Molly Pitcher; Early American Heroine (Part of the book)
Molly Pitcher was a nickname given to a woman to have fought in the American Revolutionary War. Since various Molly Pitcher tales grew in the telling, many historians regard Molly Pitcher as folklore, rather than history, or suggest that Molly Pitcher may be a composite image inspired by the actions of a number of real women. I have been a resident of New Jersey leaving at the we call “Jersey Shore” for over 30 years, so one would say that I know the name of Molly Pitcher is well known name.
In the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778, Mary Hays attended to the Revolutionary soldiers by giving them water. It was very common to hear the fighting man calling “Molly! Pitcher” calling for water which was delivered in a pitcher. Just before the battle started, she found a spring to serve as her water supply. (Actually, two places on the battlefield are currently marked as the “Molly Pitcher Spring.”) Mary Hays spent much of the early day carrying water to soldiers and artillerymen, often under heavy fire from British troops it was there where she began to be recognized as Molly Pitcher.
Few Miles north from Fort Monmouth, as it is known today, is a hotel and restaurant called Molly Pitcher Inn. It is built on the Shrewsbury River shore with a huge marina stretched before the hotel-restaurant. I have ducked my boat there many times and walked up the stairs for a meal with some of my friends. The place is not cheap as far as prices go and I must say most of the diners who go there are above middle class or some are trying to impress others. Speaking with the costumers thinking of their financial status would have known something about Molly Pitcher, I inquired about tie name. I soon realized they were men of arithmetic not men of letters, so I decided to research and investigate her life, the true name of Molly Pitcher and her place of origin. My first step was to untangle the composite images of the rest of the women, who reportedly worked with fighting men of the Continental Army. Continuing my research, I came up with a lady who often referred to as the woman who frequented the battle field more than any other.
As we have heard that “All the roads lead to Rome” here it became easy to define who molly Pitcher was, All deeds and some rumors in the story of Molly Pitcher are generally attributed to Mary Ludwig Hays. Molly was a common nickname for women named Mary in the Revolutionary time period. Mary Ludwig was born to a German family in New Jersey. There is some dispute over her actual birth date. A marker in the cemetery where she is buried lists her birth date as October 13, 1744. Molly had a large family including three brothers and her parents, Gretchen and John George Ludwig, owners of a diary farm.
A personal account of her life was put together by descendent-historians. It touched upon her cultural heritage, given name, probable year of birth, marriages, progeny, suggesting a reasonably reliable account of her life. Some details of her life and evidence of the story of her heroic deeds remain sparse.
When Mary was about 15 years old, Anna Irvine, wife of Dr. William Irvine of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, visited the Ludwig farm. Impressed with Mary’s work habits and being aware of the family’s financial difficulties, Anna Irvine asked Mary to come back to Carlisle to work as a servant and a maid in the Irvine house. Mary and her parents accepted the offer; Mary grew up In Carlisle, working in the doctor’s house. Being a very attractive woman had no problem of meeting a man. She met William Hays, a barber. They were married in the Irvine home on July 24, 1769 at the age of 25. Mary continued to work in the Irvine home for some years after their marriage.
The fact was that although George Washington had taken a beating by the barbaric Hessians, did not run away from the Hessians to Pennsylvania, as some historians may have it, but he chose not to stay and fight in New Jersey because half of the New Jersey population were still on the side of the king of England. He predicted that the Hessians would abuse the residents of New Jersey and they would eventually cross over to him. That’s exactly what has taken place. Mary Hays stayed around Mount Holy, Englishtown and Trenton Area, gathering information and passed on to a team of spies, including Betsy Ross. Betsy Ross had started out as a Quaker Pacifist but she soon sided with George Washington and favored the Revolution. Speaking German, Mary hays befriended some of high ranking Hessian officers and from time to time she would pass on to them insignificant information and received viable from them. She found out that the British Army and the Hessians had information that George Washington would cross the Delaware River into New Jersey in the Trenton area sometime after Christmas. The Hessians decided to pack up and move out of Monmouth and Ocean counties and head for Trenton to meet up with George Washington. Their departure was well received by most of the residents now. Mary Hays knew that George Washington with a lot of help and somehow renewed moral would cross on Christmas Eve. Mary also found out that the enemy was heading northwest to Trenton. She and some other members of the spy ring, by monitoring the British Army movements she understood that they would go through Mount Holy to get to Trenton. Being in Mount Holy and known one day ahead of George Washington’s attempted crossing, the Hessian troops would be there; she thought of ways to delay them. Being a woman thinking for herself and speaking German fluently, she thought of throwing a party for all the officers of the Hessian brigade. Passing this thought to Betsy Ross, the lady, who according to historians had something to do with the designing of the American flag; the women went to work. It was a good thing that Mary Hays spoke the German language and it was easy to inform the officers of the event. It was a very successful event, by most of the officers getting drunk with a lot of the privates and they sobered the following day learning that George Washington had successfully crossed into Trenton killing many and taking their supplies and arms and ammunition with close to one hundred hostages headed to Pennsylvania with the intention of going back to Trenton New Jersey to finish the Job. They also heard that George Washington had created martyrdom for the hostages by making them stand in the half frozen water up to their knees for hours, until their jaws broke from knocking on one another from the freezing water. Needless to say that the Hessians hearing the horrible news, and New Jersey not being their country, rather than stand in the frozen water, they did about face and headed for the Sandy Hook New Jersey on the Atlantic Ocean with the hope of being picked up by the British ships. Their retreat now was not so easy. They had to fight the British Army to prevent them from retreating and they at the same time had to fight the t the very residents who were with the king before they entered the State. It was the mistake that they made, to abuse the residents, the one George Washington hoped for… George Bush in our times repeated the same mistake going into Iraq. Iraqi people welcomed the Americans bur they soon turned out to be as bad as the Hessians because they were led by barbaric men including Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld.
