In 1926 the United States celebrated 150 years since independence, to commemorate this the Post Office were in the middle of releasing stamps that depicted events during the Revolutionary War.

Rather like the event of the previous stamp #645, Molly Pitcher was a complete fabrication. She never existed, except in the mind of Dennis Malone, the artist of the painting at the top of this web page. The painting depicts Molly with a dead husband at her feet, loading a cannon to get back at the British. It is pure invention.

There is even a Molly Pitcher grave in New Jersey! But it ain't who you think it is.

But the story was a good one, so good that another heroine was brought forward. Her name was Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, It was she who dropped the pale of water, she who had the dead husband at her feet while ramming the cannon. However she never said, eluded to, or in any way said she was at the battle. In fact not until 1856 when her son died that his obituary said he was the son of a heroine (no mention of Monmouth again). This was seized upon by writers at the time, why Mary must have been Molly! And so Mary became Molly and her grave says so. If you want a real Revolutionary War heroine research Deborah Samson, now she really did deserve to have her name on a stamp.

Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley
Who never was at the Battle of Monmouth

A pane of 100 of #646, there were four panes to a sheet of 400