Molly Pitcher EM

Molly Pitcher

By: EM

Table of Contents Pg 3

Chapter 1​: What was Mary’s early life like?

Chapter 2:​ How did Mary contribute to the American Revolution war? Pg 4

Chapter 3​: How Mary’s families contribute? Pg 5

Chapter 4​: How did Mary become well-known? Pg 6-7

Chapter 5:​ What did she do after the war? Pg 8

Works Cited Pg 9

About The Author Pg 10

Chapter One

What was Molly’s early life like?

Do you know how you always hear about the men that fought for our freedom? Well there
are lots of women that also fought for freedom, like Molly Pitcher. Imagine working on a farm
and having to do most of the work because all of your siblings are leaving. Imagine also being a
girl and making money but then giving it to your parents right away. Or not even having one
year of schooling because it was not likely for girls to go. But then you become important to a very
special war? But remember your old life?

Molly Pitcher was born as Mary Ludwig on October 13th, 1754 in Trenton, New Jersey. She
was born to a German family. Mary’s parents were Johann Georg Ludwig and Gretchen Ludwig.
Mary had three siblings. Joseph, Joshua, and Carl, Mary was the only girl but, her siblings were
adults by the time she was born. They lived on a farm, their father John was a dairyman. Mary
had to do lots of work helping both of her parents so, Mary was not sent to school like her brothers.
Another reason is because back then, they thought women’s education wasn’t as important. Since
Mary’s brothers were adults she had to do most of the work. She had gotten lots of muscles from
working so hard. When Mary was growing up she had a cow named Blossom, and Mary had
loved that cow, it was like her best friend. While Mary was working on the farm a lady named
Anna wanted Mary to come work with her. Mary had decided to go so, she went to live in Carlisle,
Pennsylvania. When she got money, she mailed the money to her parents. Someone very special
in Mary’s life future was living there. His name was William Hays, and he was also known as
John sometimes. When Mary was only thirteen, she married William Hays that worked as a
barber. After marriage they went and bought a house.They lived in corner of North and Bedford,
while still living in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. At the age of fifteen Mary became a domestic.b A
domestic is someone thats works for families they clean and cook. It is like a maid. That is also
the year that her father had died sadly. Then, William had went to war….

Chapter Two

How did Molly contribute to the American Revolution war?

Mary had done lots of things to contribute to the war. She didn’t just stand by and watch
she had took over the canon. She would carry pitchers across the bloody battlefield and take care
of the wounded.

Mary was in a group with George Washington’s wife, Martha Washington. They washed
the soldiers blankets and uniforms. They also cooked meals for everyone to eat. They would also
take care of the wounded, adults or children. This was lots of work for everyone. Personally I
think that the women did more work than the men. People say that George Washington was very
embarrassed to have the women working with them. Mary would take pitchers to the soldiers that
were wounded which also means that they were injured. So she would have to run through the
whole battle and get to a well to get water, then she would run back. That was a very dangerous
job to do. She could have died while doing that. She also contributed by supporting them the whole
way through. It wasn’t just Mary that did that, lots of other women that came to the war with their
husbands filled their pitchers with water as well.

At the Battle of Monmouth Mary saw her husband William collapse form a heat stroke. He
was in charge of canon, as well as cleaning it. Mary knew exactly what to do. She sprang into
action and started to take her husband’s place. As she was doing that a cannon ball came right
through her legs ripping off her petticoat, where you could now see her underwear. People say that
when that happened to Mary she replied, “Well, that could’ve been worse.” George Washington
heard what she did and thanked her. He also made her a sergeant in the army, she was now
known as, Sergeant Molly. Molly’s family helped too. They had done lots of contributions to help
in the war just like Molly.

Chapter Three

How did Molly’s family contribute to the American Revolution?

Not just Mary had contributed but her family as well. Her husband William had been
loading the canon and cleaning it. As well as her other husband named John that was a veteran
in the war as well.

Mary’s husbands were both in the Revolutionary War fighting. William Hays, Mary’s
husband was a fighter during this time of the great American Revolution. He was on our side, not
on the British side. William had been at the freezing cold winter at Valley Forge. Thank goodness
he didn’t die there. William wasn’t just at Valley Forge, he was also at the scorching hot Battle of
Monmouth. So I guess you could say he experienced both types of temperatures. William was the
person that loaded the cannon. He also fired the cannon, he was very important to the war, and
his team.

Mary didn’t just have one husband she had a second husband as well. His name was John
McCauley, who was a veteran and in the Revolutionary war too. It is a good thing he was on our
side as well. He might have been at Valley Forge and Monmouth. They were both contributing by
fighting to be free from england. Now in the next chapter we’re going to jump back to Molly and
see what made her well-known.

Chapter Four

How did Molly become well-known?

We all know now that Mary had helped by the title of this chapter but do you know exactly
what she did? Well she threw her husband on her shoulder and carried him, and he was probably
heavy. She also ran back and forth running with water. Imagine doing that with bullets running
near you head and legs and then you collapse and you were trying to save another person but
now you can’t. Or imagine running back and forth when the hot sun is beating down on you. But
all of these things had not stopped Mary...

