Molly Pitcher

Molly Pitcher

American Revolutionary War heroine. During the American Revolution, Mary's husband, who was a member of the First Pennsylvania Artillery, fought at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. Mary (Molly), who had accompanied him onto the battlefield, carried water in a pitcher to her husband and others, earning her the nickname “Molly Pitcher.” With the temperature close to 100 degrees, she brought water to her husband's battery. When her husband collapsed, wounded or overcome by the heat, she took his place in the gun crew, and continued firing his cannon.

Joseph Plumb Martin of Connecticut saw her in action. In his war memoir he wrote: "While in the act of reaching for a cartridge, 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."

According to one version of the story, Mary was presented to General George Washington after the battle, and he praised her courage. For decades American artillerymen offered a toast to Mary:

" . . . Drunk in a beverage richer
and stronger than was poured that day
From Molly Pitcher's pitcher."

For many years it was believed she was born Mary Ludwig and that she had married John Casper Hayes in Carlisle, Pa. Her identification with Mary Ludwig was later challenged in favor of another Mary who married William Hays.

Pitcher was named for the thousands of water pitchers
she carried to the troops during the battle.

After her husband's death in 1789, she married George MacAuley. In 1822 the Pennsylvania legislature passed an act “for the relief of Molly McKolly, for her services during the revolutionary war.” She was awarded $40 and the same amount was to be paid to her annually during her lifetime. She died in Carlisle on Jan. 22, 1832 and is buried beside the Molly Pitcher monument in Carlisle, Pa.

See also: "Women of the Revolution" in this web site.

(See Bibliography Below)

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Picture Credit: Fraunces Tavern Museum, New York City (top); National Archives, Washington, DC (bottom).
Bibliography: Fleming, Thomas, Liberty! The American Revolution (1997).