1

"Some in rags and some in jags,' but none 'in velvet gowns."

Insights on Clothing Worn by Female Followers of the Armies

During the American War for Independence

John U. Rees

(Published in the ALHFAM Bulletin (Association of Living History, Farm and Agricultural

Museums), vol. XXVIII, no. 4 (Winter 1999), 18-21.)

____________________

“Market Girl,” 1776 (detail), Henry Walton, artist

Yale Center of British Art

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Though women were commonly seen with armies in the 18th century, there are few descriptions

of individuals. No matter what country they came from, the wives, children, and consorts of

common soldiers can be grouped together as being of the poorer classes of society. The following

documents illustrate some of the clothing worn by females who followed the British and American

armies, and the contingent of German troops serving the Crown.

First we will look at the wife of a British soldier who, through misfortune, comes to our attention

more than two hundred and twenty years later. As a follower attached to a British regiment, Ann

Miller was present only at the pleasure of unit commanders and would have been required to live

under military law, making herself useful to the regiment. Although her regiment was in a

stationary situation she had to be prepared to travel at a moment’s notice. Assuming that Ann Miller

was telling the truth about her losses, the inventory below is interesting as it shows what was

probably a large portion of the personal goods belonging to a largely unpropertied and itinerant

woman.

A "List of Cloaths taken from Ann Miller of the Roy. Fuzileers at La Parara in Canada,"

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 13 February 1776:1

£ s d

2 Gounds Value ----------- 2 - 0 - 0

1 Black Cloke ------------ 1 - 0 - 0

1 Silk Hatt -------------- 0 - 8 - 0

1 Peticote --------------- 0 - 7 - 6

4 Aprons ----------------- 0 - 12 - 0

1 Pair of Stays ---------- 0 - 12 - 0

3 Shifts ----------------- 0 - 12 - 0

Childrens Cloaths -------- 2 - 0 - 0

1 Bead Tick & 2 Pillows -- 0 - 11 - 0

To provide some context, a detachment of the 7th Regiment, Royal Fusiliers (eighty-eight

officers and men, thirty women, and fifty-one children), had been captured at Chambly on 17

October 1775, and eventually sent south to the barracks at Trenton, New Jersey.2

Also submitted about the same time as Mrs. Miller's list was a "Return of Cloathing Necessarys

&ca that was lost belonging to the Prisoners of His Majestys 7th Regt or Royal Fuzileers at

Trenton." This document contains the names of nineteen soldiers who lost among them numbers of

gaiters, hats, "Fir Gloves," coats, breeches, shirts, neck "Stocks or Rollers," shoes, hose and "Winter

Capps," these last probably Canadian caps. Private Jonathan Miller, probably Ann’s husband, lost

his coat, neck stock, and a pair of breeches and hose. The list includes the cost of the missing

apparel which "were Valued by the Serjeants there is likewise a Whole Years Cloathing lost."3

By comparison the belongings of Mrs. McQueen of the 84th Regiment, Royal Highland

Emigrants, were inventoried after her death, circa 1780, and included,

2 blankets, 4 paticoats, 4 shifts, 3 short gown, 1 pair stockings, 1 pair shoes, 1 apron, 1 coat,

1 waistcoat, 2 shirts.

3

Mrs. McQueen died in Halifax, Nova Scotia, or somewhere in the southern states, elements of the

regiment serving in both places at the time. The man's coat and waistcoat she owned are notable;

soldiers' families in the 84th at Quebec in 1777 were given "suits of clothing complete, hatts,

mocasins, legging cloth, linen yards, Canadian shoes, [and] stockings." Some of this clothing was

obviously men's apparel, implying that female followers commonly wore items of male clothing.4

Next we have two narratives concerning camp followers with German troops under General John

Burgoyne in 1777 as they appeared after their surrender at Saratoga, New York. Militia private

Daniel Granger described the Convention troops immediately after the surrender, including one

distinctive (to him) part of the women's apparel: "... soon the Van of the Prisoners made their

appearance, The Hesson Troops came first with their baggage on Horses... These Troops had some

