Followers and Civilians

In late May, a force consisting of the 17th, 33rd, 42nd, 63rd, and 64th Regiments, along with the battalions of Light Infantry and Grenadiers and detachments of provincials, advanced up the Hudson River and seized King’s Ferry. Construction began on two posts, each anchoring one end of the ferry. On the northeastern shore stood Verplanck’s Point, while on the southwest stood Stony Point. By the end of the month-long garrison the fort was not only home to the British Regiments but at least 70 women and children attached. 

The 17th Regiment of Infantry had with them at least 10 women and 4 children in 1778 by the time the regiment was in Philadelphia.

One woman, which we know of, goes by the name of Mrs. Hannah Norman whos husband was Private William Norman of an unknown company of the 17th Regiment of Foot had written a letter to the Commissary of Prisoners after being held there for a few months post the capture of the 17th at Stony Point. 

August 18th, 1779

Sir:

During the time of my Confinement in the New Prison, I have very much been afflicted with Sickness, but being something recovered I beg your honour would be pleased to grant me Liberty to walk out once or twice a week that I may be more capable of procuring(?) some nourishment, which at this time I am not able to provide and you forever will oblige.

Your most Obedient Servt.
Hannah Norman
17th Foot
To Mr. Bradford
Commissary of Prisoners

To demonstrate the way of life, we’ll look at a General Court Martial found in research by Don Hagist’s The Women of the British Army in America...

“ The proceedings of one such general court martial held at Freehold, New Jersey on June 27, 1778 (the day before the Battle of Monmouth) gives an idea of the disorder that could occur on a march. Mary Colethrate and Elizabeth Clarke, “followers of the army,” were tried for plundering. The officer who arrested them described the circumstances of the incident: 

… a farmer came up to him and begg'd for Protection, as some Women were plundering & destroying his house, that upon going into the house, he found everything in the greatest Confusion, the feather Beds being cut open and the feathers strewed about, and many other things destroyed; that there were about twenty or thirty Women in the house, & upon asking the Man of the house, who had been the most active, he pointed out the Prisoner Colethrate, & the Woman of the house pointed out the Prisoner Clarke and another Woman ...  the Prisoner Clarke was in the house and Mary Colethrate at the Door, and both Loaded with something in their Aprons, which he did not examine, but by the feel of one of them it appeared to contain Flour; he himself saw the Prisoner Clarke very busy, in turning over some things which were in a Closet in the house, & the Woman of the house informed him that she had treated her very ill, having beat and abused her and that the Woman who has been since released, stripped all her Children and had Carried off one Load of Plunder and returned for another. 

Mary Colethrate's defence gives some details of a woman's life on the march: 

… she had rode all day on the Baggage Waggon and had just then got off to Light her Pipe, which she was smoking at the Door, when Major Antill went in, that she never was in the house and what she had in her Apron was her husband's Biscuit, which she shewed to the Woman of the house, and who acknowledged before the Officer of the Artillery Guard that it did not belong to her & that she had not been in the House. 

A soldier who took Elizabeth Clarke to the provost attested "upon her apron being examined, there was found an unfinished pair of shoes, & some other Articles that he does not remember."  The court found Colethrate innocent, but sentenced Clarke "to receive one hundred Lashes on her bare back with Cats of nine tails, and then to be drummed out of the Army, in the most public manner possible." 

The reason for keeping such a tight rein on the followers of the army was, of course, to prevent plundering. No amount of orders successfully stopped this constant problem. Much has been written on this topic. Since we are concerned with wives of soldiers, and not with followers of the army in general, we would like to be able to ascertain how much of the plundering was committed by army wives. ”

There is no easy “uniform” for civilians and followers, as it were the clothing was all very individual and made to fit. For references on colorways and appropriate patterns we look to original documented sources like runaway ad’s and images from existing artwork featuring everyday life, as well as extent garments.

The necessaries consisted of shirts, shoes, stockings and stays. For the shift it would the first layer of the 18th century wardrobe. This should be one of the only layers that comes in contact with the skin directly to save the outer garments from rigorous laundering. A woman on campaign may have carried at least two - three shifts with her and were laundered often.

