George Washington’s Women of the Army

For as long as there have been armies, there likely have been camp followers—the civilians, usually women, who tagged along providing goods and services to soldiers. And for just as long, camp followers have been derided as nuisances at best and prostitutes at worst—hangers-on looking to exploit the loneliness and wages of military personnel. 

But as our new entry by Rebecca Rose on Women of the Army shows, the women who accompanied Continental and militia troops were anything but. In fact, the sobriquet “women of the army” was conferred on the camp followers of the American Revolution by none other than Continental Army Commander in Chief George Washington once he realized the valuable services these women provided. Washington issued twenty-five orders during the war specifically addressing things like regulations and rations for women of the army.

Washington wasn’t always so appreciative, fearing that the women and children following soldiers would be a “clog” on the army’s efficiency. But reality soon showed him otherwise. Women provided essential services such as cooking, nursing, and washing—the latter turned out to be especially important in curbing the spread of diseases such as typhus that regularly ravaged encampments. 

But women were important to the function of the army in another way that Washington soon recognized. Not only was the presence of their wives important for the morale of troops—Martha Washington was herself a regular visitor at winter headquarters—but many men would have to leave the army to support their families if they couldn’t follow along and receive rations. 

When the Continental Congress proposed to limit the number of rations for women to control expenses, Washington reminded them that many had been forced to flee their homes as a result of wartime violence and destruction and “have no other means of subsistence.” He felt it better to provide additional rations than “loose by Desertion … some of the oldest and best Soldiers in the Service.”

Black women following the army had another motive—escape from slavery, though that route lay through following the British Army, especially after Virginia Governor Lord Dunmore issued his proclamation offering freedom to those enslaved by Patriots who could escape to the British.

Figuring out just how many women served as women of the army is difficult, however. According to historian John Rees, there was about one woman camp follower for about every thirty men in the Continental Army. Records from Virginia regiments fighting in the Revolutionary War show about 75 women attached at any given time. This means that hundreds of Virginia women likely served as women of the army over the course of the war.

So the next time someone snickers at “camp followers” as little better than prostitutes, remember that Washington’s “women of the army” helped to win the war.