page_title: Camp follower
hierarchical_section_title: Camp follower
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Mathew Brady: Aus der Library of Congress Item 1 of 444 - Full caption: Camp of 31st Pennsylvania Infantry near Washington, D.C. Mathew Brady Studio. 1862, printed later. Prints and Photographs Division. LC-USZC4-7983. Full caption: Camp of 31st Pennsylvania Infantry near Washington, D.C. Mathew Brady Studio. 1862, printed later. Prints and Photographs Division. LC-USZC4-7983. Princess Agnes Salm-Salm, wife of Prince Felix of Prussia, who served with the Union Army, observed in January 1862 that the winter camp of the Army of the Potomac was “teeming with women.” Some wives insisted on staying with their husbands, which may have been the case with this woman, judging by her housewifely pose alongside a soldier, three young children, and a puppy. In addition to taking care of her own family, she may have worked as a camp laundress or nurse. Some women who lacked the marital voucher of respectability were presumed to be prostitutes and were periodically ordered out of camp. Only gradually during the four years of the war, and in the face of unspeakable suffering, were women grudgingly accepted by military officials and the general public in the new public role of nurse.
context_page_description: Camp followers are civilians who follow armies. There are two common types of camp followers; first, the wives and children of soldiers, who follow their spouse or parent's army from place to place; the second type of camp followers have historically been informal army service providers, servicing the needs of encamped soldiers, in particular selling goods or services that the military does not supply—these have included cooking, laundering, liquor, nursing, sexual services and sutlery.
context_section_description: Camp followers are civilians who follow armies. There are two common types of camp followers; first, the wives and children of soldiers, who follow their spouse or parent's army from place to place; the second type of camp followers have historically been informal army service providers, servicing the needs of encamped soldiers, in particular selling goods or services that the military does not supply—these have included cooking, laundering, liquor, nursing, sexual services and sutlery.
caption: 1862 photograph of Camp follower with her 31st Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment soldier/husband and their three children
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