Molly, Her Myth, And Her Pitcher

Reading into the sketchiest icon of the American Revolution

Everywoman: the statue of Mary 'Ludwig' Hays McCauley in Carlisle, Pennsylvania

“There are no first-hand contemporary sources from the time of the Revolution that mention Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth,” David Martin writes in the single most comprehensive volume on the topic.¹ Only three contemporary sources from after the American Revolution mention the story of a woman crewing a cannon at the battle — and they all contradict one another on important details.

One of the two battle accounts may be a forgery, for there is no mention of the incident in the diary left behind by its reputed author, while only the “Pension Application of Rebecca Clendinin,” written in 1840, uses the name “Molly” at all, naming her as “Captain Molly.” None of these three sources is more than a few sentences in length. Martin’s collection of primary sources thus starts at page 1 and ends at page 5; his author photograph is on page 329.

Everything on the other 324 pages is about secondary sources — history as written by people who were not at the battle, or who were not even alive during the Revolutionary War. The closer one looks at the story of Molly Pitcher, the more her image fades from reality into myth. If you ask me, the least-likely part of the story is that her pitcher or canteen carried water for thirsty cannoneers, for the sponge-end of that ramrod in her hands tells a different story.