Why is mary ludwig hays famous

Looking at it with apparent unconcern, she observed that it was lucky it did not pass a little higher, for in that case it might have carried away something else, and continued her occupation. In a book The Battle of Monmouth , author William Stryker quoted the diary of a surgeon named Albigence Waldo who had heard a similar story from a wounded soldier he treated. But this portion of the diary has never been located; did Stryker make it up? Even if that part of the diary did exist at one point, Waldo never mentions the name of this heroic woman.

There is much stronger evidence that another woman, Margaret Corbin whom historians think also contributed to the Molly Pitcher legend manned a canon at the Battle of Fort Washington in New York and lost the use of her left arm in the process. Perhaps the most remarkable female soldier of the Revolution, however, was a woman named Deborah Sampson who entered the military as a man named Robert Shurtliff in During the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, , Hays allegedly solidified her legacy as an American hero.

Historians report that about fifty soldiers died of thirst and dehydration that day. This meant that as many men died from heat exhaustion as they did from gunfire. Hays went back and forth into the battle to bring water to thirsty soldiers from a nearby spring. She stayed on the battlefield bringing water and caring for wounded soldiers until her own husband got hurt.

When her husband was wounded during this battle, she made the decision to take his place at the cannon and began firing. After the battle, legend has it that George Washington asked about the courageous woman who was on the battlefield and promoted her to a non-commissioned officer. William Hays died in from his battle wounds.

When he died, he left a large amount of land to Mary. He was also a veteran of the American Revolutionary War, but it is said that he spent her inheritance then disappeared sometime after Hays lived the rest of her life in Carlisle, Pennsylvania working as a general servant and a domestic. Women in War. Related Biographies. Civil War Biography.

View All Related Resources. Joseph Plumb Martin. His wife was present as well, and she made countless trips to a nearby spring to fill pitchers of cold water for soldiers to drink and to pour over their cannons to cool them down.

As legend has it, the soldiers nicknamed her Molly Pitcher for her tireless efforts. But the legend only began with her new name. According to accounts, Pitcher witnessed her husband collapse at his cannon, unable to continue with the fight. She immediately dropped her water pitcher and took his place at the cannon, manning the weapon throughout the remainder of the battle until the colonists achieved victory.

According to the National Archives , a witness documented her heroic acts, reporting that a cannon passed through her legs on the battlefield, leaving her unscathed:. She observed that it was lucky it did not pass a little higher. With her actions on that day, Pitcher became one of the most popular and enduring symbols of the women who contributed to the American Revolution. Pitcher remained with the Continental Army until the war ended, then moved back to Carlisle with Hays in April Following her husband's death, she married a war veteran named John McCauley and worked in the State House in Carlisle.