The Women of ’76. “Molly Pitcher” The Heroine of Monmouth. Hand-colored lithograph. New York: Nathaniel Currier, 1850.
The nickname “Molly Pitcher” referred to women who supported the troops during the American Revolution. Mary Ludwig Hays (1754-1832), known as the Molly Pitcher of Monmouth, New Jersey, worked as a water carrier and laundry woman in the Continental Army. She served alongside her husband, artilleryman William Hays. In June 1778, during the Battle of Monmouth, William collapsed on the field, and Mary took his place, loading his cannon while dodging British bullets and cannonballs. Tradition holds that after the battle George Washington recognized Mary Hays’s bravery with a non-commissioned officer warrant. She later received an annual pension of $40.