Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Favorite Images and Artwork, Period and Recreations (including Friends and Acquaintances)
From the Digital Collection of John U. Rees
(Including civilians, army followers, children, toys, laundresses, and sutlers and markets.)
https://www.academia.edu/42991091/Favorite_Images_and_Artwork_Period_and_Recreations_including_Fri
ends_and_Acquaintances
Celena M. Meloche (2014) "British Army Women in the Seven Years' War," The Great Lakes
Journal of Undergraduate History:, vol. 2, no. 1 (2014)
Available at: http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/gljuh/vol2/iss1/1
http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=gljuh
Charlotte Brown, “The Journal of Charlotte Brown, Matron of the General Hospital, with the
English Forces in America, 1754-1756,” in Isabel M. Calder, Colonial Captivities, Marches and
Journeys (Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, Inc., 1935; reprinted 1967), 169-198.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/274738578/Charlotte-Brown-The-Journal-of-Charlotte-Brown-
Matron-of-the-General-Hospital-with-the-English-Forces-in-America-1754-1756
Holly Mayer, “From Forts to Families: Following the Army into Western Pennsylvania, 1758-
1766.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History andBiography 130 (January 2006): 5-43.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/273462949/Holly-Mayer-From-Forts-to-Families-Following-the-Army-
into-Western-Pennsylvania-1758-1766
Sarah Fatherly, “Tending the Army: Women and the British General Hospital in North America,
1754-1763.” Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 10 (Fall 2012), 566-599.
https://www.academia.edu/42952748/Sarah_Fatherly_Tending_the_Army_Women_and_the_Britis
h_General_Hospital_in_North_America_1754-1763_
Carlisle [Pennsylvania]
4th June 1759
Honoured Sir/
Please to hear the Petition of your Poor unfortunate Servant Martha May now confined in
Carlisle Gaol Please you Honr as my husband is an Old Soldier and Seeing him taken out of
the Ranks to be Confined Put me in such a Passion that I was almost beside myself but
being informed, after that I abused Yr Honour, to a High degree for which I ask Yr Honour
a Thousand Pardons, and am Really Sorrow for what I have said&done; Knowing Yr
Honour to be a Compationate, and Merciful Man, I beg and Hope you will take it into
Consideration that it was the Love I had for my Poor husband; and no – hill will to Yr
Honour, which was the cause of abusing so good a Colonel as you are. Please to Sett me at
Liberty this time and I will never dis-oblige yr Honour nor any other Officers belonging to
the Army for the future as I have been a Wife 22 years and have Traveld with my Husband
every Place or Country the Company marcht to and have workt veryhard ever since I was
in the Army I hope yr honour will be so Good as to pardon me this onct time that I may go
with my Poor Husband one time more to carry him and my good officers water in ye hottest
Battles as I have done before.
I am
Yr unfortunate Petitioner and Humble Servant
Mara May
[Endorsed] Petition of Martha May to carry Water to the Soldiers in the heat of Battle
[Addressed] To the Right Honble Colonel Bouquet
___________
Martha May to Henry Bouquet, June 4 1758, D.H. Kent, S. Kirby Stevens, British Library.,
Pennsylvania Historical Commission., Frontier Forts and Trails Survey: The papers of Col: Henry
Bouquet ... (25 volumes: Harrisburg: Department of public instruction, Pennsylvania historical
commission, 1940), vol. 3 (1941), 78. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001262955
Full text also in Peter Karsten, ed., Encyclopedia of War and American Society (3 volumes: MTM
Publishing Inc.: New York, 2005), vol. 3, 1003-1004. Letter of Martha May, an Army wife, to Col
Henry Bouquet, 4 June 1758, Two Hundred Years in Cumberland County (Carlisle, Pa.: Hamilton
Library, 1951), 25.
“Portrait of a Woman,” 1775, by Charles Willson Peale
“`To Cash paid the Revrd. John Mason for Servant Hannah’s wages …': Hannah Till, General
Washington’s Wartime Cook"
https://www.scribd.com/document/330715949/To-Cash-paid-the-Revrd-John-Mason-for-Servant-
Hannah-s-wages-Hannah-Till-General-Washington-s-Wartime-Cook
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
“Remember the Ladies”: Emma Cross and Jenny Lynn as followers of the Delaware Regiment,
1781. Cowpens Battlefield, January 2018.
The aim of this project is to compile names and biographies of women attached to the military forces of
the War for American Independence, 1775 to 1783; Whig (Continental), French, Spanish, British,
German, and Loyalists. This includes females (and their offspring) who followed the troops on campaign,
or served in a camp, garrison, or other settled military post (including artificers and other military support
groups). Spouses and retainers of both enlisted men and officers are eligible. The project will begin with
Continental army and Whig militia female followers. Eventually, we hope to convince people with special
knowledge of the other nations’ armies involved to participate.
