Women are NOT the weak, frail little flowers that they are advertised

       To succeed, the continental army needed the support of the civilian population. Throughout the war women took an active role. Most were the wives or daughters of officers or soldiers. These women, who maintained an almost constant presence in military camps, were known as "camp followers" or as "necessary nuisances." Their duties consisted primarily of cooking, mending, laundry, childcare, nursing the sick, and fabricating blankets and shoes for soldiers. As a camp follower a woman was paid a small wage and was supplied with a half ration of food for herself. Women joined up with army regiments for various reasons: fear of starvation, rape, loneliness, and imminent poverty either as a last resort or following their husbands.

      Woman found herself placed in extraordinary circumstances. Some even serve and dress up as soldiers and fired cannons. One of the most remarkable individuals of the Revolution was a young lady by the name of Deborah Sampson. It was her desire to avoid hard labor on the family farm that led her to impersonate a man and join the American army. Sampson first enlisted under the name Timothy Thayer, but her true identity was discovered. Later she participated in several battles, but shortly was honorably discharged from the army recieving a pension from the congress for her service.

      Mary Ludwig Hays, accompanied her husband John, into the Monmouth, New Jersey Campaign of 1778. During the battle she supplied water to the troops, thereby receiving the name "Molly Pitcher." When Mary's husband was wounded, she assumed his duties assisting the other artillerymen in the Company. Unlike Sampson, Mary never received a military pension.
      
     These accounts are only a few of the many examples of women who have served their country since its beginnings, something to be proudly remembered during History.