Camp Followers

In the fall of 1781, Sarah Osborn set up camp near Yorktown, Virginia. Her husband was a soldier in the American army. The men dug trenches near the British lines. Osborn washed their clothes and cooked their food. Then she carried beef, bread and coffee out to the men in the trenches.

Who the Camp Followers Were

Osborn was a camp follower. A camp follower was not a soldier. She traveled with the army and worked for it. Most camp followers were women and children. Many were the wives and children of soldiers.

The army had no cooks or nurses of its own. The women did that work. They washed clothes. They cooked. They cared for the sick and the wounded. In return, the army gave them rations. Rations are a daily share of food. Sometimes a woman got only half of a soldier's share.

How Many There Were

No one counted all the women. There were a few thousand over the whole war. That was about one woman for every thirty soldiers. In the winter of 1777 the army marched into Valley Forge. It had about 12,000 soldiers and about 400 women. The women stayed all winter.

General George Washington did not always want them there. In August 1777 he told his officers to send away any woman the army did not need. The women who washed and nursed stayed.

Not One Kind of Woman

Camp followers did not all live the same way. Officers' wives came to the winter camp. They had warm houses and servants. A soldier's wife walked with the wagons and worked for her food. Some officers brought enslaved women. They did the same work for no pay. They had no choice about being there.

The Surrender at Yorktown

One day Osborn met General Washington. He asked if she was afraid of the cannon balls. She said no. She said the men could not fight and starve too. In October 1781, the British army gave up. Osborn heard the officers cheer and wave their hats. One of them told her the British had surrendered.

Most camp followers left no record. Osborn's story is known because of one paper. In 1837, when she was 81, she told her story to a court. She asked for a pension. A pension is money paid for service in a war. A clerk wrote down her words.

In the fall of 1781, Sarah Osborn set up her camp just behind the American tents, about a mile from Yorktown, Virginia. Her husband, Aaron Osborn, was a soldier in the Continental Army. While the men dug trenches toward the British lines, she washed and mended their clothes and cooked their food. Then she carried beef, bread and coffee in a gallon pot out to the men in the trenches.

Who the Camp Followers Were

Osborn was one of thousands of people who traveled with the army without being soldiers. They were called camp followers. Most were women and children, and many were the wives and children of soldiers. Some were servants, and some were enslaved women brought along by officers.

An army in the 1700s had no cooks, laundry workers or nurses of its own. The women did that work. They washed and mended clothes, cooked, and nursed the sick and wounded. In return the army gave them rations, a daily share of food. A woman who took rations had to work for them. Some posts gave a woman a full soldier's ration, and some gave only half. The records do not agree.

How Many There Were

No one counted every woman who followed the army, so historians can only estimate. One estimate is that about 4,000 women served with the Continental Army over the whole war. On average there was about one woman for every thirty soldiers, but the number changed from regiment to regiment. When the army marched into Valley Forge on December 19, 1777, it had about 12,000 soldiers and about 400 women. The women stayed through the winter.

Commanders did not always want them there. On August 4, 1777, General George Washington ordered his officers to send away every woman the army did not need. He wrote that women with small children slowed down every march. The women who washed and nursed stayed, because the army could not do without them.

Not One Kind of Woman

Camp followers lived very differently depending on who their husbands were. Officers' wives like Martha Washington came to winter quarters, the camp where the army stayed from late fall to spring. They lived in houses and hosted dinners. A soldier's wife walked with the baggage wagons and worked for her rations. An enslaved woman brought by an officer did the same work for no pay and had no choice about being there.

A few women ended up in the fighting. At Fort Washington in November 1776, Margaret Corbin took her husband's place at a cannon after he was killed. At Monmouth in June 1778, Mary Ludwig Hays carried water to the guns. Her story became the legend of "Molly Pitcher."

The Surrender at Yorktown

One day, as Osborn carried food to the trenches, she met General Washington. He asked her if she was afraid of the cannon balls. She told him it "would not do for the men to fight and starve too." On October 19, 1781, the British army at Yorktown surrendered. Osborn remembered the drums beating and the American officers cheering and swinging their hats. One of them told her that the British had given up.

Most camp followers left no record of their lives. Osborn's story survives because of one document. In 1837, at age 81, she went to a court in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, and told her story under oath to claim a pension, money the government paid for service in the war. A clerk wrote down her words, and the paper is in the National Archives today.

In the fall of 1781, a woman named Sarah Osborn set up her camp just behind the American tents, about a mile from Yorktown, Virginia. Her husband, Aaron Osborn, was a soldier in the Continental Army. While the men dug trenches toward the British lines, she washed and mended their clothes and cooked their food. Then she carried beef, bread and coffee in a gallon pot out to the men in the trenches.

Who the Camp Followers Were

Osborn was one of thousands of civilians who traveled with the armies of the Revolution. Soldiers called them camp followers, people who were not soldiers but who lived and moved with the army. Most were women and children, and many were the wives and children of enlisted men. Some were servants, and some were enslaved women brought along by officers.

An army in the 1700s had no cooks, laundry workers or hospital staff of its own, so the women did that work. They washed and mended clothes, cooked, and nursed the sick and wounded. A woman who drew rations, the daily share of food the army handed out, had to work for them, mainly by washing and nursing. Whether she received a full soldier's ration or half of one varied from post to post, and the records do not agree.

How Many There Were

No one counted all the women who followed the Continental Army, so historians can only estimate. One estimate is that about 4,000 women served with the army over the whole war. On average there was about one woman for every thirty soldiers, though the number varied widely from regiment to regiment. When the army marched into Valley Forge on December 19, 1777, it had about 12,000 soldiers and about 400 women. The women stayed through the winter with the men.

