Born in Trenton, New Jersey, on October 13, 1754, Molly Ludwig lived on a small dairy farm until 1769, when her father arranged for her employment as a servant to William Irvine, a doctor in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She was married shortly thereafter to John Hays who, during the Revolution, served in the 7th Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by Irvine. Molly Hays, with many other soldiers╒ wives, was with the regiment at the battle of Monmouth, on June 28, 1778. The day was a hot one, and Molly assisted the artillerymen in the battle by bringing drinking water in a pitcher, earning thereby the nickname ╥Molly Pitcher.╙ After her husband collapsed from the heat, she took his place at his gun and served heroically for the remainder of the battle.
After the war she led an uneventful life at Carlisle. Hays died in 1789 and Molly╒s second marriage, to John (or George) McCauley, brought her no respite from her work as a servant. During the last ten years of her life she received a pension of $40 a year that was authorized by an act of the Pennsylvania assembly in February 1822 in commemoration of her heroism at Monmouth. She died in Carlisle on January 22, 1832. Her story, sometimes confused with that of Margaret Corbin, was revived and her grave marked in 1876. In 1916 a state monument was raised to her memory.
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