Women, who wore short Petty coats, bare footed, & bare Leged, with huge Packs on their backs,

some carrying a child & leading an other or two, They were silent, civil, and looked quite

subdued."5

A woman in Boston gave this description, interesting as much for the information corroborating

Granger's account as for additional details. "As the German prisoners marched through Cambridge,

Massachusetts they were accompanied by 'great numbers of women, who seemed to be the beasts of

burthen, having a bushel basket on their back, by which they were bent double, the contents seemed

to be Pots and Kettles, various sorts of Furniture, children peeping thro' gridirons and other utensils,

some very young Infants who were born on the road, the women bare feet, cloathed in dirty rags

...'"6

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While painted some ten years before the American War for Independence, this rare realistic

period portrayal of a British Army female follower nicely personifies the many women who served.

Edward Penny, R.A. (1714-1791), “An Officer Giving Alms to a Sick Soldier” (circa 1765, oil on

canvas). The painting depicts an officer of the 3rd Irish Horse (now the Scots Dragoons Guards)

extending charity to an infantryman and his family. It is a variant of the Marquis of Granby

relieving a sick soldier, which was exhibited by Penny at the Society of Artists in 1765 and which

was presented to the Bodleian by the artist in 1787. The 3rd Irish Horse fought under Granby at

the battle of Warburg in 1760 during the Seven Years War, and it is probable that this painting

may have been commissioned from the artist at the same date.

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What kind of women were these who would choose, or be forced by circumstances, to follow the

army under very trying conditions? There are also few first-hand descriptions of American camp

followers available, but with what little we do have it seems that they were a mixed lot indeed.

Maria Cronkite was the wife of a musician in the 1st New York Regiment and seems to have been

quite well respected. She was thirty-two years old when she followed her husband into the army in

1777. Mrs. Cronkite served “in the capacity of washerwoman for the officers until the close of the

war where her husband was duly discharged ... [and] had while in said service several children ...”7

As might be expected in an army where black soldiers were a substantial minority, camp followers

included at least a few women of color. Here are a few examples from runaway and other

advertisements.

[Pennsylvania Gazette, 7 August 1776] In Mens Clothes. Run away the 30th of July last, from

the Jerseys to Philadelphia or New York, a Mulattoe Woman Slave, named Maria; had on a white

or red and white jacket, white ticken breeches, white stockings, old mens shoes, and an old

beaver hat; she is hardly discernable from a white woman, is rather thinish visage, middle size,

thick legs, long black hair, and about 35 years old; she hath left behind her three young children,

a good master and mistress, and is going towards New York after a married white man, who is a

soldier in the Continental service there. Whoever secures the said Mulattoe in goal, and will

immediately advertise the same in this paper, shall have Four Dollars reward.

[The Pennsylvania Evening Post, February 27, 1777] STOLEN, the 20th instant, eight shirts, four

cambrick stocks, two pair of stockings, one feather bed and bolster, two blankets, one bed tick,

an old sheet, and one pair of shoes. The person who stole the above things, goes by the name of

Polly Welsh, otherwise Polly Cambell. She is a well faced woman, brown hair, black eyes, and

commonly wears a roul in her hair, has a very comely carriage when in her airs, takes a great deal

of snuff, and will get groggy if she can get liquor. She wears a dirty pale green short gown, and

sometimes a blue skirt very much worn, a high crown bonnet, and an old white cloak which she

borrowed of her neighbour.. Any person who apprehends the said Mary, shall have Six Dollars

reward by applying to Michael Welsh, Serjeant in the Tenth battalion of Pennsylvania regulars;

or to Capt. Lewis Farmer in Second-street, between Vine and Race streets.

[The Pennsylvania Evening Post, 15 July 1777] Ran away from the subscriber the 14

th of June last,

a Scotch servant girl named JENNET STEVENSON, or may call herself STEINSON; she is short

and chunky, has a small cast with one eye, light brown hair, fresh colour, and full faced. She had on,

when she went away, a striped homespun blue and white short gown, red and blue striped linsey

petticoat, the colours dim. She took with her a long calico gown with a pompadour ground, stamped

in a lace pattern with small flowers, one white, one check, and two homespun aprons, flax and tow,

blue stays with white stomacher, and a plain black mode bonnet with a broad paduasoy riband

puffed on it. She was seen with one Thomas Cook going to camp, and was seen coming into town

this day with Proctor’s artillery, very dirty, in a short gown and petticoat, and barefoot.

