Molly pitcher biography soldiers mary ludwig
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Molly Pitcher
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Q.Can you tell me any thing about Molly Pitcher and if she had any responsibilities at Valley Forge or did she just follow her husband there for support. It is hard to find any information on Molly before the Battle of Monmouth.
Robin Mcbroom, Lancaster, Ohio
A. "Molly Pitcher" was not a single historical figure, but a composite folk hero inspired by the actions of different people, most of them women who carried water to troops during the revolution. Women filling this role on the battlefield may have generally been referred to by this nickname. Two real women in particular have been associated with the legend of Molly Pitcher
Born in 1754, Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley was the daughter of a New Jersey dairy farmer. At the age of 13, she went to work as a domestic/servant and married a barber named William Hays. When the Revolutionary War began, William enlisted and became a gunner in the Pennsylvania Artillery. Mary eventually joined her husband as a campfollower during the Philadelphia Campaign (1777-1778) in New Jersey, eventually wintering with the Army at Valley Forge.
Legend says that Mary was carrying water for the troops at the Battle of Monmouth in June, 1778, but when her husband the artilleryman was wounded, she abandoned her wa
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Will the Verified Molly Starter Please Pose Up?
Summer 1999, Vol. 31, No. 2
By Emily J. Teipe
© 1999 by Emily J. Teipe
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Molly Pitcher
Nickname for women fighting in the American Revolutionary War
Not to be confused with Moll Pitcher.
Molly Pitcher is a nickname given to a woman who fought in the American Revolutionary War. She is most often identified as Mary Ludwig Hays, who fought in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. Another possibility is Margaret Corbin, who helped defend Fort Washington in New York in November 1776.
Suggested identities
[edit]Mary Ludwig Hays
[edit]Main article: Mary Hays (American Revolutionary War)
The deeds in the story of Molly Pitcher are generally attributed to Mary Ludwig Hays, who was married to William Hays, an artilleryman in the Continental Army. She joined him at the Army's winter camp at Valley Forge in 1777, and was present at the Battle of Monmouth, where she served as a water-carrier. Her husband fell and she took his place swabbing and loading the cannon, and was later commended by George Washington.[citation needed]
The incident was recorded by Joseph Plumb Martin in his memoir published in 1830.[1]
Margaret Corbin
[edit]Main article: Margaret Corbin
The story of Margaret Corbin bears similarities to the story of Mary Hays. Margaret Corbin was the wife of John Corbin of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also an