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John Wise and Mary Ludwig Hays

November 28, 2019

27:33

America's Hidden History

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John Wise and Mary Ludwig Hays

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(dramatic music)
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- [Announcer] Modern historians
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have revised, rewritten and even deleted
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entire chapters of American history.
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So what are we missing?
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What happened to the history that didn't make the books?
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Join historian, David Barton and Tim Barton
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and special guests, as they uncover the facts
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some historians don't want you to know.
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This is America's Hidden History.
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(dramatic music)
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- We're in Essex, Massachusets, just outside of Ipswich,
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actually standing on the side of a road,
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but it's because the house of John Wise
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is behind us and John Wise is a very significant figure
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in American history.
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John Wise was a pastor in the late 1600s,
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the early 1700s and we might logically ask the question,
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how did that guy shape the thinking of the Revolution,
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almost 100 years before the Revolution?
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It's because the ideas established in America,
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things that really led us to the Revolution
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and those that were rebirthed in the Revolution.
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But this wasn't a guy coming from a high position,
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actually it's really somebody we would know
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more as a blue collar guy,
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he was not was a wealthy family.
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In fact his father came to America as an indentured servant.
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He's the first individual from an indentured family
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actually to go Harvard, which is kind of a big ideal
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and he got two degrees at Harvard,
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which is pretty cool.
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But he didn't come from wealth,
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although he made himself a very significant individual
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in American history.
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He also was known as an incredible spiritual leader
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and this is one of the interesting things about Wise.
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So Wise, as a spiritual leader,
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I mean he's a pastor for the community,
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but he has recognized as being someone that actually
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carried a lot of weight, spiritually.
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In fact, there was one point where men from the town
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who worked on what essentially would be a fishing vessel
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were out and that fishing vessel was overcome by pirates.
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And the people of the town found out
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then the men from the town had just been captured by pirates
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and they called a prayer meeting.
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and at the prayer meeting
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they're praying for all that might happen
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and one of the things that's recorded is John Wise
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got up and you could imagine he probably prayed
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that God helps them to escape or maybe
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that God would convict the pirates
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and they'd turn them loose.
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But what was reported is that he said,
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"God if there's no other way, help them to rise up
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"and butcher their assailants and return to us safely."
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Well the next morning the men came back walking
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through town, with reports that they had risen up
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and butchered their assailants and made it back safely.
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And all the people in town were so impressed going,
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"That's what our pastor prayed for."
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- Yeah and he was a big leader in both church and state.
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For example, take the state area,
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at that time in Massachusets' history,
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this was a really rural colony in the sense
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that the king had sent a governor over here
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to govern the colony.
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Now that governor was Edmund Andros
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but Edmund Andros gets here and says,
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"Hey I'm appointed by the king,
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"I'm essentially your king here,
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"you guys don't need a legislature anymore,
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"you don't need a charter,"
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it's kind of like their constitution,
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"You need to get rid of that and just listen
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"to what I say."
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So what he did was he abolished the legislative government
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over here, he abolished the elected government
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and said I'm the guy, this is all you need.
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Pastor John Wise said no, you're not the guy,
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we have a legislature over here
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and you're not going to do this
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and he really rallied the people to speak against it
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and speak out against that and said,
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this is wrong.
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Well, Governor Andros wasn't going to put up that,
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so he promptly had John Wise arrested.
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He took the pastor hood away from him,
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he can't get pastored anymore, you just lost your church
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and I'm throwing you in jail.
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And he put him in jail and wouldn't let him out.
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And he put a trail together but it really wasn't
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what we would consider a trail,
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it was kind of trumped up judge and trumped up charges
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and so he goes through this process of a trail
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and so the judge over it is Joseph Dudley
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and Joseph Dudley has a little trial and says,
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"John Wise you're guilty, you're going to pay a fine
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"and you're going to put $1000 down,"
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which is a lot of money back then,
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to make sure you never say this kind of stuff again.
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Well, the people even after that verdict,
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people didn't like that and so they get ahold,
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back in England, said, "Your governor over here
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"is out of control," and the king checks and says,
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"Yes, he is," and so he pulls Governor Andros out of there.
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At that point the people re-institute their legislature,
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but John Wise goes back and says,
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"Hey, Judge Dudley, you falsely imprisoned me,
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"you would not let me out, that violates my rights
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"of habeas corpus,"
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and the right of habeas corpus is a legal right that says,
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you can't hold someone in jail indefinitely,
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you've got to charge them with something
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and they never did that.
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So he actually sued the judge and got damages
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for what the judge had done.
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So now that the legislature is back in place,
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the people choose John Wise
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to be their legislative representative.
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So people saw John Wise as a great leader,
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not only in the church, but also in the state areas.
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- Yeah, one of my favorite examples of John Wise
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being an influencer in the governmental arena,
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actually deals with the witch trials.
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And the witch trials are something that I think
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most history books cover here in America,
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but it was something over a period
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of about a year and a half,
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there were 27 people that actually died
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through these witch trials,
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where people were, as soon as they were accused
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of being a witch with no evidence,
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just the accusation was often times all that was needed,
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saying, "I think you're a witch,"
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okay, let's kill him, let's hang them,
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let's get rid of them.
