Later in
the day meeting Lee he sent him to the rear.
Soon the battle was raging fiercely. Some of the hottest fighting
took place round the American artillery, which was commanded by
General Knox. The guns were doing deadly work, yet moving about
coolly amidst the din and smoke of battle, there might be seen a
saucy young Irish girl, with a mop of red hair, a freckled face,
and flashing eyes. She was the wife of one of the gunners, and so
devoted was she to her husband that she followed him even to battle,
helping him constantly with his gun. His comrades looked upon her
almost as one of the regiment, and called her Captain Molly, and
she wore an artilleryman's coat over her short red skirt, so that
she might look like a soldier.
Captain Molly was returning from a spring nearby with a bucket full
of water, when her husband, who was just about to fire, was killed
by a shot from the enemy. The officer in command, having no one to
take his place, ordered the gun to be removed.
Molly saw her husband fall, heard the command given, and she dropped
her bucket and sprang to the gun.
"Bedad no," she cried. "I'll fire the gun myself, and avenge my
man's death."
It was not the first time that Molly had fired a gun. She was with
her husband at Fort Clinton, when it was taken by the British. As
the enemy scaled the walls the Americans retreated.
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