Belonging to the Army

Holly A. Mayer

Description

Chronicles the identities and importance of civilians to the American Revolutionary War effort

Belonging to the Army reveals the identity and importance of the civilians now referred to as camp followers, whom Holly A. Mayer calls the forgotten revolutionaries of the War for American Independence. These merchants, contractors, family members, servants, government officers, and military employees provided necessary supplies, services, and emotional support to the troops of the Continental Army. They served in virtually every imaginable capacity, from lifting spirits with food, drink, and dances to nursing the sick, digging ditches, and spying on and fighting against the enemy. Mayer demonstrates that by making encampments livable communities—a matter of some significance given the years it took to acheive independence—these civilians played a fundamental role in the survival and ultimate success of the Continental Army.

In this study of the army as a community rather than merely as a formal military organization, Mayer looks at the formation and administration of the Continental community as well as the meaning of class, gender, and race within in. She considers whether the community contributed to social revolution even as it struggled to effect the independence that was part of the political revolution.

Mayer describes how the military initially wanted to be rid of most camp followers, but, unable to fulfill its own support functions, assimilated the civilians and thus gave an expansive meaning to the term "belonging to the army." She documents how such assimilation included attempts to make camp followers "invisible" and to make them fit the army's visionary image. Mayer shows that in actuality, the military failed to conceal and recast the civilians' efforts and that invisibility only enveloped the camp followers as the nation chose to remember selectively who belonged to army.

Sujets

• Revolutionary Periode
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• History of the Americas
• United States

Informations

• Publié par: University of South Carolina Press
• Date de parution: 24 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781643364339
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 26 Mo

Extrait

© 1996 University of South Carolina

Cloth edition published by the University of South Carolina Press, 1996 Paperback edition published by the University of South Carolina Press, 1999 Ebook edition published in Columbia, South Carolina by the University of South Carolina Press, 2023

www.uscpress.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition as follows:

Mayer, Holly A. (Holly Ann), 1956–  Belonging to the Army : camp followers and community during the  American Revolution / Holly A Mayer.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 1-57003-108-8 (cloth)  1. United States. Continental Army—Military life. 2. Camp  followers—United States—History—18th century. I. Title.  E259.M39 1996  973.3—dc20 96-10074

ISBN 978-1-57003-339-1 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-64336-433-9 (ebook)

Front cover illustration by Jon Mayer