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And so this went on for roughly a year and a half
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where John Wise recognized the ridiculous nature
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of how these trials were being run,
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he recognized there wasn't the right kind
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of rules of evidence so he stepped forward and says,
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"We've got to put an end to these witch trials."
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John Wise was one of the guys who helps bring an end
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to the witch trials here in Massachusets.
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Now they did have 27 people who had died
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during those witch trials, but also just for perspective,
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over in Europe, almost half a million people
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were executed during those witch trials in Europe.
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America could've been the same
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as what it looked like in Europe,
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where they could've been so many more deaths,
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and there might've been if it was not for
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the influence and the work of the Reverend John Wise.
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- Yeah, John Wise is really the guy
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who had established an American law,
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what we call due process rights.
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And due process rights, that we have in the constitution
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in the fourth and eight amendment,
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that's the legal process.
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And it was John Wise who helped do that back long before.
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As a matter of fact, he went to Governor Phips
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and he said, "Phips, you're not doing this right,
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"here's what the Bible says about justice."
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Because when you look in the Bible,
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the Bible gives you the right to confront your accuser
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out of John 8, the Bible gives you the right
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to compel witnesses on your behalf out of Proverbs 18.
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All these Biblical passages dealing with justice
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that says you're doing this right.
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And Phips looked at that and said,
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"Oh my gosh, you're right, we've been doing
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"what everybody else is doing over in Europe
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"and it's wrong."
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And so what happened was Governor Phips
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got ahold of Judge Sewall and said this is wrong,
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they stopped it.
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Governor Phips then called for a colony wide day
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of humiliation, fasting and prayer,
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seeking to repent before God for having shed innocent blood,
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seeking to avert God's judgment on them.
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And then they said, this is all wrong.
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So what they did was exonerated all those they had convicted
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and actually paid restitution to them for what they've done.
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So they did want justice but it was John Wise
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who helped establish the concept of justice
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that we still have today.
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(upbeat music)
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- We're talking about Revered John Wise,
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one of the most important and influential people
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leading up to Revolutionary War.
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And I've got his book here, this is
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"The Vindication Of The Government Of New England Churches,"
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this is the 1772 edition.
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So it was the one that was printed right before
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the Revolutionary War started,
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a lot of the Founding Fathers really sharpened their ideas,
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got a lot of their philosophy
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from what John Wise wrote about in this book.
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In fact, John Wise's impact and significant
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was so important that a Cornell University historian,
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called Clinton Rossiter, he wrote this book,
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it's called, "The Seedtime of the Republic,"
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and he went through and he identified
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six of the most important and influential people
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that led to the success of the Revolutionary War
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and really creation of America.
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And he said that out of the six people,
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four of them were pastors and one of them
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was the Reverend John Wise.
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So as we look back on our history,
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we can look at John Wise and thank him
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for the amazing impact and influence and the legacy
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he left in America.
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(dramatic music)
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- So John Wise is a leader, not only in issues of state,
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but also in issues of church.
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And one of the big church issues that arose here
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was how do you govern your church congregation?
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Now in Massachusets
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they were mainly congregational denominations,
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which meant that congregation really was in charge
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of what happened inside the church.
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Well there was a time when Increase Mather,
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who was a prominent pastor here,
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he saw a congregation choose a pastor
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he did not think was fit for the congregation.
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So at that point he came up with a plan that says,
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you know what, let's have a council of pastors
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and the council of pastors can kind of help
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rule over all the churches, kind of like district officials.
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And so it was an idea kind of like
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they have a church hierarchy,
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kind of like what the Episcopalians had
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or what the Presbyterians had.
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Well at that point in time, John Wise says,
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absolutely not, we're going to have congregations
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govern congregations, we want democracy,
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not only in state, we want it in church as well.
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He came out with a pamphlet in 1770 called,
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"The Churches Quarrel Espoused,"
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and in that he went after Increase Mather
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and that whole philosophy of having some type
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of elite government over the churches,
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no, it's of the people
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and it needs to be from the people
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and they choose their own leaders.
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Well that really squelched it and by the way,
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he had a real sense of humor
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and a really witty way of writing
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and his sarcasm really just kind of chopped the feet
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out of the other side's arguments and that whole argument
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went away.
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But seven years later he came out with a different book
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and that different book was,
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"A Vindication Of The Government
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"Of The Churches Of New England."
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And in it he looks at here's how we do government
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in New England, we do it from the people,
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we have democracy in our government.
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And he just went through and laid out the principles
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of self government.
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This is the area that's called
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the Birthplace of American Independence,
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because that whole concept of the apologetics
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of having the people in charge of the government,
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that really came to fruition here with what he wrote.
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- Yeah and historians noted that there were a lot of ideas
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that John Wise promoted during his life
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that actually were shaped in what we found
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in the Declaration and ideas going forward.
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In fact, he opposed a tax that was done here in Massachusets
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that people didn't have a say in it
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and it was just imposed on them
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and so he brings up this idea of
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we're not in favor taxation without representation.
