Molly Pitcher Essay

Molly Pitcher

Molly,pitcher(1744?/1754?–1832), Revolutionary War heroine.The legend of “Molly Pitcher” is based at least in part on the actions of Mary (Molly) Ludwig Hays McCauley; the nickname may have applied to her alone, or may have been used collectively to describe all female “camp followers”who assisted the Continental Army. The daughter of German immigrants who settled in New jersey, by 1769 Mary Ludwig was a servant of Dr. William Irvine in Carlisle,Pennsylvania. In that year she married a barber, John Casper Hays. He initially served in Col. Thomas Proctor's First Pennsylvania Artillery (1775–76), then reenlisted, in January 1777, as a private in Dr. (now Col.) Irvine's Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment.

Her birth name was Mary Ludwig but she was given the nickname Molly Pitcher because she carried pitchers of water to soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth during the American Revolutionary War. It is also believed that when her husband William Hays collapsed during the battle, Mary took his place on the battlefield operating the canon. During the battle a cannonball shot by the enemy flew right between her legs and tore apart the bottom of the skirt she was wearing. She was unharmed. When the war ended, Mary gave birth to a son. William Hays died in 1786 and Mary later married John McCauley. This is why Mary's name is sometimes quoted as Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley.During the American Revolutionary War, Hays enlisted as a gunner in the Continental Army. As it was common at the time for wives to be near their husbands in battle and help as needed, Pitcher followed Hays back to New Jersey during the war's Philadelphia Campaign

Following her husband's death, she married a war veteran named John McCauley and worked in the State House in Carlisle. She was honored by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1822 for her wartime services, receiving an award of $40 and an annual commission of the same amount for the rest of her life.It is interesting to note that the only two women who were granted federal veterans pensions had one thing in common that the other courageous Molly Pitchers lacked: male sponsorship. Paul Revere had acted on Deborah's behalf and petitioned for her pension. (It also bears noting that her husband, Benjamin Gannett, was granted a special pension by Congress at a time when widows were refused benefits.30) Margaret Corbin was compensated when officers of the Pennsylvania Regiment petitioned on her behalf. Despite the extraordinary service of all of the Molly Pitchers in the American Revolution, the Republic that was established was still a man's world. As female veterans returned to a patriarchal society where their contribution went unrewarded and largely unrecognized, only the heroic imagery of Molly Pitcher commemorated their patriotism.There are two springs in the battlefield today that are marked ‘Molly Pitcher