53 The Water Woman

Does the name Mary Ludwig or Mary Hays mean anything to you? Probably not. Almost nobody knows her name. But the name Molly Pitcher should ring a mental bell.

Mary, or Molly, was born in New Jersey. She moved to Pennsylvania to work as a servant. There she married a young barber named John Hays. In 1775 the Revolutionary War started, and John enlisted. He spent the bitter winter of 1777–78 at Valley Forge. Like Molly, many wives joined their husbands there. They cooked, washed, and kept the camp clean.

Summer came. The army moved. It met the British at Monmouth, New Jersey. Records show that this day was the hottest in a century. The heat was fierce and the fighting was exhausting. The artillery smoke choked the soldiers. Their cries for water were pitiful. Molly heard and scooped up an old pitcher. She ran to a nearby spring and filled it. The water was gulped by parched throats. Cannonballs were tearing the ground. Musketballs were whizzing and thudding. Molly thought only of the horses. “Molly! The pitcher, please!” She kept running back and forth with the pitcher.

Molly glanced over and saw her husband fall. She saw no blood. She knew. Exhaustion and heat stroke were taking their toll. But he was breathing. She snatched the ramrod. She took his place. She cleared the barrel and shot volley after volley. The battle rilled. Mary went back to carrying water in her pitcher. John Hays now stood and leaned on Molly. Even he called her the name the soldiers had used. To him she would always be “my Molly Pitcher.”

瑪麗·路德維希或瑪麗·海斯這個名字對你有意義嗎？可能沒有。幾乎沒有人知道她的名字。但名字莫莉·皮徹應該會讓你有印象。

瑪麗，或莫莉，出生於新澤西州。她搬到賓夕法尼亞州當僕人。在那裡，她嫁給了一位名叫約翰·海斯的年輕理髮師。1775 年爆發了獨立戰爭，約翰參軍。他在 1777–78 年的嚴冬中待在福吉谷。像莫莉一樣，許多妻子加入了丈夫的行列。她們做飯、洗衣並保持營地清潔。

夏天來了，軍隊開始行動。他們在新澤西州的蒙茅斯遇到了英軍。記錄顯示，這一天是百年來最熱的一天。酷熱難耐，戰鬥令人筋疲力盡。炮火的煙霧讓士兵窒息。他們渴求水的呼喊聲令人心酸。莫莉聽到後，拿起一個舊水壺，跑到附近的泉水處裝滿水。水被乾渴的喉嚨吞下。炮彈撕裂地面，子彈呼嘯而過並砰然擊中。莫莉只想到馬匹。“莫莉！水壺，快！”她不停地來回奔跑送水。

莫莉瞥見丈夫倒下。她沒看到血，她明白了。中暑和疲勞正在奪走他的生命。但他還在呼吸。她抓起推彈桿，取代了他的位子。她清理槍管並一輪接一輪地射擊。戰鬥激烈進行。瑪麗又回去用水壺送水。約翰·海斯現在站著，靠在莫莉身上。甚至他也叫她士兵們用的名字。對他來說，她永遠是“我的莫莉·皮徹”。