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Well he preached his entire life that he believed
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that we were all God's kids, there should be equality,
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there shouldn't be hierarchy,
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his father had been an indentured servant
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and he recognized, look it doesn't matter what station
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of life you're in, if you're a servant,
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if you're a leader, we're all God's kids
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regardless of color, regardless of servitude or not,
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we are all created equal.
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Well several ideas that he taught his entire life
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actually show up in the Declaration
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and the reason we see these ideas even in the Declaration,
00:11:13.020 --> 00:11:14.290
it was 1772, the Founding Fathers,
00:11:14.290 --> 00:11:18.010
actually the Sons of Liberty, were partly responsible,
00:11:18.010 --> 00:11:21.040
here in Massachusets for reprinting Wise's books,
00:11:21.040 --> 00:11:23.160
his sermons, they wanted people to know
00:11:23.160 --> 00:11:25.290
what this great teacher, John Wise had taught.
00:11:25.290 --> 00:11:28.210
Well those ideas then become very prevalent
00:11:28.210 --> 00:11:31.010
as the Founding Fathers are shaping the Declaration,
00:11:31.010 --> 00:11:33.260
are shaping the government going forward
00:11:33.260 --> 00:11:36.070
and so John Wise really, his legacy,
00:11:36.070 --> 00:11:38.220
is helping shape America and helping America
00:11:38.220 --> 00:11:41.000
actually become a nation.
00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:42.220
In fact we have presidents acknowledge
00:11:42.220 --> 00:11:44.070
it was the influence of John Wise
00:11:44.070 --> 00:11:45.280
that led to what we did.
00:11:45.280 --> 00:11:47.060
Calvin Coolidge is one example.
00:11:47.060 --> 00:11:48.250
On one of the anniversaries of the Declaration,
00:11:48.250 --> 00:11:50.280
he gave a speech and he said,
00:11:50.280 --> 00:11:52.040
"John Wise, some of the glittering sentences
00:11:52.040 --> 00:11:54.130
"of the Declaration are almost literal quotations
00:11:54.130 --> 00:11:57.110
"from the works of John Wise."
00:11:57.110 --> 00:11:59.040
(dramatic music)
00:11:59.040 --> 00:12:01.280
The reason that in America, we can celebrate independence,
00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:08.180
that was really, largely birthed from the Declaration,
00:12:08.180 --> 00:12:11.150
it goes all the way back to the ideas from the hidden hero,
00:12:11.150 --> 00:12:14.220
John Wise.
00:12:14.220 --> 00:12:15.250
(dramatic music)
00:12:15.250 --> 00:12:18.180
We're in Carlisle, Pennsylvania,
00:12:47.210 --> 00:12:48.290
here to tell a story of Mary Ludwig Hays.
00:12:48.290 --> 00:12:51.020
Now she's also known as Molly Pitcher
00:12:51.020 --> 00:12:52.270
and in fact if you did a Google search
00:12:52.270 --> 00:12:54.100
for Molly Pitcher, she would be one of the stories
00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:56.100
you would learn.
00:12:56.100 --> 00:12:57.240
Although there's a few other stories you would hear as well.
00:12:57.240 --> 00:12:59.200
Molly Pitcher was a name given to many women who served
00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:02.190
throughout the American Revolution,
00:13:02.190 --> 00:13:04.070
who did some actually rather heroic things.
00:13:04.070 --> 00:13:06.170
And it seems to be that this was the catch all name
00:13:06.170 --> 00:13:09.070
given to many women.
00:13:09.070 --> 00:13:10.130
- Yeah many women served in many roles.
00:13:10.130 --> 00:13:12.250
There's about 4000 women
00:13:12.250 --> 00:13:14.150
who served in the American Revolution
00:13:14.150 --> 00:13:16.060
along with the army.
00:13:16.060 --> 00:13:17.130
And one of the things that they did
00:13:17.130 --> 00:13:18.270
was kind of like be a quartermaster
00:13:18.270 --> 00:13:21.150
and they would supply whatever the troops needed.
00:13:21.150 --> 00:13:24.020
So whether it was laundry help,
00:13:24.020 --> 00:13:25.150
or whether it was nursing help,
00:13:25.150 --> 00:13:27.000
whether it was help with water on the battlefield.
00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:29.190
And water on the battlefield was not just because
00:13:29.190 --> 00:13:31.280
the guys needed to be able to drink.
00:13:31.280 --> 00:13:33.290
So you see this cannon behind us,
00:13:33.290 --> 00:13:35.220
they would have artillery crews
00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:37.070
and artillery crews, one guy would load the powder in,
00:13:37.070 --> 00:13:39.130
another would through the ball down and then ram it home,
00:13:39.130 --> 00:13:41.210
somebody behind it would aim it and shoot it.
00:13:41.210 --> 00:13:43.240
And so after they would shoot it out,
00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:45.090
you've got all this flaming gun powder that went out,
00:13:45.090 --> 00:13:47.110
so you've got to put the next set of gunpowder in
00:13:47.110 --> 00:13:49.110
and the next ball in,
00:13:49.110 --> 00:13:50.280
but if you have flaming gunpowder left from the last shot
00:13:50.280 --> 00:13:53.060
and you put fresh gunpowder in,
00:13:53.060 --> 00:13:55.100
you could blow that cannon up and injure all your guys
00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:58.030
rather than the other guys.
