her occupation (Martin 81).

Hays’ act of heroism was said to have moved Washington to promote her to a non-commissioned officer although this promotion was never confirmed and remains a part of her legend. It has been said that an old Revolutionary rhyme tells her story: "Molly Pitcher she stood by her gun, And rammed the charges home, sir; And thus on Monmouth bloody field, A sergeant did become, sir" (Landis 14). The famous painting Molly Pitcher and the Battle of Monmouth, painted by Dennis Malone Carte in 1854, depicts her deeds and is currently displayed in the Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York.

William Hays died in 1786. Several years later, in 1793, Mary Hays married John McCauley, a Revolutionary War veteran. She lived the remainder of her life in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, working as a domestic and general servant. The majority of camp followers received no compensation for their work, but in 1822, the Pennsylvania General Assembly awarded her a pension of forty dollars for her services and heroism at Monmouth.  She died on January 22, 1832, and is buried under the name Molly McCauley in Carlisle’s Old Public Graveyard. On July 4, 1876, the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the citizens of Carlisle erected a white marble monument over her grave inscribed to "Molly Pitcher, the heroine of Monmouth." A cannon, flagstaff, and flag were added to the gravesite in 1905. The Molly Pitcher statue, created by J. Otto Schweizer, a prominent monument sculptor from Philadelphia, was erected above her tombstone in 1916 by the State of Pennsylvania. A poem by Laura E. Richards commemorating Molly can also be found at her burial site. 

While Joseph Plumb Martin’s accounts describe the courageous acts of Molly Pitcher, they do not confirm if they were done by Mary Hays. Another woman, Margaret Corbin, also fits the legend as she and her husband served in the same artillery regiment as Hays and she took her husband John Corbin’s place on the firing line in the Battle of Fort Washington. Corbin was the first woman awarded a pension by the Continental Congress and was buried at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.

Although Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley is one of several women associated with the Molly Pitcher persona, and she is certainly not the only woman who acted bravely during the Revolutionary War, her story and the popular legend surrounding it drew early attention to women's contributions on the battlefield. The legendary figure has become a symbol of patriotism and heroism, and she has been memorialized throughout American history. For example, in 1928 Molly Pitcher’s name was overprinted on the two-cent George Washington stamp in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth. Her patriotism was also promoted during World War II with the naming of a Liberty ship, the SS Molly Pitcher, in 1943. Between 1930 and 1949, postage stamps with an image of Molly Pitcher were distributed. The Molly Pitcher Highway stretches between Shippensburg and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on U.S. Route 11. Children’s books, such as the picture book They Called Her Molly Pitcher by Anne Rockwell and the biography Molly Pitcher by Rick Burke, recount the tale, inspiring new generations.