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Molly Pitcher was a brave and heroic woman. She served our country in its time of need. For that we have given her great recognition. She was one of America's founding leaders and one of the American Revolution's greatest Patriots ever. Molly Pitcher was born in 1754 in Trenton, New Jersey. Her birth name was Mary Ludwig. She grew up and moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and lived there until she died. Her first job when she moved to Carlisle was a servant. She was sixteen when she married a barber named William Hays. When her husband decided go fight in the war, Molly tagged along. In the Battle of Monmouth on July 28, 1778, soldiers were falling left and right because of the heat. When the temperatures got really high, she carried pitchers of water to the soldiers. That's how she got her name, Molly Pitcher.

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When her husband and other men became wounded, she helped to tend them. When her husband could not fight any longer in the battle of Monmouth, she took over his place at the cannon. After the battle, General Washington found out about her heroic actions. He then named her Sergeant Molly. In 1789, William Hays died. Molly then married George McCauley. She died in the year 1832 at age 78. Now, you can visit her grave site in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A flag and cannon stand by her tombstone. Her life was a long one and very happily lived. Molly Pitcher

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Molly Pitcher. That was not her real name, and the water she brought may have been more for swabbing the cannon than quenching thirst.

According to various sources, "Molly Pitcher" may

* … be a real person. * … not have existed. * … be a composite of several women. There is little consensus among scholars, but the likelihood seems high that there were courageous women during the American Revolution - not to mention any other war in history - who stepped in and did what was necessary in battle (Google "lionesses iraq" and peruse some of the sites you get). The legend of Molly Pitcher certainly has its basis in reality. One good candidate for the historical character is a woman named Mary Ludwig Hays, wife of William Hays, a gunner at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey. She followed her husband to the battle, supplied water to the gunners, and when her husband fell took his place at a gun.

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Q: Who was the woman who gained fame for regularly carrying a pitcher of water to the hot and wounded American Soldiers on the battlefield?
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