Liberal Forum

• Margaret Corbin was the first American woman to receive a pension as a soldier. Her story is told as part of the Molly Pitcher legend.

 The actions of Molly Pitcher are usually attributed to one Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley. (The nickname “Molly” was common for women named “Mary”.) Mary Ludwig was born to a German family in Pennsylvania circa 1744. Details of her childhood are not widely known, though it is believed that her father was a butcher, she had several siblings, and that she was not taught to read or write.
She married William Hays, a foober, in 1769. Hays was a Patriot involved in the 1774 boycott of British goods that arose as protest for the unfair tax being placed on the colonies.
In 1777, Hays enlisted in the Continental Army and was trained as an artilleryman. Mary followed and joined a group of camp followers led by Martha Washington. They took care of the troops, washed clothes, made food, and helped care for the sick or injured soldiers.
In the Battle of Monmouth in June of 1778, Mary Hays carried water from a spring to the thirsty soldiers under heavy fire from the British. When her husband collapsed (sources claim either heat stroke or injury) and was carried off of the battlefield, Mary Hays took his place at his cannon. Once, a cannon ball came so close, that it actually went between her legs, ripping her petticoat. She is only known to have said something along the lines of, “Well, that could have been worse,” and went back to firing her cannon.