ShmoopTube

00:05

[Dino and Coop singing]

00:13

We know what question keeps you up at night…what was it like to be in the Continental Army? [Girl in bed thinking about ice cream]

00:18

…No?

00:19

You've never thought about that?

00:21

…Huh.

00:22

Guess just us, then…

00:23

Well, to answer our own question...their days were made up of some marching… [Soldiers marching]

00:27

… some fighting… [Two men fighting each other]

00:28

… and some standing still for a really long time while their pictures were painted… [Artist painting a picture of the soldiers]

00:32

But here's something you might not have known: the Continental Army wasn’t just made up [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

00:36

of perpetual bachelors.

00:37

A lot of men who went off to fight left wives and families. [Soldier walking away from his family]

00:41

And though history has pretty much forgotten them...

00:43

… they played a unique role in the Revolutionary War.

00:45

While an Army Wife might have been proud of her soldier husband…

00:49

…and while she might have been spared one more person to clean up after, it also meant [Pile of dirty washing on the bed]

00:53

that the family’s main source of income was MIA.

00:55

And it’s not like in the 1700s women could just [Bowls of stone soup on the table]

00:59

become lawyers, CEOs and celebrity chefs. [Pictures of women in jobs]

01:02

So naturally, many soldiers’ families faced serious cash flow problems, and some even [Money falling stops and goes back the other way]

01:06

ended up homeless.

01:07

What was a woman to do?

01:09

Turns out, many women and their families opted to follow after the Continental Army. [Women going behind soldiers holding cookies]

01:13

This gave them some measure of safety and security – even if “Bunker Hill” wasn’t

01:17

exactly a top family vacation destination. [Kid asking if there is free WiFi]

01:19

However, these family ties put General George Washington in a bit of a bind. [George Washington tied up with rope]

01:23

On the one hand, having soldiers’ families nearby meant fewer of his troops would desert

01:27

to go home.

01:28

On the other hand, it meant more mouths to feed with rations that was already in short [Washington holding each argument in either hand]

01:32

supply.

01:33

Plus, Washington was getting tired of the kids demanding he cut the crusts off of their [Angry kid holding up sandwich]

01:37

PB&Js…

01:38

But these women and their children weren’t just a bunch of Continental Army groupies. [Women chasing after the soldiers]

01:42

They were actually busy providing valuable services to the army, like cooking, [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

01:46

cleaning, mending uniforms, and nursing.

01:47

Which turned out to be good for General George.

01:49

With the women doing these chores, it meant his soldiers had time to do more soldier-y

01:53

things, like, y’know, shooting and killing and stuff. [Soldier on horseback shooting a gun]

01:56

In return for their labor, women were able to make money and even receive army rations… [Woman holding empty plates]

01:59

Following the army meant that women had to endure the same conditions as the soldiers, [Rations and money are put on the plate]

02:04

including a lack of food and shelter… [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

02:06

… harsh conditions…

02:07

… and sometimes, no shoes or warm clothing.

02:09

Not to mention getting blood out of a uniform without modern-day stain removers was a real [Woman trying to wash a uniform]

02:13

drag.

02:14

But as the old saying goes, “behind every great army is a group of women and children”.

02:18

…Yeah, okay, that’s not really a saying, but you get the idea. [Marching soldiers reveal and woman and two kids]

Full Transcript