During the American Revolution, Virginia women joined the ranks of the Continental Army’s female camp followers, and Virginia played host to women from other states who accompanied their husbands to battle in the Old Dominion. The vast majority of the women who followed their soldier husbands did so out of economic necessity, but the most famous Virginia woman to become a camp follower was Commander in Chief George Washington’s wife, Martha Washington. While officers’ wives like Martha Washington helped boost the troops’ morale and provided social support to their husbands, most “Women of the Army,” as George Washington called them, helped with the day-to-day tasks of maintaining the Continental Army. They mended and washed clothes, helping to stem the spread of communicable diseases, cooked food, sometimes perilously close to the front lines, and nursed the sick and wounded. Despite the popular conception that many women in camp were prostitutes, there is little evidence that prostitution was widespread among American camp followers. Women camp followers were subject to army regulations, and their behavior was scrutinized by officers on the lookout for freeloaders, spies, and illicit activity. Like other Virginians, Virginia’s camp followers played a crucial role supporting the army during the American Revolution.
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