Question: Pierre Eugène Du Simitière’s 1777 sketch of North Carolina soldiers includes two female camp followers in the wagon. What role did female camp followers play during the Revolutionary War?
Answer: Pierre Eugène Du Simitière’s 1777 sketch depicting two female camp followers highlights the domestic roles women played in army camps during the war, such as washing, cooking, mending clothes, and providing medical help when necessary.
Sometimes these women were even flung into battle, such as in the case of Mary Ludwig Hays, who brought soldiers water on an extremely hot day and then replaced her wounded husband at his artillery piece, firing at the oncoming British.
Bonus info: Women riding in wagons defied known regulations during the war, with George Washington once blaming them for slowing down his troops and calling them “a Clog upon every movement.”