The so called celebration in Mount Holy is considered as an important event and big help for the Revolution Betsy Ross was the doer according to some historians and Mary Hays wasn’t mentioned except she was mentioned by the people of Englishtown, New Jersey and Mount Holly where one will find icons honoring her.
The historians are leaning towards naming Betsy Ross as the main person because the Hessians trusted the lady because she spoke German. Betsy Ross did not speak German. She was Quaker a follower of William Penn who was a Quaker and the founder of the State of Pennsylvania and was awarded ownership by King Charles II. He had immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1682 from Netherlands where he was born. The difference between Dutch and German is the same as Portuguese and Spanish, therefore there is no way the Germans would have taken Betsy Ross as German.
Mary Hays was not a lady of bragging. She mentioned the event to her employer Dr. Ivine from Carlisle, Pennsylvania and in turn he told her to keep it to herself because Hessians were still in New Jersey and her life could be jeopardy.
In 1777, William Hays enlisted in the Continental Army. He was originally part of a unit commanded by Dr. Irvine, Mary’s employer, who was now a Colonel in Washington’s Army. During the winter of 1777, Mary Hays joined her husband at the Continental Army’s winter camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. She became a “camp follower,” one of a group of soldier’s wives (led by Martha Washington) who would bake and deliver food, wash clothes and blankets, and care for sick and dying soldiers.
In the spring of 1778, the Continental army was retrained under Baron von Steuben. During this time, William Hays trained as an artilleryman. Mary Hays and other “camp followers” served as “water girls” during the training, carrying water to drilling infantry troops on hot days. Also, artillery soldiers needed a constant supply of fresh water to cool down the hot cannon barrel. Artillerymen also used a “ramrod” or “rammer” — a long pole with a wet rag tied to the end—to clean sparks and gunpowder out of the cannon barrel after each shot. A bucket of water (which had to be continuously refilled) was kept next to the cannon to allow soldiers to soak the rammer rag after every shot.
The battle started and the cannons rang from both sides and one could hear the men yelling “Molloy! Pitcher!” Evidently there was no other woman with the name “Molly” so Mary Hays ran as fast as could, bringing water to the thirsty men .to the hot barrel cannons. It is likely that Mary Hays earned her famous nickname, Molly Pitcher,
While the battle was in progress Mary Hays, besides running water to the soldiers in 100 degree weather, she was also helping her husband with the loading of the cannon because he was passing out due to extreme heat.
William Hays eventually collapsed next to his cannon. He was either wounded or collapsed from heat exhaustion. He was carried away. (It has often been reported that Hays was killed in the battle, but it is known that he survived.). Mary Hays his wife, almost disregarding her husband’s condition and intoxicated with patriotism, and taken by the hate for the British army, she took over his duties, loading and firing the cannon single handed,
At one point, a British musket ball or cannon ball flew between her legs and tore off half of her skirt. Mary supposedly said, “Well, that could have been worse, I could have lost the whole skirt and the good part of me” and went back to loading the cannon.
Eventually the battle stopped because of darkness with the thought and plan to continue at dawn and George Washington and his troops waited. Come dawn the Continental Army realized that the British retreated and sped down to Sandy Hook, hoping to be picked up by British ships. The battle was seen as a major victory for the Continental Army.
After the battle, General Washington asked about the woman who he had seen loading a cannon on the battlefield. In commemoration for her courage, Washington issued Mary Hays a warrant as a non commissioned officer. Afterwards, she was known as “Sergeant Molly,” a nickname that she used for the rest of her life.
Following the end of the war, Mary Hays and her husband William returned home to Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
In 1786, William Hays died, leaving Mary Hays with children in 1793, Mary Hays married John McCauley, another Revolutionary War veteran and friend of William Hays. McCauley was a stone cutter for the local Carlisle prison. However, the marriage was reportedly not a happy one, as McCauley was possessed of a violent temper. Sometime between 1807 and 1810, John McCauley disappeared, and it is not known what became of him. She declared in 1820 when she was asked about her husband, she replied that her husband had diapered sometime around 1807 and she hadn’t seen since. It was too late for the authorities ton and find her husband’s the case went unsolved.
Mary McCauley continued her life in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She earned her living as a general servant for hire, cleaning and painting houses, washing windows, and caring for children and sick people. “Sergeant Molly,” as she was known, was often seen in the streets of Carlisle wearing a striped skirt, wool stockings, and a ruffled cap. She was well liked by the people of Carlisle, who said that her only flaw was that she “often cursed like a soldier.”
On February 21, 1822, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania awarded Mary McCauley an annual pension of $40 for her heroism. She died January 22, 1832, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, at the approximate age of 87.She is buried in the Old Graveyard in Carlisle, under the name “Molly McCauley.” A statue of “Molly Pitcher,” adorned by two cannons.
There is “Molly Pitcher” rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike.
There is a hotel in Red Bank New Jersey, not far from the site of the Battle of Monmouth, called the Molly Pitcher Inn. There is where I started telling my story.
Molly Pitcher is gone, her voice is heard no more on the streets of Carlisle Pa. but her name and image remained in the hearts of the people for generations to come.
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