Material may be sent to the editor at ju_rees@msn.com or via Facebook messaging (John U. Rees).
Names must be accompanied by supporting source material and a transcription of the same. Please
include available pension narratives and as much detail from other sources as is available. Contributors
will be listed with their submissions. Appended is the recommended structure for entries (courtesy of
Eliza West, revised by John Rees):
BASIC FACTS
Date of birth/age at time of first service with the army:
Date of death:
Names of spouse(s) and date of marriage(s):
Names and birthdates of children:
MILITARY FACTS
Unit (army, regiment, company, etc.):
Campaigns:
Garrison locations:
Battles participated in/observed:
Active dates, during which she was part of the military establishment:
DOCUMENTATION
(Personal account, pension record, company or other returns, etc.)
(Above) Woman holding a camp kettle while two soldiers with spoons eat from it, east side of the
Hudson River, directly across from West Point. (Painted in August 1782.) Detail from Pierre Charles
L'Enfant’s painting of West Point and dependencies. Penciled on back, "Encampment of the
Revolutionary Army on the Hudson River" (Library of Congress description, “Panoramic view of
West Point, New York showing American encampments on the Hudson River”), watercolor, 142.7 x
27.7 cm (sheet), Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540.
(Below) Soldier group, detail from the same L’Enfant painting.
Continental Army Female Followers, 1775-1783
"`The multitude of women': An Examination of the Numbers of Female Followers with the
Continental Army":
Contents
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": Col. Henry Jackson's Regimental Provision Returns
1783: "The proportion of Women which ought to be allowed ..."
Appendices
A. Images, Articles and Additional Information Related to Sullivan’s 1779 Campaign
and Fort Sullivan, Tioga.
B. Articles Providing Contextual Information on the 1781 Virginia Campaign
C. Miscellaneous References to Army Women
1. 1775, 1776, and 1781: “Fire Ships,” “Veneral Disorder,” and Women in Hospital
2. A Woman with the Continental Army, 1777-1783
3. Hospitals, Nurses and a Female Spy, 1776 and 1777
4. Orders Concerning Female Followers, Maj. Gen. John Sullivan’s Division, 1777
5. Horses Belonging to Camp Followers
6. Women Riding Pack Horses on Maj. Gen. John Sullivan's 1779 Expedition
7. Women, 1778-1782: On the March, Doing Laundry, Selling Military Goods, and Sergeant's
Responsibility For Followers
8. Army Orders and George Washington Correspondence Concerning Female Followers
9. Link to Second Study Examining Numbers of Continental Army Female Followers
D. Additional Articles on Continental Army Female Followers by the Author
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)).
https://www.scribd.com/document/125413359/The-multitude-of-women-An-Examination-of-the-
Numbers-of-Female-Followers-With-the-Continental-Army
or
https://www.academia.edu/36174985/_The_multitude_of_women_An_Examination_of_the_Numbe
rs_of_Female_Followers_With_the_Continental_Army
Fording the Brandywine Creek.
(Lisa Carrelli-Kraus and Carrie Fellows)
"`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.
https://www.scribd.com/document/125413719/The-number-of-rations-issued-to-the-women-in-
camp-New-Material-Concerning-Female-Followers-With-Continental-Regiments
or
https://www.academia.edu/36212357/_The_number_of_rations_issued_to_the_women_in_camp._N
ew_Material_Concerning_Female_Followers_With_Continental_Regiments
"'`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”
1. British and German Women with the Army.
2. Women with the Continental Army.
ALHFAM Bulletin (Association of Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums), vol. XXVIII,
no. 4 (Winter 1999), 18-21. http://www.scribd.com/doc/122521121/Some-in-rags-and-some-in-
jags-%E2%80%99-but-none-%E2%80%98in-velvet-gowns-%E2%80%99-Insights-on-
Clothing-Worn-by-Female-Followers-of-the-Armies-During-the-American-War-for
A detachment of Dunlap’s Partisan Corps, in marching order, returning to the main camp. The
lone female follower carries a blanket roll and a market wallet. Dunlap’s Partisan Corps (as
portrayed by the Augusta County Militia and friends). Picquet post at Brandywine event, 24-26
September 2010.