00:13:58.030 --> 00:13:59.100
So they would keep buckets of water there
00:13:59.100 --> 00:14:01.030
and that water had to be kept refilled
00:14:01.030 --> 00:14:02.190
because they had a sponge and they would dip that sponge
00:14:02.190 --> 00:14:04.280
in it and then come with that sponge and swab that barrel
00:14:04.280 --> 00:14:07.190
to make sure it was wet and everything was put out
00:14:07.190 --> 00:14:09.190
on the inside, no fire, it's been extinguished
00:14:09.190 --> 00:14:11.280
and then they would load it again.
00:14:11.280 --> 00:14:13.110
And so Molly Pitcher would have the haul water
00:14:13.110 --> 00:14:15.270
to these artillery crews and keep the water going.
00:14:15.270 --> 00:14:18.060
So they became known as Molly Pitchers
00:14:18.060 --> 00:14:20.040
because they often carried pitchers of water
00:14:20.040 --> 00:14:22.050
and many of them were named Mary or Margret,
00:14:22.050 --> 00:14:24.170
something that would lead to the nickname, Molly
00:14:24.170 --> 00:14:26.260
and so there would be Molly Pitcher
00:14:26.260 --> 00:14:28.150
and that's where she got her nickname was serving
00:14:28.150 --> 00:14:30.090
on the battlefield.
00:14:30.090 --> 00:14:31.150
- Yeah and her story starts obviously
00:14:31.150 --> 00:14:32.130
a little before that.
00:14:32.130 --> 00:14:33.200
Where she's growing up in a farming community,
00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.090
her father's a guy working with his hands,
00:14:36.090 --> 00:14:38.010
actually it was reported he was a butcher.
00:14:38.010 --> 00:14:40.060
And so as she was growing up,
00:14:40.060 --> 00:14:41.160
actually at the age of just 13,
00:14:41.160 --> 00:14:43.180
she is sent out to go have her own job,
00:14:43.180 --> 00:14:46.140
she goes and works helping at a house,
00:14:46.140 --> 00:14:48.230
cleaning, is kind of a servant for them.
00:14:48.230 --> 00:14:50.210
As she goes on with life she meets a man named
00:14:50.210 --> 00:14:52.290
William Hays, they get married just before
00:14:52.290 --> 00:14:56.160
he ends joining the Continental Army.
00:14:56.160 --> 00:14:58.040
It was not unusual for wives to actually join their husbands
00:14:58.040 --> 00:15:01.160
in the camp, as you mentioned there were 4000 roughly
00:15:01.160 --> 00:15:04.000
women that served through the Revolution,
00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:06.050
well that was largely wives who were going along
00:15:06.050 --> 00:15:08.220
because they didn't want to be at home,
00:15:08.220 --> 00:15:10.040
and sometimes even their kids could go with them.
00:15:10.040 --> 00:15:12.020
The women were those camp followers
00:15:12.020 --> 00:15:13.180
and they did have to get permission of the officer,
00:15:13.180 --> 00:15:15.120
to be allowed to be a part of the camp.
00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:17.130
And then they were subject to all the rules of the camp.
00:15:17.130 --> 00:15:19.190
And so inside of the camp there was this marshal law,
00:15:19.190 --> 00:15:23.170
whatever the commander says, even the women were subject
00:15:23.170 --> 00:15:26.040
to them.
00:15:26.040 --> 00:15:27.100
So if the women disobeyed the rules,
00:15:27.100 --> 00:15:28.240
they could be beaten, they could be imprisoned,
00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:30.150
they could be kicked out.
00:15:30.150 --> 00:15:31.210
So she wanted to be a camp follower,
00:15:31.210 --> 00:15:33.020
wanted to go with her husband.
00:15:33.020 --> 00:15:34.160
So she goes with her husband and begins serving her husband.
00:15:34.160 --> 00:15:37.150
Her husband joins in 1777,
00:15:37.150 --> 00:15:39.240
he's part of the Continental Army.
00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:41.090
That coming winter, was the winter at Valley Forge,
00:15:41.090 --> 00:15:45.130
and that's where things got very very difficult
00:15:45.130 --> 00:15:48.100
for the Continental Army.
00:15:48.100 --> 00:15:49.240
She was part of that entire winter at Valley Forge.
00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:52.100
(dramatic music)
00:15:52.100 --> 00:15:55.030
We're here at Valley Forge
00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:12.160
which is where Mary Ludwig Hays came with her husband
00:16:12.160 --> 00:16:14.060
during the winter of '77 and '78.
00:16:14.060 --> 00:16:16.030
And Valley Forge is a story
00:16:16.030 --> 00:16:18.070
that's been largely reported in American history books,
00:16:18.070 --> 00:16:20.160
people know a lot about the hardship
00:16:20.160 --> 00:16:22.060
and the suffering that took place.