[New Jersey Gazette, 28 October 1778] Fifty Dollars Reward. Ran away on the evening of the

7th inst. from Trenton ferry, a likely Mulatto slave, named Sarah, but since calls herself Rachael;

She took her son with her, a Mulatto boy named Bob, about six years old, has a remarkable fair

complexion, with flaxen hair: She is a lusty wench, about 34 years of age, big with child; had on

a striped linsey petticoat, linen jacket, flat shoes, a large white cloth cloak, and a blanket, but

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may change her dress, as she has other cloathes with her. She was lately apprehended in the first

Maryland regiment, where she pretends to have a husband, with whom she has been the principal

part of this campaign, and passed herself as a free woman. Whoever apprehends said woman and

boy, and will secure them in any gaol, so that their master may get them again, shall receive the

above reward, by applying to Mr. Blair M’Clenachan, of Philadephia, Capt. Benjamin Brooks, of

the third Maryland regiment, at camp, or to Mr. James Sterret, in Baltimore. Mordecai Gist.

Camp follower in marching order.

Illustration by John R. Wright, courtesy of the artist.

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For an unflattering view of the army's followers, this time on the move in 1780, we turn to

Joseph Plumb Martin. Although women are not specifically mentioned in his account their presence

is inferred. After being separated from his unit Martin

had an opportunity to see the baggage of the army pass. When that of the middle states passed us, it

was truly amusing to see the number and habiliments of those attending it; of all specimens of

human beings, this group capped the whole. A caravan of wild beasts could bear no comparison

with it. There was "Tag, Rag and Bobtail"; "some in rags and some in jags," but none "in velvet

gowns." [author's emphasis] Some with two eyes, some with one, and some, I believe, with none at

all ... their dialect, too, was as confused as their bodily appearance was odd and disgusting. There

was the Irish and Scotch brogue, murdered English, flat insipid Dutch and some lingoes which

would puzzle a philosopher ... I was glad to see the tail end of the train ...8

Some insight into how camp followers replaced worn-out clothing may be useful. Several

attempts were made by the government or army to procure clothing for the women. In autumn 1778

the U.S. Board of War recommended that when a shipment of new clothes was issued, the soldiers'

old clothing be collected and a part given to "the followers of the Army." This plan was never

realized as George Washington decided to "let the matter drop" when he learned the troops "looked

upon it as an unjustifiable attempt to deprive them of what they had earned by their years service ..."

Two years later, attempting to mollify Pennsylvania soldiers after their January 1781 mutiny,

Joseph Reed recommended that the Council of Pennsylvania, "take some notice of their women and

children by providing some decent clothing, which they have not at present. There are about 100 of

them, and, like ourselves, they have their attachments and affections. A new gown, silk

handkerchief, and a pair of shoes, &c., would be but little expense, and I think as a present from the

State would have more effect than ten times the same laid out in articles for the men." The clothing

was to be "given only to those soldiers' wives who continue in the service."9

Female followers likely made their own clothing when materials were available. This can be

inferred from knowledge that common soldiers occasionally found time, and had the expertise, to

sew clothing for themselves. Sergeant Jeremiah Greenman writing between 6-11 March 1778,

noted, "Implying my Self in making a westcoat." In 1781, while a prisoner of the British,

Greenman, now a lieutenant, made a quantity of clothing. 22 May, "... got a pair of overhalls cut

out, then returned to my Quaters & implyed myself Remainder of the day." 23 May, "Implying

myself in making my overalls." 24-25 May, "... made a pair of Socks." 31 May, "... made a Linning

Vest with the assi[s]tance of my Land la[d]y." 8 June, "... implying myself in making two linning

night Caps." Some soldiers were skilled at other crafts, which they found leisure time to ply.

