Molly Pitcher - 3


American Revolution:  Molly Pitcher

"...this heroine had braved the hardships of the camp
and dangers of the field with her husband, who was
a soldier of the revolution..."
 
Molly Pitcher was a brave and heroic woman. She served our
country in a time of need. For that we have given her great
recognition. She was one of America's founding leaders and
one of the American Revolution's greatest Patriots ever.

Molly Pitcher was born in 1754 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Her birth name was Mary Ludwig. She grew up and moved to
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and lived there until she died. Her first
job when she moved to Carlisle was a servant. She was
sixteen when she married a barber named Casper Hays.
When her husband decided go fight in the war, Molly tagged
along.

In the Battle of Monmouth on July 28, 1777, soldiers were
falling left and right because of the heat. When the
temperatures got really high, she carried pitchers of water to
the soldiers. That's how she got her name, Molly Pitcher.  She
was recognized as a camp follower with the rank of private.

When her husband and other men became wounded, she
helped to tend them. When her husband could not fight any
longer in the battle of Monmouth, she took over his place at
the cannon. After the battle, General Washington found out
about her heroic actions. He then named her Sergeant Molly.

Sometime In 1777, Casper Hays died; she then married his
brother William in the latter part of 1777.  When William
passed on in 1787,  Molly then married George McCauley, but
he pre-deceased her.  She died in the year 1832 at age 78.
Now, you can visit her grave site in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A
flag and cannon stand by her tombstone.

Her life was a long one and very happily lived.

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Historic Valley Forge

             Molly Pitcher

Q.Can you tell me any thing about Molly Ludwig Hayes and if
she had any responsibilities at Valley Forge or did she just
follow her husband there for support. It is hard to find any
information on Molly before the Battle of Monmouth.
Robin Mcbroom, Lancaster, Ohio

A.If you are using the Internet as your resource, you can find
a few sites using the subject of  Mary Ludwig Hayes/ Mary
Ludwig McCauley and Molly Pitcher.

"Molly Pitcher" was a nickname for women who carried water
to the troops during the war.

Here is a little background on Mary that I can share:

Born in 1754, Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley was the daughter
of a Philadelphia, PA Butcher. At the age of 13, she went to
work as a domestic/servant.   A while later she married a man
by the name of Casper Hays (a barber). When the
Revolutionary War began, Casper enlisted and became a
gunner in the Pennsylvania Artillery. Mary  joined her
husband as a campfollower during the battle of Monmouth
(1777-1778) in New Jersey.

We all have come to know her as "Molly Pitcher." She gained
this title later on at the Battle of Monmouth. The only
contemporary witness to the scene in June of 1777 describes
the scene of the husband and wife — Mary and Casper—
working together: "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 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."

After the death of Casper in 1777, she married his brother,
also in 1777.   They settled in Carlisle where Mary went back
to work as a domestic as well as a "charwoman"  in Carlisle.  
Upon the demise of William in 1787, she married another
Revolutionary War vet by the name of John McCauley. She
was awarded a pension in 1822 by the Pennsylvania State
Legislature and it wasn't until the anniversary of the War in
1876 that a marker — noting her exemplary service — was
placed on her grave. She died on January 22, 1832.

Another "Molly Pitcher" was Margaret Corbin (b. 1751) — who
took up a cannon when her husband was killed at Fort
Washington on Manhattan Island, New York in 1776. She was
seriously wounded there herself when her arm was almost
severed and her breast was lacerated by grapeshot. She lived
until about 1800 after receiving charity payments from the
Invalid Regiment and later a small pension from Congress.
She was known throughtout her community as a bad-
tempered, hard-drinking eccentric by the nickname of
"Captain Molly!"
SAS, Courtesy The Valley Forge Historical Society