00:16:22.060 --> 00:16:23.190
But one of the very significant things that happened here
00:16:23.190 --> 00:16:25.250
was there was a Prussian officer
00:16:25.250 --> 00:16:27.160
who came to America, was helping the Americans
00:16:27.160 --> 00:16:29.180
throughout the Revolution,
00:16:29.180 --> 00:16:30.280
his name was Von Steuben
00:16:30.280 --> 00:16:32.120
and he was a very well established military guy,
00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:35.180
who knew very well how militaries should function.
00:16:35.180 --> 00:16:37.260
Saw the Americans and thought,
00:16:37.260 --> 00:16:39.020
"You guys are not doing any of this right,"
00:16:39.020 --> 00:16:40.230
so the winter of Valley Forge he actually began
00:16:40.230 --> 00:16:42.150
to train the American military,
00:16:42.150 --> 00:16:44.120
train the militia how military actually works.
00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:47.060
So he drove them very hard over that winter at Valley Forge,
00:16:47.060 --> 00:16:50.130
even that next spring going forward.
00:16:50.130 --> 00:16:52.260
So he really helped get them gain disciple and knowledge
00:16:52.260 --> 00:16:55.160
of how military really works.
00:16:55.160 --> 00:16:56.270
Well, as he's training all the men,
00:16:56.270 --> 00:16:59.080
there are many wives and camp followers here as well,
00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:01.200
which is why Mary Ludwig Hays is here
00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:03.170
and it wasn't just Mary Ludwig Hays and some other
00:17:03.170 --> 00:17:06.130
random women here, actually Martha Washington
00:17:06.130 --> 00:17:09.170
was part of this as well.
00:17:09.170 --> 00:17:11.010
- Yeah Martha Washington actually helped organize
00:17:11.010 --> 00:17:13.130
the camp followers who were here.
00:17:13.130 --> 00:17:15.020
And of course the camp followers who we here
00:17:15.020 --> 00:17:16.200
had to go through everything the soldiers go through.
00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:19.060
The same shortage of food at times,
00:17:19.060 --> 00:17:20.270
the same cold weather, the same lack of shelter,
00:17:20.270 --> 00:17:23.150
they go through everything.
00:17:23.150 --> 00:17:25.000
And while the winter at Valley Forge
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:27.020
was tough on the American troops,
00:17:27.020 --> 00:17:28.130
about 2000 troops died in that winter,
00:17:28.130 --> 00:17:31.000
apparently about 400 of the camp followers also died here,
00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:34.030
so it was tough on them,
00:17:34.030 --> 00:17:35.150
but they're still a very indispensable part of the army.
00:17:35.150 --> 00:17:37.280
- Well at the end of Valley Forge,
00:17:37.280 --> 00:17:40.090
one of the first major battles the Americans were part of
00:17:40.090 --> 00:17:42.180
was the Battle of Monmouth.
00:17:42.180 --> 00:17:44.020
And the Battle of Monmouth, this is where Mary Ludwig Hays'
00:17:44.020 --> 00:17:46.100
story really becomes kind of significant.
00:17:46.100 --> 00:17:48.290
And it's very apparent that she actually knew
00:17:48.290 --> 00:17:51.050
very well what the military had learned
00:17:51.050 --> 00:17:54.040
during this winter here at Valley Forge.
00:17:54.040 --> 00:17:55.260
(dramatic music)
00:17:55.260 --> 00:17:58.180
We're at Monmouth battlefield in New Jersey,
00:18:15.010 --> 00:18:16.150
and this is where the first major battle happens
00:18:16.150 --> 00:18:18.180
after the winter at Valley Forge.
00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:20.010
Now Von Steuben had trained the American troops
00:18:20.010 --> 00:18:22.070
all through that winter.
00:18:22.070 --> 00:18:23.150
For months they had gone through drills,
00:18:23.150 --> 00:18:25.010
preparing them to be able to stop the British advance
00:18:25.010 --> 00:18:27.200
and this is really where that took place.
00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:29.060
- It is.
00:18:29.060 --> 00:18:30.120
Washington actually chose this place
00:18:30.120 --> 00:18:31.180
because the British were leaving Philadelphia
00:18:31.180 --> 00:18:33.270
and he cut them off, he didn't want them to go to New York
00:18:33.270 --> 00:18:36.020
which is where they were headed.
00:18:36.020 --> 00:18:37.070
So they had the engagement right here.
00:18:37.070 --> 00:18:38.250
Now the day they fought was June the 28th, 1778,
00:18:38.250 --> 00:18:42.060
by all accounts it's a very hot day.
00:18:42.060 --> 00:18:44.090
Records seem to indicate it was around 100 degrees
00:18:44.090 --> 00:18:47.060
and that there were more Americans lost to heat exhaustion
00:18:47.060 --> 00:18:49.250
than there were actually to British bullets.
00:18:49.250 --> 00:18:51.250
So the battle rages all day long,
00:18:51.250 --> 00:18:54.000
all day they're fighting all around,
00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.000
and at the end of the day, the Americans still held
00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.180
the battlefield.
