I'm all about having an in depth character while reenacting, but, Revolutionary War doesn't really have the room to have that. I find that it's too hard to find information, or that I find too much of the wrong information. I have found plenty of sources about colonial/doodle/loyalist women. A great deal of these women were whores, some loners, and were a sore sight of the army. I recall even reading that these groups of campfollowers were told not to follow the army into the towns they went through. Many civilians who saw the campfollowers go into the town were repulsed.
According to the very little resources I've seen, the Hessian women had a bit more moral, and unattached women were not allowed (for the most part?). Surely, they must of had a much better life than the doodle and loyalist women, but I just find it hard to believe that all of them sat around camp and looked pretty. For a while, I grew out of the Rev. War reenacting scene. I went to see my reenacting family and get in on some awesome historical conversations. I've been attached to WW2 in recent years, as this allows me to put together a huge and colorful impression-- and still be a woman.
This kind of encouragement has sent me on a quest to find out how to make our Jager camp more diverse for the women. There must be a way, I know there is. Any different German lifestyles? Traditions. There must be things that I am missing that can allow us to expand on. I've never been into the idea of sitting around a camp and doing things that are like chores. I don't go to a reenactment to just wash dishes-- which I don't mind-- but I've seen some ladies who do just that and carry water all weekend.
I wouldn't mind doing something period, productive, and something that I actually find interesting other than "Hi, I'm a campfollower, have a husband and some kids." What could have women done... my mind is sticking with cooking and mending. Some women even aided in some medical business, even though the level of medical assistance was pretty primitive. I've always wanted to learn how to mend period clothes, or work on something, or add onto an outfit.
I've been meaning to bring more articles of my outfits to lay out, this way people can get a hands on experience in feeling the clothes, seeing how it goes on, etc.
Now that there's more ladies in the unit, one thing that I definitely see in the future is a group cooking adventure.