Mary is famous for what she did in the war. So this is what happened: On June 28th,1778
Mary had been carry her pitcher for a wounded soldier. She saw that her husband William had
collapsed from a heat stroke. And he was the person that was in charge of firing the canon. Mary
dropped her pitcher and ran to her husband. Guess what she did after dropping her pitcher. She
picked up William and ran him under a shady tree. Luckily every time Mary would grab a
pitcher and run she would see William firing the canon. She knew exactly what to do. Mary had
stepped in and started firing the canon! She did for the rest of that day and the rest of the war. I
guess you could say that Mary had saved the day.

Mary also became well known for being Molly Pitcher. She carried all of the pitchers to the
soldiers. The Molly part in her name is because Molly was a nickname for Mary. It is said that
the pitcher part in her name is because she carried the pitchers. It is also said that the soldiers
hurt or not would say to her, “Molly, Pitcher!” Mary can be recognized for also being a female in
the war that made history.

While I was there…

It was June 28, 1778….
It was so hot out! We had to fight at Monmouth. Lots of the women that had came to help

their husbands had been wearing our wore-down dresses. I had to carry pitchers of water to the
hurt soldiers. While I was carrying my pitcher back to help a wounded solider that was hurt.
That’s when I saw, Molly the best pitcher girl ever. She was always willing to help anyone, even
me. But, anyways Molly had been coming back from getting water. When I saw her drop the
pitcher! I had looked around and saw William Molly’s husband that had been in charge of
loading and cleaning the cannon. I was about to give Molly my water to give to her husband. But
just then, I saw William in the air! I looked down, Molly had threw him on her back and dropped

him off under a shady tree. “Who is going to load the cannon?,” I thought. “We’re going to lose
this battle! We can’t! We have to win! For victory. For freedom..” Just as I stopped thinking, I saw
our canon still firing. But how? It was her, Molly. She did it, she saved our chance of winning!! I
had to still help with the wounded I had to.
Later that day….

Yes! Molly had saved us! We had won the Battle Of Monmouth. All because of that little
brave women named Molly Pitcher.

Chapter Five

What did Molly do after the war?

Now that you’re back home from the war you can now relax, with your new baby. But then
imagine that your husband dies and you get remarried. Now your child has a new father. But
then he runs away and runs with your money. But that had not stopped you. While it is your last
years you still manage to do something helpful to lots of people like saving two children.

Lucky for Mary, William had not died in the war. They both went back to live in their
house back in Carlisle. After they had settled in after their comeback Mary and William had then
had a child. They had a boy, his name was John L. Hays. That was the only child Mary and
William had. In 1822, Mary had gotten a pension of forty dollars because of her participation.
As well for her bravery. But a couple years later William sadly died. Then, Mary had married
John McCauley. John was also a friend of William. Mary’s new husband John McCauley was
not a good husband at all. He stole lots Mary’s money and never gave it back. But that’s not all,
he then just decided to disappear. Nobody knows where he went and if he really went out of town.
Mary didn’t stop. She still went along with her life. She didn’t need a man to enjoy her life.

Mary’s last few years included doing lots of things. Even though she had spent some time of
her life in war, she still helped washing and cooking for all of the soldiers that were in the war.
She wouldn’t just care for the soldiers she would care for adults and children. This is an example
of Mary caring and helping the children: Mary was 73 at this time. Even though she was 73 years
old, Mary had been a hero once again. She had saved two children from falling into a quarry.
While Mary had been living in Carlisle she had also owned a small store.You can visit her grave
at an old graveyard back in good old Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Sadly you can’t visit Mary’s house
in Carlisle because it has been demolished for a long time now. Mary had sadly died on January
22, 1832, from the cause of skin cancer. But, no matter if she is dead or not, she will always be
known and remembered as Molly Pitcher.

​ ​Works Cited

http://www.varsitytutors.com/earlyamerica/notable-women/molly-pitcher
http://www.ducksters.com/history/american_revolution/molly_pitcher.php
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0878894.html
http://www.softschools.com/facts/biography/deborah_sampson_facts/983/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Pitcher
http://www.biography.com/people/molly-pitcher-9390922#battle-of-monmouth-heroics
http://www.nndb.com/people/127/000164632/
http://www.revolutionary-war.net/molly-pitcher.html
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/wwww/us/mollypitcherdef.htm
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/waramrevolution/a/Molly-Pitcher.htm
http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2010/05/molly-pitcher-mary-mccauley.html
Molly Pitcher by American Lives
Molly Pitcher by Eileen Dunn Bertanzetti

About The Author

EM is a 10 year old girl in 4th grade. She goes to Pleasant View Elementary School, located
in Red Lion Pennsylvania. She loves all subjects in school. Especially math. E is a straight A
student, and she works very hard to be one. E She lives in F, P with her two siblings, two parents,
and cat her one crazy cat. E enjoys playing outside and swimming.Her all time favorite color is
blue. She also loves to draw. She wrote this because you only hear about men in the war, but
there are lots of girls that made a difference. E is a kind sweet girl that is willing to help anyone. E
is a very silly girl. E also loves to write, so when she was writing she was very excited. It was a
very fun topic to write about.