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THE STORY OF MOLLY PITCHER

BY FRANK R. STOCKTON

The battle of Monmouth, N. J., was fought June 29, 1778. It was the first battle the Americans had with the British after the terrible winter at Valley Forge. It would have been a signal victory for Washington's troops had General Charles Lee obeyed Washington's orders. Notwithstanding Lee's acts, the American troops held their ground till nightfall, when the British quietly retreated.

T THE battle of Monmouth, a young Irishwoman, wife of an artilleryman, played a very notable part in the working of the American cannon on that eventful day in June.

Molly was born with the soul of a soldier, and although she did not belong to the army she much preferred going to war to staying at home and attending to domestic affairs. She was in the habit of following her husband on his various marches, and on the day of the Monmouth battle she was 10 with him on the field.

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The day was very hot. The rays of the sun came down with such force that many of the soldiers were taken sick and some died; and the constant discharges of musketry and artillery did not make the air any cooler. Molly de15 voted herself to keeping her husband as comfortable as possible, and she made frequent trips to a spring not far away to bring him water; and on this account he was one of the freshest and coolest artillerymen on the ground. In fact, there was no man belonging to the battery who was able to manage one of these great guns better than Pitcher.

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Returning from one of her trips to the spring, Molly had almost reached the place where her husband was stationed when a bullet from the enemy struck the poor man and stretched him dead, so that Molly had no sooner caught sight of her husband than she saw him fall. She s ran to the gun, but scarcely had reached it before she heard one of the officers order the cannon to be wheeled back out of the way, saying that there was no one there who could serve it as it had been served.

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Now Molly's eyes flashed fire. One might have thought that she would have been prostrated with grief at the loss of her husband, but as we have said, she had within her the soul of a soldier. She had seen her husband, who was the same to her as a comrade, fall, and she was filled with an intense desire to avenge his death. She cried out to 15 the officer not to send the gun away but to let her serve it; and scarcely waiting to hear what he would say, she sprang to the cannon and began to load it and fire it. often attended her husband and even helped him in his work that she knew all about this sort of thing, and her 20 gun was managed well and rapidly.

She had so

It might be supposed that it would be a very strange thing to see a woman on the battlefield firing a cannon; but even if the enemy had watched Molly with a spyglass, they would not have noticed anything to excite their sur- 25 prise. She wore an ordinary skirt, like other women of the time; but over this was an artilleryman's coat and on her head was a cocked hat with some jaunty feathers stuck in it, so that she looked almost as much like a man as the rest of the soldiers of the battery.

During the rest of the battle Molly bravely served her gun; and if she did as much execution in the ranks of the

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redcoats as she wanted to do, the loss in the regiments in front of her must have been very great. Of course all the men in the battery knew Molly Pitcher, and they watched her with the greatest interest and admiration. She would 5 not allow anyone to take her place, but kept on loading and firing until the work of the day was done. Then the officers and men crowded about her with congratulations and praise.

The next day General Greene went to Molly whom he 10 found in very much the condition in which she had left the battlefield, stained with dirt and powder, with her fine feathers gone and her cocked hat dilapidated — and conducted her, just as she was, to General Washington. When the commander in chief heard what she had done, 15 he gave her warm words of praise. He determined to bestow upon her a substantial reward; for anyone who was brave enough and able enough to step in and fill an important place, as Molly had filled her husband's place, certainly deserved a reward. It was not according to the 20 rules of war to give a commission to a woman; but as Molly had acted the part of a man, Washington considered it right to pay her for her services as if she had been a man. He therefore gave her the commission of a sergeant and recommended that her name be placed on the list of half-pay 25 officers for life.

Stories of New Jersey.

1. How did Molly come to be on the battlefield? Describe her as she looked in an artilleryman's garb. Relate briefly her deed of heroism. How was it rewarded?

2. What other heroines of history can you recall?

3. Frank R. Stockton (1834-1902) is a well-known name in American literature. He wrote many books, among which Rudder Grange stands high. His short stories, however, are his best work.

KING PHILIP TO THE WHITE SETTLERS

BY EDWARD EVERETT

For thirty years Massasoit was the firm friend of the early settlers in New England. But when his son Philip came to rule over the Indian tribe their former friendship for the whites was broken. In 1675 Philip led his 10,000 warriors against the white settlers. King Philip's War lasted into 1676 when Philip was captured and slain. The following is a supposed speech of defiance that Philip delivered to the colonists.

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man, there is eternal war between thee and me! I quit not the land of my fathers but with my life. In those woods where I bent my youthful bow, I will still hunt the deer. Over yonder waters I will still glide unrestrained in my bark canoe. By those dashing water- s falls I will still lay up my winter's store of food. On these fertile meadows I will still plant my corn. Stranger, the land is mine! I understand not these paper rights. I gave not my consent when, as thou sayest, these broad regions were purchased, for a few baubles, of my fathers. They 10 could sell what was theirs; they could sell no more. How could my fathers sell that which the Great Spirit sent me into the world to live upon? They knew not what they did. The stranger came, a timid suppliant, few and feeble, and asked to lie down on the red man's bearskin, and 15 warm himself at the red man's fire, and have a little piece of land to raise corn for his women and children; and now he is become strong, and mighty, and bold, and spreads out his parchment over the whole, and says, "It is mine!"