Following the Drum: Women at the Valley Forge Encampment

by Nancy K. Loane

Friday, December 19, 1777, dawned cold and windy. Fourteen thousand Continental Army soldiers tramped from dawn to dusk along the rutted Pennsylvania roads from Gulph Mills to Valley Forge, the site of their winter encampment. The soldiers’ arrival was followed by the army’s wagons and hundreds of camp women. Following the Drum tells the story of the forgotten women who spent the winter of 1777–78 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge—from those on society’s lowest rungs to ladies on the upper echelons.

Impoverished and clinging to the edge of survival, many camp women were soldiers’ wives who worked as the army’s washers, nurses, cooks, and seamstresses. Other women at the encampment were of higher status: they traveled with George Washington’s entourage when the army headquarters shifted locations and served the general as valued cooks, laundresses, or housekeepers. There were also the ladies at Valley Forge who were not subject to the harsh conditions of camp life and came and went as they and their husbands, Washington’s generals and military advisers, saw fit. Nancy K. Loane uses sources such as issued military orders, pension depositions after the war, soldiers’ descriptions, and some of the women’s own diary entries and letters to bring these women to life.
 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American Revolution

228 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2009

About the author

A former seasonal park ranger at Valley Forge National Historical Park, Nancy Loane spent 11 years writing Following the Drum: Women at the Valley Forge Encampment, which is based on extensive primary research yet described as "not-to-be-missed" and a "compelling read." A former PA Commonwealth speaker, Dr. Loane has presented over 100 talks about the women - and very special ladies - who came to the 1777-78 Valley Forge Encampment. "

Reviews

[Justinian]

2009-05 - Following the Drum: Women at the Valley Forge Encampment. Author; Nancy K. Loane. 206 pages. 2009

I had seen a poster advertising this book and the talk the author was going to give about the book and the subject at a local library branch. Purchasing the book was already a forgone conclusion living at the back door of Valley Forge as we do.

The book reads very much like the talk that the author gave. The title of the book however is deceptive, this book is about much more than the story of women at the Valley Forge Encampment, in fact the actual stories of the Valley Forge Encampment is perhaps only half of the book.
The book divides itself into three sections; the ladies, the military family, and the camp followers. These division follow the divisions of society and it’s military in the 18th century. The stories of the ladies comprise the bulk of the text. This section focuses on Lady Washington, Catherine Greene, Lucy Knox, Lady Stirling and one or two others. The experience of each of these women at the Valley Forge encampment is told in as much detail as could be expected given the general paucity of documentary evidence. Their stories are added to by following each woman through all eight encampments of the war and into their lives after the war until their death and the death of their spouses and children. It is in the passed on oral histories and remembrances often of their children and grandchildren recorded later that we get a truer sense of what was experienced and accomplished.

The second section is devoted to those women who traveled with Washington’s Headquarters doing laundry, sewing, cooking, cleaning and other day to day tasks needed for a platoon sized staff and retinue. These women were accorded a greater status than commoners due to their proximity to His Excellency. Their stories are told in some detail even unto their deaths after the conflict. Details though are scarce as these people were hired servants or slaves who did their job best when only their actions were proof of their existence.

The last section is devoted to the other women, the camp followers, the laundresses, wives, cooks, hangers on, and whores. The lives, experiences and even identities of these women have been mostly lost in the mists of time. They existed, they drew rations, they are referenced, and though not usually in a positive manner and they were tolerated as a necessity. This book does an adequate job of introducing their history and plight during the eight long years of war. For a more in depth look I would recommend; Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community During the American Revolution by Holly A. Mayer, which is referenced several times in this book.

The writing is generally crisp and it really only bogs down near the beginning when the author lays out lists and items taken from local farms, families, and communities during the Philadelphia Campaign as the armies marched through the Great Valley. The point of hardship is made and then we are overburdened with it. This is the only real drawback to the book.

On the whole this book is more than a mere niche book. It takes a specialized subject and makes it into a popular history. It will satisfy many a casual reader and spark the desire for deeper study in students of the war, society, rolls, and relations. It helps to provide a needed holistic view of the army and it society.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loane's style of reading is one that is very easy to follow, as she studies in depth the role that women played at Valley Forge. The title is a tad deceiving, however, as the book is only half about women at VF, she also goes into the role Martha Washington played to her husband throughout her entire life.

[JMarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting but incredibly inconsistent book. The best material is buried in the last couple chapters, where we get many new (to me, at least) insights into some of the specific women who traveled and fought with the army and who were at the Valley Forge encampment in particular. There are also some interesting chapters about the wives of the various officers in Washington's "military family".

But despite these things, for some reason the author starts the book with multiple chapters retreading familiar ground about Martha Washington that (1) countless other authors have already covered in greater detail and (2) venture far outside the scope of the Valley Forge encampment. Which would be fine, if the book weren't called "Following the Drum: Women AT THE VALLEY FORGE ENCAMPMENT." But with a title like that, I feel like maybe you shouldn't make CHAPTER THREE "Martha Washington at the Other Encampments."

I just wanted so much more of the information that finally snuck in at the end of the book. I understand that there isn't exactly an abundance of information about most of the camp women of lower social status. But I would have loved to know more about the testimonies offered by women who won pensions for their own service to the army. If nothing else, I think the book probably would've been more satisfying if it had started with those stories—sparse though they are—and ended with Martha Washington, instead of the way it was structured. It felt very lopsided, and more than a little bit like a bait-and-switch.

Using a truncated biography of Martha Washington's life-throughout-the-war to pad the page count is all well and good, but then put that stuff at the end. I very nearly put the book down without finishing, and would have missed the better content in the final chapters.

[Ted Waterfall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well overdue book about a subject not commonly covered: army women during the Revolutionary War. A challenging task for sure since they were rarely mentioned and, outside the officer's wives and family, scarcely seen as mentionable. The book starts by first describing Martha Washington's visits to George Washington's numerous winter encampments, from Valley Forge onward. To be honest, this reader began to think that one of her experiences began to resemble all of them, and I started to get bored with the book. After finishing with this noble woman, and dispelling with some myths about her, the book began to examine other officers' wives, and then on to the common women who followed the army, and in the view of this reader, the book became more interesting and picked up the third star in this evaluation. This is where the book makes it's contributions - it's examination of the washerwomen, cooks, seamstresses, and all the other women who followed the armies in the rear with the baggage.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the stories of the women at Valley Forge. Loane provides as much information as is available. Although questions remain, the reader will come away with a good understanding of life at that time. There was a lot I did not know about the encampment and how that all worked. I learned a lot.

[Sherri Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting more of the winter campaign and how the women suffered not the family history of the generals ladies. I thought the last half of the book was better than the first half of the book.

[AlyssLea]

Although very informative, it also includes a lot of details that I consider irrevelant, about the children of the women in the encampments and precise details about their lives.

[Stephanie Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish more focus would have been spent on the campfollowers and common women. I understand that they leave less of a historical record, but I found those the most interesting parts of the book.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enlightening

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars Very well-researched and most readable. I especially appreciated the Appendix where the author helped tease out myths vs documented information about "Lady Washington."

[Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great historical information, especially if you enjoy Martha Washington.
(Got from library).