Commanders did not always want them there. On August 4, 1777, as the army marched through Pennsylvania, General George Washington ordered his officers to send away every woman who was not needed. His orders said that "the multitude of women," especially those who were pregnant or had children, "are a clog upon every movement." The women who washed and nursed stayed, because the army could not do without them.

Not One Kind of Woman

Camp followers lived very differently depending on who their husbands were. Officers' wives such as Martha Washington and Catharine Greene joined the army in winter quarters, the camp where an army stayed from late fall until spring. They lived in houses or large tents and hosted dinners. An enlisted man's wife walked with the baggage wagons and worked for her rations. An enslaved woman brought by an officer did the same work for no pay and had no choice about being there.

A few women ended up in the fighting. At Fort Washington in November 1776, Margaret Corbin took her husband's place at a cannon after he was killed, and she was badly wounded. At Monmouth in June 1778, Mary Ludwig Hays carried water to the guns, and her story became the legend of "Molly Pitcher."

The Surrender at Yorktown

Osborn was carrying food to the trenches one day when she met General Washington. He asked her whether she "was not afraid of the cannon balls." She told him it "would not do for the men to fight and starve too." On October 19, 1781, the British army at Yorktown surrendered. Osborn remembered the morning the firing stopped. Drums beat on the British side, the American officers cheered and swung their hats, and one of them told her, "the British have surrendered."

Most camp followers left no record of their lives. Osborn's story survives because of one document. In 1837, at age 81, she went to a court in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, and told her story under oath so that she could claim a pension, money the government paid for service in the war. The pension was granted. A clerk wrote down what she said, and her words are in the National Archives today.

In the fall of 1781, a woman named Sarah Osborn set up her camp just behind the American tents, about a mile from Yorktown, Virginia. Her husband, Aaron Osborn, was a soldier in the Continental Army assigned to guard the commissary, the department that fed the army. While the men dug trenches toward the British lines, she "busied herself washing, mending and cooking for the soldiers," as she later put it, and carried beef, bread and coffee in a gallon pot out to the men in the entrenchments.

Who the Camp Followers Were

Osborn was one of thousands of civilians who moved with the armies of the Revolution. The army called them camp followers, people who were not soldiers but who lived, marched and worked with the army. Most were women and children, often the families of enlisted men. Some were servants, and some were enslaved women brought along by officers. On the march from West Point to Philadelphia in 1781, Osborn traveled with the wives of a lieutenant and a sergeant and with a Black woman named Letta.

An eighteenth-century army had no cooks, laundry or hospital staff of its own, so this work fell to the women. A woman who drew rations, the daily allowance of food, had to work for them, mainly by washing and nursing. How much food she received is not settled. The British army gave a woman half a soldier's ration, and it is not clear whether American posts did the same. The Continental Army's later regulations allowed each woman one full ration and each child a half ration.

Counting the Women

Army returns, the lists of everyone drawing rations, are the main record of how many women followed the Continental Army. The return for December 1777 at Valley Forge listed 400 women, or one woman for every 44 enlisted men. At New Windsor, New York, in 1783 the count was about one woman for every 26 men. The historian John Rees, who has studied these returns, estimates that women averaged one for every thirty soldiers over the war, or about 3 percent of the army. Perhaps 4,000 served over the whole war.

Commanders counted the women because they wanted fewer of them. In his General Orders of August 4, 1777, Washington wrote that "the multitude of women in particular, especially those who are pregnant, or have children, are a clog upon every movement." He told his officers "to get rid of all such as are not absolutely necessary." The order did not remove the women who washed and nursed. The army depended on them, and its commanders knew it.

Not One Kind of Woman

Camp followers were divided by rank and by race. Officers' wives such as Martha Washington and Catharine Greene, the wife of General Nathanael Greene, joined the army in winter quarters, the camp where an army stayed from late fall until spring. They lived in houses, kept servants, and hosted dinners and dances. An enlisted man's wife walked with the baggage wagons, drew her ration, and worked for it. An enslaved woman brought by a slaveholding officer did the same work without pay and without any choice about being there.

A few women took part in the fighting itself. At Fort Washington in November 1776, Margaret Corbin took her husband's place at a cannon after he was killed and was badly wounded. In 1779 Congress voted her a pension, the first it granted to a woman. At Monmouth in June 1778, Mary Ludwig Hays carried water to the guns. Her story is the basis of the "Molly Pitcher" legend, and historians are not sure how much of the legend is hers.

The Surrender at Yorktown

Osborn's own account gives the siege from the edge of the trenches. One day, as she carried provisions, she met General Washington, who asked her whether she "was not afraid of the cannon balls." She answered that "the bullets would not cheat the gallows" and that it "would not do for the men to fight and starve too." On the morning the firing stopped, she heard drums beating on the British side, and the American officers "hurra'd and swung their hats." One of them told her, "the British have surrendered." On October 19, 1781, the British army marched out of Yorktown with its drums covered in black cloth and laid down its arms in a field outside the town.

How Historians Know

Most camp followers left no record at all, and Osborn's story survives because of two acts of Congress. In 1836 and 1837 Congress allowed the widows of Revolutionary soldiers to apply for pensions. On November 20, 1837, at age 81, Osborn appeared before the Court of Common Pleas of Wayne County, Pennsylvania, and told her story under oath. The clerk wrote it down and called her the deponent, the person who gives sworn testimony. The pension was granted. Her deposition is kept in the National Archives in the pension file of Aaron Osborn, file number W4558.