Massachusetts soldier Nahum Parker made a number of pairs of shoes in 1780. The day before he

joined the army he wrote, "Wednesday 5 [July] I made a pair of shoes." Later in the year, while with

Washington's army, at or near Tappan, New York, he made a number of such entries. A few

examples: "Sunday 24 [September] ... I made A pare of Mogosons and Mended my shoes / God

forgive me." "27 [October] I made A pare of womens shoes." "2 [November] I finished A pare of

Boots ..." "November Tuesday 7th 1780 ... I begun A Pare of Shoes for A Woman." "Wednesday 8

I finished the shoes ..." It is probable the woman's shoes were for an army retainer.10

8

Woman in working dress, wearing a man’s felt hat, surtout coat, and linen apron over her skirt. A

good representation of a camp follower. On a march old knapsacks, linen wallets, or sacks would

more likely be used to carry necessaries; baskets would be tedious to carry and hold few

belongings. Peter F. Copeland, Working Dress in Colonial and Revolutionary America

(Westport, Ct. and London: Greenwood Press, 1977), 48.

In summation, besides their common connection with lower levels of the social strata, these

women had diverse experiences. Their background may have dictated kinds of clothing they

preferred or were familiar with, but the vagaries of war affected what was available to them, often

resulting in shortages and hardship. Ann Miller may have owned a lot of clothing for one in her

situation, but she can be compared to Sarah, the American follower, who besides "a striped linsey

petticoat, linen jacket, flat shoes, a large white cloth cloak, and a blanket," had "other cloaths with

her." Ann Miller was coming from what had been a peacetime military establishment shortly before

her capture; Sarah had probably acquired her clothing while living with her former master, though

she may have added to her belongings while with the army. Mrs. McQueen's clothing inventory

represented all the belongings she owned, but it is not known whether she was serving in garrison

or with the moving army. The German women show another side of military life. After leaving

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Canada with Burgoyne's army, they had marched long distances through rough country, in difficult

conditions. They may have started off well-shod, well-clad, and in good spirits, but an arduous

campaign had left them with "bare feet, cloathed in dirty rags," and probably wishing they had

never joined the army at all.

Another example of the rough, utilitarian clothing likely worn by army camp followers;

round felt hat, kerchief, shawl, coarse linen apron, woolen stockings, and moccasins.

Peter F. Copeland, Working Dress in Colonial and Revolutionary America

(Westport, Ct. and London: Greenwood Press, 1977), 99.

10

Photograph courtesy of Carmen Marusich and the 40th Foot, 2d Battalion Light Infantry.

11

(Note: I include this illustration with a caveat. When I was first made aware of this image, I

was quite taken with it. There are very few pictorial representations of black freedmen in

18th century, and those of individual black females, free or black, even rarer.

Unfortunately in this case the artist seems not to have followed the description to the letter,

as the woman portrayed here does not seem to be a mixed blood mulatto (a person with one

black and one white parent). Perhaps one day I can persuade a willing artist to paint

another portrayal; in the meantime, this will have to do.)

18 October 1778: "RUN-AWAY ... a likely MULATTO slave, named Sarah, but since calls

herself Rachael; she took her son with her, a Mulatto boy named Bob, about six years old ...

She was lately apprehended in the first Maryland regiment, where she pretends to have a

husband, with whom she has been the principal part of this campaign, and passed herself

off as a free woman." Runaway advertisement, The Brigade Dispatch, vol. X, no. 4

(Sept./Oct. 1974), 15. Illustration by Peter F. Copeland, courtesy of the artist.

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Endnotes

1. The Papers of the Continental Congress 1774-1789, National Archives Microfilm Publications

M247, (Washington, DC, 1958), reel 71, p. 421. These belongings were probably lost at La Prairie

de la Magdeleine on the south bank of the St. Lawrence River, roughly between Chambly and

Montreal. Lester J. Cappon, ed., Atlas of Early American History, The Revolutionary War 1760-

1790 (Princeton, N.J., 1976), 2.

2. Mark M. Boatner, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution (New York, N.Y., 1966), 193. The

colors of the Royal Fusiliers were captured and are in the collections at West Point Military

Academy.

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3. "Accounts of Sundries belonging [to] the [soldiers] Taken at Chamblee lost or stolen on the Road

as is Said," [undated], Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 71, p. 429.

