How Did Molly Pitcher Contribute To The American Revolution

Have you ever been outside on an extremely hot day and just wanted a glass of cold water? This is how soldiers felt during the Battle of Monmouth, where Molly Pitcher, along with many other women, brought them water from a nearby spring. Pitcher also worked tirelessly to man a cannon during that same battle. Mary Ludwig Hays McCauly, more commonly known as Molly Pitcher, made many contributions to the American Revolution that are still remembered today. Mary’s husband, William John Hays, enlisted as a gunner in the Continental Army. As was common at the time, Mary stayed with her husband throughout the war. She served as a camp follower to her husband’s regiment. Other camp followers enlisted alongside Mary for shelter, work, food, and safety. Women were allowed to join because the army couldn’t afford to lose more soldiers due to family crisis, and with the wives nearby the soldiers would not need to unenlist to help their families in need. Given this extreme reasoning, the camp followers were not always wholly accepted into the group. Some soldiers were embarrassed having to admit they needed the women around, so they excluded the women to make themselves feel more

These brave women who actually entered the fight grounds were known back then as half soldiers. As well as helping the injured, Mary and the others “made countless trips to a nearby spring to fill pitchers of cold water for soldiers to drink and pour over their cannons to cool them down.” (Bio.com) While all of the camp followers helped to complete this task, Mary put more effort and work into it than the others, earning her the nickname “Molly Pitcher.” “Molly” was a common nickname for “Mary” in the 1700s and other early years, and the “Pitcher” part of her nickname stemmed from the countless pitchers of water that Mary brought forth. She decided to keep the nickname for the rest of her