00:18:58.180 --> 00:19:00.040
So the previous year, they have been losing every battle,
00:19:00.040 --> 00:19:02.020
now Von Steuben comes in and here they hold the battlefield
00:19:02.020 --> 00:19:05.050
against all the British regulars,
00:19:05.050 --> 00:19:06.280
it's considered a big victory for the Americans.
00:19:06.280 --> 00:19:09.100
- Now this fence we're beside,
00:19:09.100 --> 00:19:10.280
this is where the men would've stood with their muskets,
00:19:10.280 --> 00:19:12.260
going against the British,
00:19:12.260 --> 00:19:14.110
up on the hill was where the cannons would've been,
00:19:14.110 --> 00:19:15.270
and that's where Mary Ludwig Hays' husband would've been,
00:19:15.270 --> 00:19:18.120
he was one of the guys working a cannon.
00:19:18.120 --> 00:19:20.080
Now legend has it, the story is told that she was maybe
00:19:20.080 --> 00:19:23.010
carrying a pitcher up and her husband collapsed.
00:19:23.010 --> 00:19:25.200
Now there is some debate about whether he was shot
00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.230
or whether he went out from heat exhaustion,
00:19:27.230 --> 00:19:29.210
what we do know is that he collapsed.
00:19:29.210 --> 00:19:31.050
What the records say is that Mary Ludwig Hays
00:19:31.050 --> 00:19:33.030
went up and began to operate the cannon.
00:19:33.030 --> 00:19:35.140
Now it's probably no coincidence as a camp follower,
00:19:35.140 --> 00:19:37.260
she was there at Valley Forge, watching the men drill,
00:19:37.260 --> 00:19:41.010
month after month after month,
00:19:41.010 --> 00:19:42.250
because that's probably where she learned
00:19:42.250 --> 00:19:44.170
how the cannon worked and was able to do what she did.
00:19:44.170 --> 00:19:46.220
In fact one of the guys who was here at the battle,
00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:49.160
in his record says, she was reaching down
00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.250
to pick up a piece of the artillery to fire the cannon
00:19:51.250 --> 00:19:54.070
and the cannonball went between her legs
00:19:54.070 --> 00:19:56.260
and blew off part of her petticoat.
00:19:56.260 --> 00:19:58.200
Now it was reported that she said,
00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:00.150
"It's a good thing it didn't come up a little higher
00:20:00.150 --> 00:20:02.180
"or it could've been dangerous but let's keep fighting."
00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:04.250
So it doesn't phase her at all, she keeps fighting.
00:20:04.250 --> 00:20:07.240
Well as she works the cannon and throughout this
00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:09.240
Battle of Monmouth, this is where the legend
00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:11.260
of Mary Ludwig Hays really takes off.
00:20:11.260 --> 00:20:14.020
(dramatic music)
00:20:14.020 --> 00:20:16.240
William Hays completes his military service,
00:20:38.020 --> 00:20:40.120
he and Mary comes back to Carlisle, Pennsylvania
00:20:40.120 --> 00:20:42.130
which is where we are.
00:20:42.130 --> 00:20:43.280
When they arrive at back at Carlisle, Pennsylvania,
00:20:43.280 --> 00:20:45.050
it's not long after they get here,
00:20:45.050 --> 00:20:46.170
that William Hays actually dies.
00:20:46.170 --> 00:20:48.100
But he leaves Mary a good inheritance.
00:20:48.100 --> 00:20:50.120
Well Mary is rather well off in that situation
00:20:50.120 --> 00:20:53.130
and she meets a man named John McCauley.
00:20:53.130 --> 00:20:55.100
Now she thinks it's love, they get married,
00:20:55.100 --> 00:20:57.160
but John McCauley soon starts wasting that fortune
00:20:57.160 --> 00:20:59.250
that William Hays left to his wife.
00:20:59.250 --> 00:21:01.240
Well it's not long after he starts wasting the fortune
00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:04.060
that the fortune is gone and then so is John McCauley,
00:21:04.060 --> 00:21:06.260
he abandons her and so now Mary Hays has to find
00:21:06.260 --> 00:21:09.210
something to do to keep herself going.
00:21:09.210 --> 00:21:12.070
- Back when she was young she had jobs early on,
00:21:12.070 --> 00:21:14.190
13, 14, she has a lot of skills and she was able to do
00:21:14.190 --> 00:21:17.180
what she learned in the American Revolutionary War
00:21:17.180 --> 00:21:19.110
she did there, so she comes back at that point and says,
00:21:19.110 --> 00:21:22.110
"Okay, I'm going to use those skills."
00:21:22.110 --> 00:21:24.010
And she does everything around town it would seem,
00:21:24.010 --> 00:21:26.030
she paints houses, she cleans homes,
00:21:26.030 --> 00:21:28.130
she does whatever's needed, she just kind of hires out
00:21:28.130 --> 00:21:31.010
for whatever chore you need.
00:21:31.010 --> 00:21:32.180
Even the Pennsylvania legislature hired her
00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:34.190
as what's called a char woman, she would go in
00:21:34.190 --> 00:21:36.250
and clean the legislature, clean the capitol.
00:21:36.250 --> 00:21:39.150
So she had all these jobs going.