4. Kim Stacey. "A Women on Campaign: Clothing of a Soldier's Wife in the 84th Regiment," The

Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXVII, no. 4 (Winter 1997), 12.

5. M.M. Quaife, ed., "Documents - A Boy Soldier Under Washington: The Memoir of Daniel

Granger", Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XVI, 4 (March 1930), 547.

6. Walter Hart Blumenthal, Women Campfollowers of the American Revolution (New York, N.Y.,

1974), 27-28.

7. Pension papers of Patrick Cronkite, fifer, 1st New York Regiment, 1777-1783, supplementary

depositions of Maria Cronkite (nee Humphrey) and Hendrick Plimley, Revolutionary War Pension

and Bounty - Land - Warrant Application Files, National Archives Microfilm Publication M804,

reel 695, W16932. Mordecai Gist, runaway advertisement, 18 October 1778, The Brigade Dispatch

(Journal of the Brigade of the American Revolution), vol. X, no. 4 (Sept./Oct. 1974), p. 15.

8. Joseph Plumb Martin, Private Yankee Doodle: A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers

and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier (New York, N.Y., 1962), 197-198. For Martin's

references to "southerners" and "southern troops" see, 112-113, 135-136, 145-146.

9. George Washington to the Board of War, 11 November 1778, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The

Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, vol. 13

(Washington, DC, 1936), 245-246. Joseph Reed to the Council of Pennsylvania, 11 January 1781.

John B. Linn and William H. Egle, eds. Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, vol. XI (Harrisburg,

Pa., 1880), 669-670.

10. Robert C. Bray and Paul E. Bushnell, eds., Diary of a Common Soldier in the American

Revolution: An Annotated Edition of the Military Journal of Jeremiah Greenman, (DeKalb, Il.,

1978), 112, 209-210. Journal of Nahum Parker for six months service in the 15th Massachusetts

Regiment, 1780, Revolutionary War Pension Files, reel 1874.

For further reading on British, German, and American female followers in the War for

Independence see:

Walter Hart Blumenthal, Women Camp Followers of the American Revolution (New York, 1974), "British

Camp Women on the Ration", 15-54. "American Camp Women Under Washington", 57-90.

Don N. Hagist, "The Women of the British Army, A General Overview. Part 1 - Who & How Many," The

Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXIV, no. 3 (Summer 1993), 2-10; "Part 2 - Sober, Industrious Women," vol.

XXIV, no. 4 (Autumn 1993), 9-17; "Part 3 - Living Conditions," vol. XXV, no. 1 (Spring 1995), 11-16;

"Part 4 - Lives of Women and Children," vol. XXV, no. 2 (Summer 1995), 8-14.

Holly A. Mayer, Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community during the American Revolution

(Columbia, S.C., 1996)

Elizabeth Cometti, “Women in the American Revolution,” The New England Quarterly, vol. XX,

no. 3 (September 1947), 335-337.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/213814242/Elizabeth-Cometti-%E2%80%9CWomen-in-the-American-

Revolution-%E2%80%9D-The-New-England-Quarterly-vol-XX-no-3-September-1947-335-337

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(Part 1) Bruce E. Burgoyne, “Women with the Hessian Auxiliaries during the American

Revolutionary War,” The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXVI, no. 1 (Spring 1996), 2-8.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/214066869/Bruce-E-Burgoyne-%E2%80%9CWomen-with-the-

Hessian-Auxiliaries-during-the-American-Revolutionary-War-%E2%80%9D-The-Brigade-

Dispatch-vol-XXVI-no-1-Spring-1996-2

(Part 2) Bruce E. Burgoyne, “Women with the Hessian Auxiliaries during the American

Revolutionary War,” The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXVI, no. 1 (Spring 1996), 19-23.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/214077163/Part-2-Bruce-E-Burgoyne-%E2%80%9CWomen-with-the-

Hessian-Auxiliaries-during-the-American-Revolutionary-War-%E2%80%9D-The-Brigade-

Dispatch-vol-XXVI-no-1-Spring

Bruce E. Burgoyne, “Women with Hessian Military Units” (being a compendium of women

identified as having followed German corps during the American War, 1775-1783), The Brigade

