Molly Pitcher, (sculpture).

Molly Pitcher, (sculpture).

Schweizer, J. Otto, 1863-1955, sculptor.

Molly Pitcher, (sculpture).

Dedicated June 28, 1916.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: metal; Base: stone.

Sculpture: approx. 6 x 5 x 1 1/2 ft.; Base: approx. 6 x 10 x 4 ft.

(On proper left rear of bronze base of sculpture:) J. Otto Schweizer, Sc (On left side of each bronze base relief:) J. Otto Schweizer, Sc (On front of stone base:) MOLLY/PITCHER/MARY/MCKOLLY/MCCAULEY/MARY HAYS/NEE/MARY LUDWIG/BORN OCTOBER 13, 1744/DIED JANUARY 22, 1832 (On plaque on back of base:) ERECTED BY/THE/COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA signed

A standing portrait of Molly Pitcher holding a cannon tamper in her hands and carrying a water cask strapped across her body. The sculpture rests on a stone base adorned with two bronze relief plaques illustrating scenes from the Battle of Monmouth. The relief on the left side of the base depicts Molly Pitcher tending to wounded soldiers on the battlefield while nearby soldiers are engaged in battle. The relief on the right side of the base depicts Molly Pitcher in the heat of battle ramming shot into a cannon.

Portrait female -- Pitcher, Molly -- Full length

Occupation -- Medicine -- Nurse

History -- United States -- Revolution

History -- United States -- Battle of Monmouth

Architecture -- Military -- Battlefield

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

State of Being -- Illness -- Wound

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Carlisle

Administered by Borough of Carlisle, 53 West South Street, Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013

Located Graveyard on East South Street, Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013

Molly Pitcher was a Revolutionary War heroine who, when her husband was wounded, took his place manning a cannon during the Battle of Monmouth. This monument to Molly Pitcher was dedicated on the one hundred and thirty-eighth anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth. IAS files contain an article from the Evening Sentinel (Carlisle, PA), June 28, 1916.

A nearby plaques reads: MARY LUDWIG HAYS ("MOLLY PITCHER") ACCOMPANIED HER HUSBAND/DURING HIS SERVICE IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY AND RENDERED/VALUABLE SERVICE IN THE CAPACITY OF AN ARMY NURSE AND BY/REASON OF HER MANY ACTS OF KINDNESS BECAME KNOWN THROUGH-/OUT THE ARMY, FROM THE OFT-REPEATED EXPRESSION "HERE COMES MOLLY AND HER PITCHER," AS "MOLLY PITCHER."/AT THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH, JUNE 28, 1776, SERGEANT JOHN HAYS/WAS SEVERELY WOUNDED AND AS HE FELL TO THE GROUND MOLLY/SPRANG TO THE CANNON HE HAD BEEN SERVING, WHICH CANNON/HAD BEEN ORDERED TO THE REAR, BUT BEFORE THE GUN COULD BE/WITHDRAWN SHE HAD TAKEN HER HUSBAND'S PLACE AND RENDERED/SUCH VALIANT SERVICE THAT GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON AFTER/THE BATTLE THANKED HER PERSONALLY FOR HER BRAVERY AND/HEROIC ACTION./"MOLLY PITCHER" (MARY HAYS)/(poem by Sarah Woods Parkinson).

The inscription on another nearby plaque reads: MARY LUDWIG ("MOLLY PITCHER")/DAUGHTER OF JOHN LUDWIG/BORN OCTOBER 13, 1744 - DIED JANUARY 22, 1832/MARRIED JOHN HAYS 1769 - JOHN HAYS ENLISTED DECEMBER 1,/1776 IN PROCTOR'S FIRST PENNSYLVANIA ARTILLERY - RE-ENLISTED/JANUARY 1, 1777/SERGEANT JOHN HAYS WAS WOUNDED AT THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH/JUNE 28, 1778./MARY LUDWIG HAYS ("MOLLY PITCHER") RETURNED TO CARLISLE, PA./WITH HER WOUNDED HUSBAND AND AFTER HIS DEATH SHE MARRIED/SERGEANT GEORGE MCKOLLY (OR MCCAULEY)./SHE DIED JANUARY 22, 1832, AND WAS BURIED WITH MILITARY HONORS./THE PENNSYLVANIA ASSEMBLY 1821-1822 GRANTED A PENSION TO/MOLLY MCKOLLY (OR MCCAULEY) FOR SERVICES RENDERED./THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENN-/SYLVANIA JUNE 28, 1916/COMMISSIONERS: (list of names).

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania survey, 1995.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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