About 20,000 women followed their husbands to battle.
They were known as camp followers. Some were seeking adventure, others wanted to be with their loved ones, but most became camp followers out of economic necessity. They were poor women who feared that they and their children wouldn’t survive with their husbands at war. Camp followers were paid for their services as laundresses and nurses. They were also fed, but women received half a soldier’s portion of food (half rations), and children got quarter rations.
