The story of Molly Pitcher is now an American legend, but it is believed that she was inspired by an actual person. Today, the most popular choice for the identity of the original Molly Pitcher is Mary Ludwig Hays, who played a significant role in the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth.
Mary was born to a German farmer and his wife on October 13, 1754. She came from a large family, including at least three brothers. As a child, she worked on the family farm, and it is believed that she never learned to read or write.
When Mary was 15, Anna and William Levine of Carlisle, Pennsylvania paid a visit to the Ludwig farm. Seeing that Mary was an eager worker, the Levines offered her a job as a house servant at their home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Carlisle was 150 miles from Mary’s New Jersey home, but she was eager to leave home and start making her living. With the wages she would earn, she would even be able to send money home to her parents.
Soon after arriving in Carlisle, Mary made the acquaintance of a barber named William Hays, and the couple was married the same year. Hays was enlisted in the Continental Army, in a unit under the command of Mary’s employer. When Hays was sent to Valley Forge in the winter of 1777, Mary went with him, as a “camp follower.”
Camp followers have gotten a bad reputation in modern times, but during the Revolutionary War, they were an essential part of the army. Wives, sweethearts, and relatives went with their men to Valley Forge, where they performed necessary services, including nursing, cooking, and laundry. Martha Washington was the leader of this particular band of camp followers, and set an example for the women.
In 1778, the Continental Army was retrained under the direction of Baron von Steuben, and William Hays was assigned duties as an artilleryman. Mary, like many of the other women, became a water girl, bringing pitchers of water to the soldiers. The water was not just to drink — although that use certainly played a part as well — but also to cool down the cannon barrels. After each shot, the barrel needed to be cleaned of gunpowder and sparks before it could be loaded again. A ramrod, sometimes called a “rammer” was used, a long pole with a cloth on the end. The cloth needed to be soaked in water before it could be used to clean the cannon barrel.
“Molly” may have been adopted as a diminutive of Mary, or it may have been simply a name addressed to all the water carriers. “Pitcher” was obviously a reference to the containers of water she provided. The name “Molly Pitcher” was no doubt familiar to the men Mary served; it was also a common epithet for serving women who worked in taverns in more peaceful times.
If this had been the sum total of Mary Hays’s duties, no doubt we would never have heard of her. However, at the Battle of Monmouth, on June 28th, 1778, William Hays collapsed at his station. He may have been shot, or it may have been simply the result of the heat of the day. The temperature was 100 degrees that June day, enough for anyone to succumb to heat exhaustion. Hays did not die — we know that he was alive after the battle — but he was carried off the battlefield. Mary stayed behind, however, taking up her husband’s rammer and continuing to swab and load.
It was said that at one point, as Mary was straining to reach and load the cannon, a cannon ball flew between her legs, carrying off the bottom part of her skirt. Mary casually remarked that it was a good thing it hadn’t passed any higher, or it might have carried off something else, and calmly resumed her duties.
After the battle, General George Washington asked about the woman he had seen manning a cannon on the battlefield, and was told her identity. He issued her a warrant as a non-commissioned officer, and thereafter she was known as “Sergeant Molly.”
William Hays died in 1786, and seven years later Mary remarried, this time to a man named John McCauley, a local stonecutter. This marriage was apparently not a happy one, and sometime before 1810 McCauley disappeared. Molly continued on in Carlisle, taking on jobs as a servant whenever she could find them. She was often seen about town, and was well liked. In fact, the only complaint the townspeople seemed to have about her was that she “cursed like a soldier.”
In 1822, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania awarded Mary a pension of $40 per year, until her death at the age of 87. She is buried in the Carlisle cemetery, and a statue of her stands in the cemetery.
In 1928, for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth, stamp collectors petitioned the U.S. Postal Department for a commemorative stamp in her honor. The Postmaster General, Harry New, refused to issue one. He did, however, allow the words “Molly Pitcher” to be stamped on the regular 2-cent stamps.
Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events, 2011 Edition: The Ultimate Go-To Guide for Special Days, Weeks, and Months, Editors of Chase’s Calendar of Events; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October 13; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_pitcher; http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1999/summer/pitcher.html; http://goodyear-mascaro.org/Ludwig-Hays/Molly-Pitcher.html; http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=820; http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/youasked/070.htm; http://www.essortment.com/molly-pitcher-biography-information-20234.html; http://www.landscaper.net/artylgnd.htm#The Story of Molly Pitcher; http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/mollypitcher.html.