Reenacting "Hessian" Distaff / Campfollowers
The women who traveled with the army were known as Campfollowers. The German Regiments were allotted 6 women/campfollowers per Company. These wives were not referred to as women or females but were referred to as wives. These women were the wives of the Soldiers who came to the Colonies. There were no unattached women in the Hessian Army. In Germany, unlike the British Army, being a soldier was an honorable occupation. The same held true for the Campfollowers.
These women performed tasks that were vitally necessary to the health and wellbeing of the Army. The tasks these women performed broke down into two (paid and unpaid) categories. The unpaid tasks were looking after the children, maintaining the family, cooking etc.
The paid tasks were doing the laundry, working in the Hospital etc.
Women and children were an accepted part of all the Hessian Army. The women received 1/2 of a mans ration and the children received 1/4 of a mans ration. The women looked after and cared for the soldiers, and the soldiers looked after and cared for the women and children. There were a number of occasions when battle was drawing near that the women and children were sent to the rear, the safest place of the Army, with the baggage.
These were honest hard working German women. They were not the type of women who the uninformed assume followed an army. Any women who were not of sound moral character were removed from the army. The Hessian Army traveled with their Regimental chaplains. The Hessian chaplains were hard working young men just out of the seminary. They took their jobs seriously and the religious health of the Hessian soldiers, wives, and children were in good hands. Given this, it is easy to see how women of less than good moral standing did not stand a chance in the Hessian Army.
There is one question we have yet to touch upon. It is the question of what happened to these women if one of their husbands died. In some armies it would be permissible for the widow to accept the first proposal to come along. This was not the case in the Hessian Army. Hessian civil law required a waiting period of one year before the widow could re-marry. It appears that the parentage of the children could not be in question. I am led to this conclusion by the case of a Hessian soldier who died during the Southern Campaign. The soldier and his wife had been away from each other for over a year. The woman was allowed to re-marry. If the woman was not allowed to re-marry, she and her children would have been required to go back home.
You can see that being a Hessian Campfollower was an honorable occupation. These women deserve our appreciation and respect. These women, just like their men, were over here to do a job and they did that job well.
If you'd like more information on joining the Jäger Corps Distaff
then contact Kevin O'Donnell
(& be sure to remove NOSPAM from the e-mail addy!)
