fbpx

KidsKonnect

Molly Pitcher Facts & Worksheets

Molly Pitcher was a collective folk hero created from the deeds of several individuals, most of whom were women who provided water to troops during the revolution rather than a single historical character.

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /Social Studies /American Revolution /Molly Pitcher Facts & Worksheets
Premium
Molly Pitcher Worksheets
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

Molly Pitcher was a collective folk hero created from the deeds of several individuals, most of whom were women, who provided water to troops during the revolution rather than a single historical character. It’s possible that this moniker was frequently used to refer to women who played this function on the battlefield. The story of Molly Pitcher has been particularly linked to two genuine women.

See the fact file below for more information on Molly Pitcher or alternatively, you can download our 19-page Molly Pitcher worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Early Life

  • The Molly we are familiar with could not have been a single lady but rather a composite personality made up of several wartime participants. It is unclear to pinpoint precisely who served as the primary source of inspiration for the narrative because tens of thousands of women may have supported the Continental Army during the conflict, whether as camp followers, field nurses, or recruits who passed for men in order to enroll. However, there is some proof that one woman, Mary Ludwig Hays, closely resembles the most well-known Pitcher story.
  • Mary Ludwig was born in 1754 to a low-income family in either Pennsylvania or New Jersey. She was probably illiterate as it was considered more beneficial to invest in educating a guy than a girl. 
  • John George Ludwig was the name of Mary Ludwig’s father. He farmed dairy cattle. Near Trenton, New Jersey, he had a farm. Up to the age of fifteen, she worked on the farm while living with her parents.
  • Mary’s father helped her get a job when she was fifteen. She had to relocate to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to do her work. The distance from home was more than 100 miles. Mary worked at Dr. William Irvine’s house. She cared for the family’s kids while doing laundry and housework. She gave her folks money from abroad.
  • She wed a barber named William Hays in her early twenties, and he immediately enlisted in the 4th Pennsylvania Artillery and joined the Continental Army. 
  • Mary, like other women of soldiers, accompanied her husband on the campaign, frequently carrying out menial jobs like cleaning towels and bed linens.
  • As “Molly” was a popular nickname for ladies named Mary, “Pitcher” alluded to the buckets of water the women would carry for washing. This may have been the origin of the moniker “Molly Pitcher.”

Margaret Corbin

  • Margaret Corbin was another woman who served as the model for the Molly Pitcher mythology. John Corbin, a Continental Army’s artillery member, was married to Margaret. Like Mary Hays, Margaret served as a camp follower and a water courier for the cannons; John called her “Molly.”
  • Her arm came dangerously close to being cut, and grapeshot lacerated her breast, leaving her with significant injuries. She received charitable money from the Invalid Regiment and eventually a little pension from Congress, and she survived until 1800. The moniker “Captain Molly” was purportedly given to her across her neighborhood as a bad-tempered, hard-drinking eccentric.

Facts about Molly Pitcher

  • Both Corbin and Hays were actual women who fought bravely in the conflict. In contrast, “Molly Pitcher” is a myth and a representation of bravery in the face of difficulty.
  • The Molly we know was most likely a composite personality made up of multiple wartime characters rather than a single individual.
  • Mary Hays earned the moniker “Sergeant Molly” after the Battle of Monmouth.
  • George Washington allegedly personally commended Mary Hays for her bravery during the Battle of Monmouth.
  • Margaret Corbin, who distinguished herself in combat, was the first woman to receive a military pension in the United States.
  • Corbin’s wounded arm never entirely healed, and she struggled to use it for the remainder of her life.

Battle of Monmouth

  • The American Revolutionary War fight, known as the Battle of Monmouth, took place on June 28, 1778. 
  • In Monmouth County, New Jersey, British soldiers were engaged by the Continental Army, which General George Washington commanded. 
  • The premature withdrawal of General Charles Lee during the Battle of Monmouth, which was followed by the Marquis de Lafayette taking the initiative on orders from Washington, was a significant development.
  • Mary took the disastrous choice to assume William’s position on the artillery piece after watching her husband practice sufficiently in Valley Forge to comprehend the basics. 
  • Soldier and diarist Joseph Plumb Martin attested to her bravery, saying that “an enemy cannon fire passed precisely between her legs without inflicting any further damage than dragging away the bottom portion of her skirt.” Looking at it with seeming unconcerned, she commented that it was fortunate that it did not pass a bit higher because it could have taken away something else, and she could have resumed her activity.”
  • George Washington allegedly inquired about the courageous lady serving with the artillery crew after the war and elevated her to the rank of non-commissioned officer. Mary wouldn’t participate in a fight again, but she would live the rest of her life going by the moniker “Sergeant” Molly.