________________
“‘Lately apprehended in the first Maryland regiment …’: African American Women with the
Army,” Excerpted from the upcoming book:
“‘They were good soldiers.’: African Americans Serving in the Continental Army, 1775-1783”
John U. Rees
https://www.academia.edu/38515415/_Lately_apprehended_in_the_first_Maryland_regiment_Afric
an_American_Women_with_the_Army
(With Neal T. Hurst) George Washington’s Wartime Household, Staff, Food, and Equipment,
Washington Papers (Library of Congress), Revolutionary War Accounts Vouchers and Receipted
Accounts (A compendium of primary research from the Washington Papers concerning Gen. George
Washington's military household and the people, free and enslaved, who staffed it.),
https://www.scribd.com/document/452773583/George-Washington-s-Wartime-Household-Staff-
Food-and-Equipment-Washington-Papers-Library-of-Congress-Revolutionary-War-Accounts-
Vouchers-and-Rec
“’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
Nastassia Parker
“`To Cash paid the Revrd. John Mason for Servant Hannah’s wages …': Hannah Till, General
Washington’s Wartime Cook"
https://www.scribd.com/document/330715949/To-Cash-paid-the-Revrd-John-Mason-for-Servant-
Hannah-s-wages-Hannah-Till-General-Washington-s-Wartime-Cook
"`Sospecting the prisner to be a tory ...': A Continental Army Court Martial, July 1777" (This
court martial of a civilian took place in Brigadier General Prudhomme de Borre's 2nd Maryland
Brigade, Major General John Sullivan's Division. De Borre’s brigade contained the 2nd, 4th, and
7th Maryland Regiments, along with the German Regiment and Hazen's 2nd Canadian Regiment.
Of particular interest in these proceedings are the arguments used to entice the soldiers to desert,
reasons for their dissatisfaction, and the testimony of Alice Wood, attached to Hazen's Regiment,
who had left her children behind when she followed her husband into the army.}
The Continental Soldier, vol. IX, no. 1 (Winter/Spring 1997), 45-46, and,
Military Collector & Historian, vol. 60, no. 3 (Fall 2008), 167.
https://www.scribd.com/document/364103303/Sospecting-the-prisner-to-be-a-tory-A-Continental-
Army-Court-Martial-July-1777
SNAPSHOT: “Return of the Number of Men, Women & Children of the British & Foreign
Regiments, New Levies & Civil Departments, Victualled at New York and the Out-Posts the 29
April 1781” (Source: Sir Henry Clinton Papers, vol. 153, folio 44, William L. Clements Library,
Univeristy of Michigan, Ann Arbor, WI)
https://www.academia.edu/36675848/SNAPSHOT_Return_of_the_Number_of_Men_Women_and_
Children_of_the_British_and_Foreign_Regiments_New_Levies_and_Civil_Departments_Victualle
d_at_New_York_and_the_Out-Posts_the_29_April_1781_
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
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
Nicole M. Hayes, “’To Pursue Some Scheme of Industry’: British Army Laundresses, 1768-1783,”
Fortress Niagara Newsletter (December 2000), 15-18, 24.
https://www.academia.edu/42964274/Nicole_M._Hayes_To_Pursue_Some_Scheme_of_Industry_Br
itish_Army_Laundresses_1768-1783_
"A Military Encampment in Hyde Park", 1785, James Malton
(Yale Center for British Art)
(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
Don N. Hagist, “Notes on German Army Women,” The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXXII, no. 2 (Summer
2002), 20.
https://www.academia.edu/36221967/Don_N._Hagist_Notes_on_German_Army_Women_The_Brigad
e_Dispatch_vol._XXXII_no._2_Summer_2002_20
D. 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
E. Refugees and Women following Loyalist Regiments
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
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
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
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
Sarah Elizabeth
____________________________
Molly Gutridge, "A New Touch on the Times. Well adapted to the distressing situation of
every Sea-port Town. By a Daughter of Liberty, living in Marblehead,” 1779, Ola
Elizabeth Winslow, ed., American Broadside Verse from imprints of the 17th and 18th
centuries, selected and edited, with an introductory note … (New Haven, Ct. and London,
1930), 190-191.
Paul E. Kopperman, “Medical Services in the British Army, 1742-1783,” Journal of the History of
Medicine (October 1979), 428-455.
(Anna Maria Lane), Sandra Gioia Treadway, “Anna Maria Lane: An Uncommon Soldier of the
American Revolution,” Virginia Cavalcade, vol. 37, no. 3 (Winter 1988), 134-143.
(Sarah Osborn’s pension narrative), John C. Dann, The Revolution Remembered - Eyewitness
Accounts of the War for Independence (Chicago, Il., 1980), 243-246.
Linda Grant De Pauw, "Women in Combat - The Revolutionary War Experience," Armed Forces
and Society, vol. 7, no. 2. Winter 1981, 209-226. An interesting though flawed article that contends,
without sufficient evidence, that "tens of thousands of women were involved in active combat." For
a rebuttal see McKenney's "Comment" (below).
Janice E. McKenney, "'Women in Combat': Comment,” Armed Forces in Society, vol. 8, no. 4,
Summer 1982, 686-692. A well-reasoned rebuttal to De Pauw's article refuting most of the claims
that author made concerning women in combat.