(Note: during the 19th century, the U.S. army would often be accompanied by camp followers, their numbers increasing as the size of the army grew. They (both men and women) supplied the soldiers with goods and services not otherwise available; they worked as cooks and washerwomen and nurses (the army nurses corps wasn’t established until the 20th century); some were wives of soldiers who followed their husbands after their enlistment (think of the women who accompanied the Mormon Battalion); and some were women who came to be called by the name of Gen. Joseph T. Hooker–apparently their numbers swelled during the time that he led (and almost lost–think Chancellorsville) the Army of the Potomac. Since “camp follower” might be thought by some to mean chiefly this last group, I don’t want anyone to think that I mean that, or that I mean to malign any group of pioneer women.)