Life After the War

  • William and Mary Hays went back to Pennsylvania after the war. They moved to Carlisle, where Mary returned to her previous job as a domestic and “charwoman” at the State House. 
  • William passed away in 1786, and Mary wed John McCauley, a military veteran, in 1793. Although William left Mary a sizable amount of land when he passed away in 1786 during the war, her second husband, John McCauley, misused her wealth and caused the family to become penniless before going missing sometime around 1807.  
  • Mary Hays McCauly, who had a reputation for being diligent, strange, and harsh, continued to work as a domestic helper in the neighborhood. 
  • The Pennsylvania legislature approved “An act for the relief of Molly M’Kolly” on February 18, 1822, authorizing a payment of $40 and subsequent annual payments of $40 each. The bill’s original draft had the phrase “widow of a soldier,” and this was revised to “for services rendered,” though specifics of those services are not noted in the bill.
  • “Sergeant Molly,” as she dubbed herself, died on January 22, 1832, at the age of 87. Little is known about what caused her death.

Heroine of Monmouth

  • Hays is said to have cemented her reputation as a national hero on June 28, 1778, at the Battle of Monmouth. About fifty troops reportedly perished that day from thirst and exhaustion, according to historians. As a result, just as many soldiers died from heat stroke as gunshot wounds.
  • Both at her burial in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and at the Monmouth Battle Monument in Freehold, New Jersey, Mary Ludwig Hays was honored and given the nickname Molly Pitcher. A stone also commemorates the Molly Pitcher Spring on the Monmouth battlefield.
  • On the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth in 1928, a petition to have Molly Pitcher on a stamp was only partially granted. Instead, the U.S. Postal Service issued a regular red two-cent stamp of George Washington with a black overprint of “Molly Pitcher” in capital letters.
  • A Liberty ship was named SS Molly Pitcher and was launched in 1943; however, it was torpedoed that same year.
  • As a WPA project, a mural of Mary fighting was created in the Freehold post office. When the post office closed, it was relocated to the Monmouth County Library’s main location.
  • In 1944, artist C.W. Miller depicted Molly with a ramrod at the Battle of Monmouth in a war propaganda poster with the text “America’s women have always fought for freedom.”
  • Many publications and well-known websites will inform you that, even if “Molly Pitcher” didn’t exist, the true person behind the moniker was probably Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley.

Molly Pitcher Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Molly Pitcher across 19 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Molly Pitcher worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Molly Pitcher, who was a collective folk hero created from the deeds of several individuals, most of whom were women who provided water to troops during the revolution rather than a single historical character.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Fast Facts
  • Everything About Molly
  • An Explosion of Colors
  • From Servant to Sergeant
  • Before the Storm
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Women of the Revolution
  • You’ve Got Mail
  • Poem for Capt. Molly
  • Molly of the Future

Frequently Asked Questions

What was Molly Pitcher famous for?

Molly Pitcher was a collective folk hero created from the deeds of several individuals, most of whom were women, who provided water to troops during the revolution.

What are five facts about Molly Pitcher?

  • The Molly we know was most likely a composite personality made up of multiple wartime characters, rather than a single individual.
  • Mary Hays earned the moniker “Sergeant Molly” after the Battle of Monmouth.
  • George Washington allegedly personally commended Mary Hays for her bravery during the Battle of Monmouth.
  • Margaret Corbin, who distinguished herself in combat, was the first woman to receive a military pension in the United States.
  • Corbin’s wounded arm never entirely healed, and she struggled to use it for the remainder of her life.

Is Molly Pitcher a real person?

Many publications and well-known websites will inform you that, even if “Molly Pitcher” didn’t exist, the true person behind the moniker was probably Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley.

What does the term Molly Pitcher mean?

The moniker given to a woman who is rumored to have taken part in the American Revolutionary War is Molly Pitcher. Most frequently, she is recognized as Mary Ludwig Hays, a soldier who took part in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. Margaret Corbin, who assisted in defending Fort Washington in New York in November 1776, is another option.

What caused Molly Pitcher’s death?

“Sergeant Molly,” as she dubbed herself, died on January 22, 1832, at the age of 87. Little is known about what caused her death.

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Molly Pitcher Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, October 3, 2018

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources