Molly Pitcher biography

Synopsis

Molly Pitcher (aka: Mary Ludwig Hays McCauly) was born in 1754, near Trenton, New Jersey. During the American Revolution, she accompanied her husband to the Battle of Monmouth and carried pitchers of water for cooling the cannons, thereby earning her nickname. Supposedly, after her husband collapsed, she took his place at the cannon and served heroically through the battle. She died in 1832.

Profile

Revolutionary heroine, born near Trenton, New Jersey, USA. In 1778 she joined her first husband, John Hays, at his army encampment in New Jersey. During the battle of Monmouth, she carried water to the American troops, earning the sobriquet Molly Pitcher, and when her husband was wounded at his cannon, she is said to have taken over and continued firing. After the American Revolution, she returned to Carlisle, PA and after her second husband died, she was voted an annuity for her ‘services’ rather than as a veterans' widow, suggesting that she had seen action. She was said to have ‘sworn like a trooper’ and chewed tobacco. Later her story would sometimes be confused with that of Margaret Corbin.