During the Battle of Monmouth, thirst and heat killed almost as many men as cannons and muskets, and everyone was desperate for water. On June 28, 1778, temperatures in the fields rose above 100 degrees, and on this hill alone 7000 men were stationed, most trapped in the baking sun. The only water available was from farmhouse wells, two brooks, and springs flowing into the brooks. Farm wells were drunk dry, and brook water was warm and muddy, making the clean, cool water from this spring a priceless, lifesaving drink. Hundreds of men, and probably Molly Hays, filled canteens and buckets here. A British grenadier, Lt. William Hale of the 45th Regiment, 2nd Grenadiers, recalled marching five miles on a road of sand that scorched through their shoes, with the sun beating on their heads and not a drop of water to relieve their thirst, while some soldiers collapsed and died from the strain. He also wrote that during the cannonade he and Courtnay lay under the hill and drank a canteen of water after an artillery driver, tempted by a dollar, crawled through the fire on all fours to fetch it at great risk to his life.