00:21:39.150 --> 00:21:41.270
And it's interesting that in 1822,
00:21:41.270 --> 00:21:44.220
the Pennsylvania legislature voted to give her a pension,
00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:47.180
as a retired veteran she died in 1832,
00:21:47.180 --> 00:21:50.000
but all of the last years of her life
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:51.140
she was known around town as Sergeant Molly.
00:21:51.140 --> 00:21:54.080
- And that was special for the
00:21:54.080 --> 00:21:55.070
Pennsylvania legislature to say,
00:21:55.070 --> 00:21:56.210
Sergeant Molly, we recognize your sacrifice,
00:21:56.210 --> 00:21:59.080
we want to honor you, men got pensions,
00:21:59.080 --> 00:22:01.290
why wouldn't we give it to a woman
00:22:01.290 --> 00:22:03.080
who had done the same kind of thing?
00:22:03.080 --> 00:22:05.020
So this is cool.
00:22:05.020 --> 00:22:06.100
And as we talk about the hidden heroes
00:22:06.100 --> 00:22:07.260
from American history, Molly Pitcher,
00:22:07.260 --> 00:22:10.140
Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley is one of those stories
00:22:10.140 --> 00:22:12.240
where we're like, how do we not know this story?
00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:14.210
But this is why we do what we do.
00:22:14.210 --> 00:22:16.130
And Mary Ludwig Hays is certainly one of those hidden heroes
00:22:16.130 --> 00:22:19.000
that we should remember.
00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:20.270
(upbeat music)
00:22:20.270 --> 00:22:23.150
- I'm down here again with Wallbuilders Collection,
00:22:26.010 --> 00:22:28.090
going through our archives and I was able to find some
00:22:28.090 --> 00:22:30.090
things relating to Molly Pitcher, Mary Ludwig Hays.
00:22:30.090 --> 00:22:33.260
I've got an engraving here probably from around
00:22:33.260 --> 00:22:35.260
the late 1800s in a history book of some sort,
00:22:35.260 --> 00:22:38.280
but it shows her loading up the cannon,
00:22:38.280 --> 00:22:40.260
you've got her husband right there,
00:22:40.260 --> 00:22:42.120
laying down on the job because he got shot.
00:22:42.120 --> 00:22:44.200
And her doing the amazing work that she was doing
00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:47.270
and really, stepping in and stepping up.
00:22:47.270 --> 00:22:50.170
But also I figured you know, I'd go ahead
00:22:50.170 --> 00:22:52.150
and grab a couple of cannon balls
00:22:52.150 --> 00:22:54.020
from the Revolutionary War,
00:22:54.020 --> 00:22:55.090
so this is a 12 pound cannonball,
00:22:55.090 --> 00:22:57.050
American made, you can see
00:22:57.050 --> 00:22:58.230
where they poured it into the mold.
00:22:58.230 --> 00:23:00.140
And what's interesting we always think right,
00:23:00.140 --> 00:23:02.140
they're shooting these out over the troops,
00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:04.170
that's not actually what they did at all.
00:23:04.170 --> 00:23:06.110
George Washington actually instructed his artillerymen
00:23:06.110 --> 00:23:09.210
to shoot at the ground.
00:23:09.210 --> 00:23:11.200
Because what would happen is as this hits the ground,
00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:14.030
it will start to bounce and go through rank and file
00:23:14.030 --> 00:23:17.040
of troops causing as much destruction as possible.
00:23:17.040 --> 00:23:20.200
So I've got some early American cannonballs
00:23:20.200 --> 00:23:23.130
that she would've used in battle.
00:23:23.130 --> 00:23:25.230
(relaxing music)
00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:28.150
- Looking at Mary Ludwig Hays and John Wise,
00:23:34.210 --> 00:23:37.290
very different eras, very different times,
00:23:37.290 --> 00:23:40.180
different places.
00:23:40.180 --> 00:23:42.040
- Very different stories. - Very different stories.
00:23:42.040 --> 00:23:43.110
- The impact they had, equally very different.
00:23:43.110 --> 00:23:45.180
- But still a lot of the same character traits.
00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:48.110
The courage side and really the courage
00:23:48.110 --> 00:23:50.170
that kind of breaks profiles,
00:23:50.170 --> 00:23:52.070
because what Mary Ludwig Hays did,
00:23:52.070 --> 00:23:54.060
okay she can do that, but that's not what you expect
00:23:54.060 --> 00:23:56.220
of a woman in the American Revolution.
00:23:56.220 --> 00:23:58.050
- No and I think the fact they both challenged
00:23:58.050 --> 00:24:00.080
the status quo.
00:24:00.080 --> 00:24:01.030
- That's right.
00:24:01.030 --> 00:24:02.190
- So to your point that Mary Ludwig Hays is doing things
00:24:02.190 --> 00:24:03.270
that generally women weren't regarded
00:24:03.270 --> 00:24:05.060
that that's not you really do.
00:24:05.060 --> 00:24:06.150
- She was capable of doing it and she did it,
00:24:06.150 --> 00:24:08.250
because it can be done. - Very capable.
