x, 205 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-200) and index.
Contents
Setting the stage : the war, army, and community -- Martha Washington at Valley Forge : "the worthy partner of the worthiest of men" -- Martha Washington at the other encampments : a resolute and loyal lady -- Catharine Greene and Lucy Knox : the ladies come to Valley Forge -- Rebekah Biddle, Lady Stirling, and Alice Shippen at Valley Forge : "I should not be sorry to see you here" -- The women with Washington's "family" : slaves, servants, and spies -- Camp women at Valley Forge : "a caravan of wild beasts" -- Camp women with the Continental Army : cannonballs and cooking kettles -- The general returns to Valley Forge : a distinguished officer's musings -- Appendix: Making the myth of Martha Washington : nineteenth-century fantasy vs. eighteenth-century reality.
Summary
"[This book] tells the story of the forgotten women who spent the winter of 1777-78 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge -- from those on society's lowest rungs to ladies of the upper echelon. Poor, dirty beings who clung to the very edge of survival, many camp women were soldiers' wives who worked as the army's washerwomen, nurses, cooks, or seamstresses. Though these women's written correspondence is scarce, author Nancy Loane uses sources such as issued military orders, pension depositions after the war, and soldiers' descriptions to bring these women to life. Other women at the encampment were of higher status: they traveled with Washington's entourage when the army headquarters shifted from place to place and served the general as valued cooks, laundresses, or housekeepers ... Drawing from diary entries and letters, Following the drum illuminates the experiences of these ladies, including Martha Washington, Lucy Knox, and Lady Stirling, during the encampment and then traces their lives after the Revolutionary War"--Jacket.
Anna Johanna Piesch Seidel, influential Moravian / Catherine Looker, SSJ -- Fanny Kemble, British stage actress : Philadelphia abolitionist / Bernadette Balcer and Fran Pelham -- Assisium McEvoy, SSJ, education pioneer / Mary Helen Kashuba, SSJ -- Anna M. Ross, Civil War nurse / Janice Showler -- Agnes Repplier, essayist / Marie Hubert Kealy, IHM -- The Drexel women, educators and philanthropists / Stephanie Morris -- Anna Kugler, MD, medical missionary to India / Karen Getzen -- Cecilia Beaux, artist / Suzanne Conway -- Violet Oakley, artist / David R. Contosta -- Ida Tarbell, journalist, muckracker / Marie Conn -- Mary Brooks Picken, fashion designer, teacher, pioneer in distance learning / Kathryn West and Patrick McCauley -- Gertrude Hawk, candy entrepreneur / Mary Ellen O'Donnell -- Rachel Carson, environmentalist / David R. Contosta -- Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, computer pioneer / Lisa Olivieri, SSJ and Merilyn Ryan, SSJ -- Adrian Barrett, IHM, champion of the poor / Nancy DeCesare, IHM -- Judee von Seldeneck, diversity hiring expert / Nancy Porter -- Joan Dawson McConnon, co-founder, Project H.O.M.E. / Geralyn Arango.
