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People of the Revolutionary War | Patriots of the American Revolution | Molly Pitcher
Molly Pitcher
"Molly Pitcher" was a nickname given to the women who brought water to
the artillery soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Two women have
been identified with the name, both with Pennsylvania connections.
Margaret Cochran Corbin followed her husband, John Corbin, into the
Pennsylvania Artillery, where he taught her the complex maneuvers
necessary for firing heavy cannon. At Fort Washington, New York, in
November of 1776, John Corbin was killed by British fire. Molly, as
she was known, grabbed the pole and sponged the cannon in his place.
The British were victorious and found Molly lying by the cannon,
wounded with a mangled arm and damaged breast, when they overran the
fort. She was released by the British when she recovered, having no
value in a prisoner of war exchange. The Executive Council of
Pennsylvania granted Molly a pension and she died in 1789 and is
buried near West Point. She insisted on being addressed as
"Captain Molly" and receiving her allotment of rum rations,
her due as an injured veteran.
Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, born in New Jersey in 1754, married a man named
John Hays, who enlisted in the army in 1775. They spent a hard winter
at Valley Forge. When her husband collapsed by his cannon at the
Battle of Monmouth in 1778, Molly loaded and fired the cannon
throughout the battle and is often depicted holding the large rammer.
She is also credited with nursing wounded soldiers, even carrying one
from the battlefield. George Washington made her a sergeant and she
was later pensioned by the Continental Army. "Sergeant
Molly" died in 1832 and is buried in Carlisle, Pennsylvania,
where a flagstaff and cannon honor her gravesite.
![Historical Documents - PITCHER, MOLLY [i.e., Molly McCaulay, loading cannon at Battle of Monmouth, 1778].](images/MollyPitcher1.jpg)
PITCHER, MOLLY [i.e., Molly McCaulay, loading cannon at Battle of Monmouth, 1778].
Engraving by J. C. Armytage after Chappel, copyrighted 1859, published in Robert Tomes,
Battles of America by Sea and Land...
(New York: Virtue & Co., 1861)
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