Camp follower
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Camp-follower is a term used to identify civilians who follow in the wake of armies or service their needs whilst encamped, in order to sell goods or services that the military does not supply. These can include cooking, laundering, liquor, nursing, sexual services and sutlery. From the beginning of organised warfare until the end of 19th century camp-followers were a vital part of an army's system of support and before sutler services were militarised even military goods were often provided. Camp-followers usually accompanied the baggage train and they often outnumbered the army itself, adding to its logistic problems. The term may also be applied to someone who scavenges after a battle. In United States history, Molly Pitcher was considered a camp-follower during the Revolutionary War, while there were also a number of camp-followers on both the Union and Confederate sides of the American Civil War.
'Camp-follower' has also been used to describe the modern families of military personnel who accompany soldiers on campaign, or on posting from base to base. This has its roots in ancient practice that continues to this day in many parts of the world, including the United States. In the United States, Canada and Great Britain, the term military brat refers to the mobile children of career soldiers, who traditionally have been camp or base followers. In the United States this practice of base-following, or camp-following, dates all the way back to the beginning of the Republic. Today at least 12 million living Americans aged between 18 to 80 grew up without home towns and within the U.S. military—moving from base to base all over the United States, and around the world. In the last 15 years, work has been done to document and describe the unique subculture of children and teenagers who grew up attached to, and moving constantly with, the US military.
38% of currently living military brats are also the children of military brats: In many career military families, this tradition goes back for generations. Some consider the modern American U.S. subculture of military brats and American multi-generational career military families to border on being a distinct ethnic group. Precedents of multi-generational Camp-follower or military families evolving into distinct ethnic groups exist in many parts of the world and throughout history, for example the Cossacks of Russia, the Samurai class in Japan, and the Kayani of Pakistan, to name just a few military-derived ethnicities.
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