Distaff
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Information and upcoming events for the fairer sex
Distaff
There
have always been women
with armies. In the Eighteenth Century, however, there were very specific
reasons for women to follow the troops. The most prevalent was due to the
inability of the wife to run the farm/home and care for the children by
herself. Other reasons included wanting to earn money by mending, cooking and
nursing. and to a small degree, for purposes of a lesser repute. The wives of
offices, the ladies, often joined their husbands when the fighting had
temporally ceased. They were quite welcome, and provided a much-needed boost to
morale, and the opportunity for gaiety and dancing.
A man had a better chance of survival if his wife were in attendance to look
after him when he was ill or wounded. And although Washington did not relish
their presence, he tolerated them because they did provide a valuable service.
We, the ladies of the Lebanon Militia, also follow our men for a specific
reason; we enjoy history, and where the lads are well versed in the
Revolutionary War and its battles, we delight in presenting the daily life of
the Eighteenth Century woman.
We are, therefore, spinners, weavers, and embroiderers, clothe dyers, a
midwife/herbalist, crafters of various skills, indentures, wives and mothers
and, of course, ladies.
If you like history, crafts, talking to the public and dressing up, then perhaps
you too are ready to follow the army.