An Artillery wife, Mary Hays McCauly aka Molly Pitcher, was with her husband, William Hays, during the battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. "Molly Pitcher" brought cool spring water to the exhausted and thirsty men. She also tended to the wounded.
On her next trip with water, she found her artilleryman husband back with the guns again, replacing a casualty. While she watched, he fell wounded. The piece, its crew too depleted to serve it, was about to be withdrawn. Without hesitation, Molly stepped forward and took the rammer staff from her fallen husband's hands and she manned the gun. She stayed at her post in the face of heavy enemy fire, ably acting as a matross (gunner).
For her heroic role, General Washington himself issued her a warrant as a noncommissioned officer. Thereafter, she was widely hailed as "Sergeant Molly." A flagstaff and cannon stand at her gravesite at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A sculpture on the battle monument commemorates her courageous deed.
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Read more about Molly here.
Fort Sill History, Lawton, OK
U.S. Field Artillery Assn.