Following the Drum

Description:

Friday, December 19, 1777, dawned cold and windy. Fourteen thousand Continental Army soldiers tramped from dawn to dusk along the rutted Pennsylvania roads from Gulph Mills to Valley Forge, the site of their winter encampment. After the soldiers came the army’s wagons, then hundreds of camp women.

Following the Drum: Women at the Valley Forge Encampment tells the story of the forgotten women who spent the winter of 1777–78 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge. While the camp women of Washington’s army were poor, dirty creatures who clung to the very edge of survival, many worked as the army’s washerwomen, nurses, cooks, or seamstresses. Other women at camp 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. There were also ladies at camp, part of the “numerous and splendid” audience who enjoyed the camp theater and had their portraits painted by Charles Willson Peale. No evidence suggests that Martha Washington visited informally among the troops at any camp, including Valley Forge.

In Following the Drum, readers will learn of the 1777–78 encampment’s devastating effect on the area’s farm families, meet the women and ladies who accompanied and aided the soldiers, and discover a Valley Forge that many never knew existed.

Reviews/Endorsements:

“[Loane] pulls together a rich array of sources to offer great detail about women’s lives, and she is diligent to treat carefully through recollections written down years after the fact.”
-- The Journal of American History, June 2010

“A wonderfully readable account of that cold, winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in 1777-1778.”
-- Muzzleloader, March-April, 2010

"Sometimes a book comes along, smacks readers in the head, alleviates our ignorance, and leaves us with a new perspective on something we thought we already knew. That's what happened when I read Following the Drum. . . . The work adds colorful, riveting details to the basic portrait of the American Revolution that hangs in our minds . . . elements that help give us a more complete, accurate picture. . . . A treasure trove . . . that highlights what women did to give us the country we have today."
-- www.finebooksmagazine.com, January 4, 2010

“…a narrative that deftly synthesizes stories about women…Loane adds interesting, pertinent analysis of inaccuracies and fictions about these camp followers.”
-- The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, October 2009

"Reveals an area of knowledge that has seldom been reported in the historical press."
-- Pennsylvania Magazine, September/October 2009

“Dr. Nancy K. Loane’s fascination and passion regarding the women who supported General George Washington . . . during their encampment in Valley Forge, PA, shines through in her new book.”
-- The Phoenix [Phoenixville, PA], August 11, 2009

"In addition to the details . . . about the women at Valley Forge, Ms. Loane gives us many other fascinating general details about life in the camp among all of the social groups who were there."
-- Tredyffrin Easttown History Quarterly, Spring 2009

"An eye-opening assessment of how George Washington and the Continental Army made it through the winter of 1777-78."
-- American History, August 2009

"Thoroughly researched and a compelling read. Loane's study of the women of Valley Forge--the 'camp women' as well as Martha Washington and the officers' 'ladies'--adds vastly to our understanding of that terrible winter, the Continental Army, and the vital role women played in the founding of the Republic."
-- Paul Lockhart, author of The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army

"Nancy Loane brings to light a truth all but forgotten in the shadows of history. This work takes the reader beyond Valley Forge and fills in the gaps of the lives of those who endured the winter of 1777-78. Truly one of the great works on the Valley Forge Encampment."
-- Timothy Eldridge Massey, Commander in Chief, Society of the Descendants of Washington's Army at Valley Forge

"Nancy K. Loane has cleared away the myths surrounding the women at the Valley Forge encampment, from Martha Washington to Mrs. Mary Geyer. Her careful documentation and relaxed writing style make this a not-to-be-missed book for historians and re-enactors."
-- Clarissa F. Dillon, Valley Forge historian

Related Books:

• The Minute Men: The First Fight: Myths and Realities of the American Revolution
• Women Warriors: A History