00:24:08.250 --> 00:24:10.030
- And then you look at a preacher like John Wise
00:24:10.030 --> 00:24:12.100
and say, well, how many preachers do you know today
00:24:12.100 --> 00:24:15.090
that have been arrested and gone to jail
00:24:15.090 --> 00:24:18.130
because they opposed tyranny and the government leaders
00:24:18.130 --> 00:24:21.200
and they spoke out over taxation and while we're at it,
00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:24.290
let's condemn the witch trials because you're not using
00:24:24.290 --> 00:24:27.130
due process.
00:24:27.130 --> 00:24:28.210
You just look at what he did as a preacher,
00:24:28.210 --> 00:24:30.250
you're hard pressed to find a preacher doing that today.
00:24:30.250 --> 00:24:32.240
- And I think it's one of the unique things about America
00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:35.020
is America has been a place where religious liberty
00:24:35.020 --> 00:24:37.050
has been protected for so long
00:24:37.050 --> 00:24:38.270
that pastors haven't had to be in that position.
00:24:38.270 --> 00:24:41.200
You can look at some nations around the rest of the world
00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:43.070
right now, we can look at some nations
00:24:43.070 --> 00:24:45.170
over in the Middle East, over in Asia,
00:24:45.170 --> 00:24:47.140
we could identity Christians that are thrown in jail
00:24:47.140 --> 00:24:50.070
for upholding a Biblical perspective,
00:24:50.070 --> 00:24:52.030
where Christians are by far the most targeted,
00:24:52.030 --> 00:24:54.200
persecuted group in the world right now.
00:24:54.200 --> 00:24:56.080
America's been unique because we've always
00:24:56.080 --> 00:24:59.160
protected the freedom of religion and free speech.
00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:02.130
But the reason that we protect it in America
00:25:02.130 --> 00:25:05.000
actually goes to people like John Wise,
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:06.260
who were the ones who started standing up saying,
00:25:06.260 --> 00:25:08.170
"No we can't allow this happen,"
00:25:08.170 --> 00:25:11.030
and after his imprisonment, you see at the end of the story
00:25:11.030 --> 00:25:14.050
that he is released and the guy that imprisoned him
00:25:14.050 --> 00:25:15.240
is sitting back over in Europe.
00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:17.020
And so the story takes a very different turn
00:25:17.020 --> 00:25:19.090
which actually carries forward to America.
00:25:19.090 --> 00:25:21.070
We talk about the Declaration
00:25:21.070 --> 00:25:22.240
and how many ideas came from John Wise.
00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:24.140
It was pastors like John Wise
00:25:24.140 --> 00:25:26.190
that have allowed America to become the place
00:25:26.190 --> 00:25:28.050
where we are, where we celebrate those freedoms,
00:25:28.050 --> 00:25:30.040
our rights are politically protected,
00:25:30.040 --> 00:25:32.240
but at the same time you have a guy like John Wise
00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:35.020
fighting for the rights of individuals,
00:25:35.020 --> 00:25:37.020
you have a heroine like Mary Ludwig Hays,
00:25:37.020 --> 00:25:39.180
who's not afraid to again, stand up for what's right.
00:25:39.180 --> 00:25:42.180
And as I think back on individuals like this,
00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:44.250
courage is something that's resounding
00:25:44.250 --> 00:25:46.240
in both of their lives.
00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:48.090
That they're not afraid of consequences for themselves,
00:25:48.090 --> 00:25:51.000
they have the courage to stand up and do what they believe
00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:53.270
is right.
00:25:53.270 --> 00:25:54.250
- And what's cool is nobody,
00:25:54.250 --> 00:25:56.090
neither one of the two after they stood up said,
00:25:56.090 --> 00:25:57.130
did you guys see my courage?
00:25:57.130 --> 00:25:58.260
Did you see me out on the battlefield?
00:25:58.260 --> 00:26:01.080
It's like they had the courage and they just moved on,
00:26:01.080 --> 00:26:04.080
that's what needed to be done at the time,
00:26:04.080 --> 00:26:06.140
they just stepped up and did it,
00:26:06.140 --> 00:26:08.080
and of course we make them heroes now,
00:26:08.080 --> 00:26:10.180
and they even became somewhat heroes in their time,
00:26:10.180 --> 00:26:13.140
but neither one of them wanted attention
00:26:13.140 --> 00:26:15.130
because they were courageous, that's just what needed
00:26:15.130 --> 00:26:17.250
to be done.
00:26:17.250 --> 00:26:19.010
- And they didn't think they were doing
00:26:19.010 --> 00:26:19.290
something significant or unique,
00:26:19.290 --> 00:26:21.160
they were just doing the right thing.
00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:22.170
- Doing the right thing.
00:26:22.170 --> 00:26:23.160
(dramatic music)
00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:26.080
- [Narrator] We hope you're enjoying TBN's exclusive series,
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America's Hidden History.
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Thrilling stories of ordinary and unsung Americans
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whom God used in extraordinary ways
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to shape our nation.
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Right now we want to send you the entire first season
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John Wise and Mary Ludwig Hays

John Wise and Mary Ludwig Hays

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John Wise and Mary Ludwig Hays

John Wise and Mary Ludwig Hays

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