Moll Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth

Periodafter 1856

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions25.25 × 35.3 in. (64.1 × 89.7 cm)

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Delphine B. O'Donnell, 1932

Object number290

DescriptionA dynamic battle scene showing a group of soldiers at a cannon right of center, accompanied by a female in a red short gown and green skirt in front of an American flag. A wounded or dead soldier lies on the ground in front of the cannon, and a water bucket lies on the ground near a stream to the left of the female figure who holds a ramrod in her left hand. American officers appear in the distance on the right behind a fence, while the American army chases the British, who are in retreat, in the left distance. A fife player and drummer appear to the left of the primary female figure, and a second female appears to their left, waving a hat high in the air above her head. Other soldiers are grouped around the rocks and steam in the left foreground. The blue sky is filled with smoke from the battle.
NotesThis painting that depicts Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth copies a print by John Rogers of an oil on canvas painting by Dennis Malone Carter. After publication ca. 1856 of the Rogers print, amateur as well as professional artists frequently copied the image of Molly Pitcher standing at a cannon in the midst of the Battle of Monmouth. It has even appeared in the early 20th century as an advertising illustration on cranberry barrel labels, to name just one unusual use of this iconic scene. The amateur artist who created this version of Moll Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth has turned a male figure in the left distance who is waving a hat over his head into a second female figure in a long, full skirt. The unknown artist who depicted the scene on a copper disk also owned by the Association took the same liberty with the Carter original and the Rogers print.

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