Sleeves should be just long enough to peek past the end of the gown cuffs, where the sleeve bands are closed with sleeve buttons or ties. The neckline of the shift should be fitted without a drawstring. Very poor women sometimes made their shift bodies out of unbleached gray or natural linen with white sleeves. Shifts without a sleeve band are usually dated to the last two decades of the 18th century and were being worn by the 1780s in very limited to rare occurrences.

Stockings were either “machine made” or hand-knit and always displayed a seam along the center back of the leg where the two halves come together. The standard construction detail is the foot knitted separately from the leg. For women, stockings are tied below the knee with a wool tape instead of a leather garter like in menswear. Like women’s clothing, women’s shoes also varied from location to location and depended on the individual’s use, needs, status, and trends. Shoes could be made from fine silk, but most commonly, shoes would be made by hand of plain blackened leather or a variety of colors of woolen fabric. Stays are the figure-defining support garment that is worn around the torso immediately following the shift. Made correctly and fitted to the person, stays among the lower and middle classes served to provide the proper smooth and conical silhouette of the time, to lift and support the bosom, and to provide a comfortable platform on which to layer heavy skirts and pockets, rather than to create a tiny waist or provide extreme compression.

Clothing for the individual person varies widely in size, style, shape, and color. The outer garments are no exception. The style of gown that we’ll focus on for the purposes of our British Regiment is an English style gown, which includes a stomacher and robings, the most common style for the majority of the 1760’s - 1770’s. Gowns varied from location to location and from culture to culture and could be made from any material such as silk, lightweight wool, linen, linsey woolsey, printed cotton, or printed calico and chintz.

Petticoats, like gowns, can be made from a variety of materials and patterns, but the shape of petticoats overall are very simple garments. Petticoat length should range from the top of the foot to two inches above the ankle to be able to walk and move around with ease. It should be constructed out of two rectangles which are done with a small running stitch or a combination stitch upwards towards the pocket slits. The waistband which is made from the same material is used to case the pleating of the skirt to fit all the fabric around the waist and should be no wider than 1”. The Petticoat is worn in such a way where the two bands and petticoat ties are tied around the front of the body. Women would wear at least two - three layers of petticoats with the first usually a light-weight linen so it can be laundered if needed. Other layers could be made from worsted wool, flannel, linsey woolsey, hand quilted silk, hand quilted flannel or a documented cotton print of petticoat to match the outer gown of the same print.

While aprons can be a decorative item of clothing for a woman’s wardrobe as it was the outermost layer that was first visible, aprons can be described as a utility item of clothing. They not only help close all the layers around the body but could be used to protect the other layers from getting dirty. Since aprons were the first line of defense for the other layers they were most commonly made from linen in order to be laundered and were made from a in a variety of patterns and colors, such as blue or brown check, small stripes or solid white. Plain worsted wool aprons were also documented in this era. Aprons should be narrowly hemmed around the edges and be long enough to meet the length of your petticoat or just an inch shorter. All material should be stroke gathered into a narrow waistband of the same fabric and should fasten with narrow linen or hand loomed tapes around the waist and tied in the front of the body.

As the fashion trends of the 18th century changed, hairstyles changed along with them. But one thing remained common: regardless of class or culture all women styled their own hair in a neat and confined manner under a white cap. The common style for women throughout the latter half of the century was to pin all of your hair directly on top of the head and then covered with a cap. We can achieve this look by sectioning off the hair by drawing a line from one ear to the other, the back section will be put up into a bun on top of your head, while the front section will be smoothed over a hair rat (made from your own hair or wool roving to match your hair). The individual can also decide if they want to section off a third section at the nape of the neck, braid it, and pin it up under the cap with the rest of the hair. To complete the look, the linen cap would be placed on the top of the head so just the front bump of the hair would show, with a decorative silk ribbon in the color of your choice. Hair would also sometimes be lightly powdered, which would help decrease the grease or disguise it and was beneficial for personal hygiene.  

As the war raged on, resources became more scare for regular inhabitants who decided to stay at their homes and farms to defend their property. They would try to make their clothing last as long as possible by making continuous repairs in patches and darning stockings. This left the clothing to become very well worn and discolored as the material naturally aged.