Dispatch, vol. XXVI, no. 3 (Autumn 1996), 2-10.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/214347053/Part-1-Bruce-E-Burgoyne-%E2%80%9CWomen-with-

Hessian-Military-Units%E2%80%9D-being-a-compendium-of-women-identified-as-having-

followed-German-corps-during-the-Amer

Paul E. Kopperman, "The British High Command and Soldiers' Wives In America, 1755-1783,"

Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, no. 60 (1982), 14-34. Married women, 14;

women's duties, 15-16, 21; number of women in the Continental Army, 16; the thoughts of the high

command concerning women, 16; the number of women in the army and individual regiments, 19-

20, 26-28; women's rations, 22-23; women as patients in hospital, 31, 33.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/214779011/Paul-E-Kopperman-The-British-High-Command-and-

Soldiers-Wives-In-America-1755-1783-Journal-of-the-Society-for-Army-Historical-Research-no-60

Don N, Hagist, “Women on Burgoyne’s Campaign,” The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXX, no. 4 (Winter

2000), 18-20

http://www.scribd.com/doc/213934713/Don-N-Hagist-%E2%80%9CWomen-on-

Burgoyne%E2%80%99s-Campaign-%E2%80%9D-The-Brigade-Dispatch-vol-XXX-no-4-Winter-

2000-18-20

Mrs. Middleton and Mary Driskill, the Experiences of Two Women with British Regiments

Don N. Hagist, “Mrs. Middleton Takes Prisoners,” The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXIX, no. 3 (Autumn

1999), 17 (a British Army woman’s experiences, from a primary source).

Don N. Hagist, “Mary Driskill, 10th

Regiment of Foot,” The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXX, no. 2

(Summer 2000), 15 (a British Army woman’s experiences, from a primary source).

http://www.scribd.com/doc/214783573/Mrs-Middleton-and-Mary-Driskill-the-Experiences-of-

Two-Women-with-British-Regiments-Don-N-Hagist-%E2%80%9CMrs-Middleton-Takes-

Prisoners-%E2%80%9D-The-Brigade

Apparel and Goods Issued to Female Followers of American Troops

Don N. Hagist, “She was very fond of soldiers,” The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXIX, no. 2 (Summer

2000), 15-16.

Don N. Hagist, “The Women of Fort Jefferson” (goods issued to individuals at a Kentucky fort,

1780-1781), The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXX, no. 1 (Spring 2000), 21-23.

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http://www.scribd.com/doc/214790248/Apparel-Worn-by-and-Goods-Issued-to-Female-Followers-

of-American-Troops-Don-N-Hagist-She-was-very-fond-of-soldiers-The-Brigade-Dispatch-vol-XXI

French Troops and Female Followers

René Chartrand, “Notes Concerning Women in the 18th Century French Army,” The Brigade

Dispatch, vol. XXV, no. 3 (Summer 1995), 2 (explanation of the relative paucity of women with

French forces in America).

Donald J. Brandt, “Rochambeau's Army, and Women in America,” The Brigade Dispatch, vol.

XXV, no. 3 (Summer 1995), 3 (insights on women with and around a French regiment).

http://www.scribd.com/doc/214927135/French-Troops-and-Female-Followers-Rene-Chartrand-

%E2%80%9CNotes-Concerning-Women-in-the-18th-Century-French-Army-%E2%80%9D-The-

Brigade-Dispatch-vol-XXV-no

Refugees and Women following Loyalist Regiments (Part 1)

Todd W. Braisted, "Refugees & Others: Loyalist Families in the American War for Independence,"

The Brigade Dispatch (Journal of the Brigade of the American Revolution), two parts: vol. XXVI, no.

4 (Winter 1996), 2-7; vol. XXVII, no. 2 (Summer 1997), 2-6.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/214984897/Refugees-and-Women-following-Loyalist-Regiments-Part-

1-Todd-W-Braisted-Refugees-Others-Loyalist-Families-in-the-American-War-for-Independence

Refugees and Women following Loyalist Regiments (Part 2)

Todd W. Braisted, "Refugees & Others: Loyalist Families in the American War for Independence,"

The Brigade Dispatch (Journal of the Brigade of the American Revolution), two parts: vol. XXVI, no.

