W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1990 Belonging to the army: Camp followers and the military community during the American Revolution Holly A. Mayer College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Mayer, Holly A., "Belonging to the army: Camp followers and the military community during the American Revolution" (1990). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623793. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-56bp-nv94 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 BELONGING TO THE ARMY: CAMP FOLLOWERS AND THE MILITARY COMMUNITY DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy b y Holly A. Mayer 1990 Copyright 1990 b y Holly A. Mayer ALL RIGHTS RESERVED APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy A uth Approved, April 1990 ames P. Whittenburg Michael McGiffert Thad W. Tate _ ( W l { l )GJ.ICg-X Cam Walker Don HiggirtDOtham University of North Carolina Chapel Hill For my parents: Colonel Jack Mayer, U. S. Army Ret. a n d Ruth Katherina Beckstein Mayer (always on active duty) t a e l e o f co nten ts P ag e PREFACE........................................................................................................................................vi ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................vii CHAPTER I. PRECEDENTS AND PREMISES........................................................................... 2 CHAPTER II. THE ARMY: A CONTINENTAL COMMUNITY............................................ 29 CHAPTER III. SUTLERS, CONTRACTORS, AND MARKETERS ALL ........................... 102 CHAPTER IV. RETAINERS TO THE CAMP......................................................................... 148 CHAPTER V. PERSONS SERVING WITH THE ARMY........................................................ 229 CHAPTER VI. SUBJECT TO ORDERS..................................................................................... 289 CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSION................................................................................................... 329 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................... 344 v PREFACE As a student of the American Revolution I have always been interested in discovering how the War for American Independence affected people's lives and, in turn, how people's actions influenced the outcome of the war. While casting about for a dissertation topic that encompassed such interests, I found one that was admirably suitable: camp followers. The choice reflects both my academic concerns and my personal background. I followed the military as an army "brat" and then later served in the United States Army. At some point during my service, the army celebrated "The Year of the Military Family" to recognize the importance of the family to military life and perhaps to bury that old joke "If the army had wanted you to have a wife it would have issued you one." The military's civilian adjuncts—families and employees alike—merit recognition. It is my firm belief that camp followers and their contributions to military life have been too-often neglected or denigrated. When I began my research, I was primarily interested in the attitudes and actions of women with the Continental Army; but I quickly discovered that the other camp followers could not be ignored, for they too, perhaps even more than the women, have been forgotten in most historical literature. While researching the Continental Army, I became more and more disturbed by a lack of published information on camp followers. Except for a few notable exceptions, authors either disregarded these people or only referred to them in passing. I set out to find these forgotten "revolutionaries." In the process, I found a vital, sometimes chaotic, sometimes highly disciplined, and singular community—a Continental Community. What had begun as a rather narrow study of a particular group of individuals ended as an examination of the legal, labor, and social relationships and interactions between the Continental Army, its uniformed personnel, and its civilian attachments. The study of the army as a community rather than just as a formal military organization is intriguing and rewarding. In this particular case, one sees how the military side of the Revolution affected those most intimately associated with the army and how they contributed to the military in return. In rendering quotations, I have retained the original spelling and grammar (or lack thereof) whenever possible. Changes and additions appear in brackets. Empty brackets indicate that a word was obscured in the original text. Superscript letters have been brought down to the line, and most dashes have been transcribed into periods. Words repeated at the end of one page and at the beginning of the next appear only once. A dissertation ultimately represents the vision and labor of one person, who must accept responsibility for all faults found therein, but only with the assistance and support of many people can it be completed. My advisor, Professor James P. Whittenburg, taught and advised me from my first day at William and Mary to my last. I thank him for his unending courtesy, his patient listening, and his gentle guidance. Professor Michael McGiffert challenged me in class and focused a gimlet eye on this work. I greatly appreciated both. A big thank-you also goes to the other members of my dissertation committee: to Professor Cam Walker for her editing and v i i suggestions; to Professor Thad Tate for his insightful comments; and to Professor Don Higginbotham of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the excellent advice that will help me as I continue to work on this topic. I also wish to express my gratitude to Professors Edward Crapol and Judy Ewell for their help and friendship over the past few years. During the course of my research, I was assisted by numerous people at various institutions. The David Library of the American Revolution in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, is a wonderful place in which to work. The library's president and director, Mr. Ezra Stone, offered me warm hospitality at the Feinstone Research Center. Dr. David J. Fowler, the research director, answered queries, suggested additional materials, and helped fine- tune parts of my research. Their assistant, Mrs. Marilynn Huret, also looked after me. My sincerest thanks go to them all. While up in that part of the country, I also worked at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania where I was very grateful for the staffs, especially that of Ms. Linda Stanley's, assistance. Further to the west, at Carlisle Barracks, Mr. John J. Slonaker and Mr. David Keuogh showed me what the United States Army Military History Institute had on the Revolutionary War. I also thank the staffs at institutions further south. Various librarians assisted me in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress as did others at the National Archives. At the latter,