On January 22, 1853, Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley died in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and was buried there with a company of soldiers firing a salute. On Fourth of July, 1876, the citizens of Carlisle made a white marble monument over her grave and “Molly Pitcher, the heroine of Monmouth” was inscribed in it. A poem by Laura E. Richards commemorating Mary was also put on her grave. 


 Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley's Monument


Molly Pitcher's Poem
by Laura E. Richards

All day the great guns barked and roared;
All day the big balls screeched and soared;
All day, 'mid the sweating gunners grim,
Who toiled in their smoke-shroud dense and dim,
Sweet Molly labored with courage high,
With steady hand and watchful eye,
Till the day was ours, and the sinking sun
Looked down on the field of Monmouth won,
And Molly standing beside her gun....



            The legend of Molly Pitcher has been told for many generations and her stories have inspired many women. In 1928, Molly Pitcher was honored with an overprint reading “Molly Pitcher” on a U.S. postage stamp.


Molly Pitcher Stamp Issued in 1928 to Commemorate
Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley

           

            The commemorations of Molly Pitcher showed the change that society went through. Society went from not even allowing women the right to vote to society giving recognition to a female on a U.S postage stamp. This was a major transition that encouraged future women’s rights advocates. It is the earlier women such as Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley who opened the doors to many other women. Her actions encouraged women to go out and fight for their rights and to not be afraid of speaking their minds.

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