4 (Winter 1996), 2-7; vol. XXVII, no. 2 (Summer 1997), 2-6.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/214995035/Refugees-and-Women-following-Loyalist-Regiments-Part-

2-Todd-W-Braisted-Refugees-Others-Loyalist-Families-in-the-American-War-for-Independence

"`The multitude of women': An Examination of the Numbers of Female Camp Followers with the

Continental Army": 1777 and 1780: A Common Thread?

1776 to 1782: “Necessary to keep the Soldier's clean"

1781: "Their Wives all of whom ... Remained" - Women on Campaign With the Army

1781: "The women with the army who draw provisions"

1782: "Rations ... Without Whiskey" - Colonel Henry Jackson's Regimental

Provision Returns

1783: "The proportion of Women which ought to be allowed ..."

The Brigade Dispatch (Journal of the Brigade of the American Revolution)

Three parts: vol. XXIII, no. 4 (Autumn 1992), 5-17; vol. XXIV, no. 1 (Winter 1993),

6-16; vol. XXIV, no. 2 (Spring 1993), 2-6 (Reprinted in Minerva: Quarterly Report

on Women and the Military, vol. XIV, no. 2 (Summer 1996)).

http://revwar75.com/library/rees/wnumb1.htm

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"`The number of rations issued to the women in camp.': New Material Concerning Female Followers

With Continental Regiments": Female Followers with the Troops at Wyoming:Prelude to Sullivan's Campaign, 1779

"Provisions and Stores Issued to the Grand Army": Female Followers at

Middlebrook, 1779

“The women belonging to their respective corps": Further Analysis and Comparison of the

Returns of Women

The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXVIII, no. 1 (Spring 1998), 2-10; vol. XXVIII, no. 2

(Summer 1998), 2-12, 13. http://revwar75.com/library/rees/wnumb2.htm

"’The proportion of Women which ought to be allowed...’: An Overview of Continental Army

Female Camp Followers” 1. “A clog upon every movement. “: Numbers

2. "Rations... Without Whiskey": Women’s Food Allowance

3. "Some men washed their own clothing.": Women's Duties and Shelter

4. Orders Concerning Women in the Summer of 1777 (Delaware Regiment of Maj. Gen. John

Sullivan’s Division

5. "Coming into the line of fire.": Women on the March or on Campaign

Appendices

A. An Estimate of Females with Continental Army Units

on the March to Yorktown, 1781

B. Mess Roll of Capt. John Ross’s Company, 3d New Jersey Regiment

C. Tent Assignments in Lt. Col. John Wrottesley’s (3d) Company, 1st Battalion,

Brigade of (British) Guards (Including “British Army orders regarding female

followers, summer 1777”)

D. Period Images of Army Followers or Poor to Middling Female Civilians

E. Photographs of Army Women at Living History Events

F. Online Articles Pertaining to Female Camp Followers and Related Subjects

During the War for American Independence

G. Other Authors’ Monographs (Women Following the Army)

The Continental Soldier, vol. VIII, no. 3 (Spring 1995), 51-58. ALHFAM Bulletin

(Association of Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums), vol. XXVIII, no. 4 (Winter

1999), 18-21.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/255868431/The-proportion-of-Women-which-ought-to-be-

allowed-An-Overview-of-Continental-Army-Female-Camp-Followers

“’Remember[ing] the Ladies’: Margaret Johnson and Elizabeth Evans, Women of the New Jersey

Brigade” http://www.scribd.com/doc/235418684/Remember-ing-the-Ladies-Margaret-

Johnson-and-Elizabeth-Evans-Women-of-the-New-Jersey-Brigade

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Sarah Mary Benjamin (nee’ Mathews), formerly Sarah Osborn (1743-1858).

Richard O. Eldred, "The Heroine of Yorktown,” Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine

(November 1984), 635-636, 698. (See also, 18th-century American Women (World Wide Web),

http://b-womeninamericanhistory18.blogspot.com/2010/01/sarah-osborns-revolutionay-war-

service.html )

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(Painting by Don Troiani, www.historicalimagebank.com )