"Women and 1812" Topic

"The Grande Armée that invaded Russia in 1812 was not a homosocial, male-only organisation. It was composed not only of thousands of men drawn from across Europe, but was also accompanied by hundreds, if not thousands, of women. Throughout the early modern period women had been involved in military campaigns in a variety of capacities and the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars were no exception. At the top of the social and military hierarchy, officers sometimes took their wives with them on campaign. More common, however, were lower status women who often acted as sutlers, selling food, drink and other necessities to the soldiers. Many sutlers were also the wives of soldiers and non-commissioned officers. Regulations concerning the number of women that could accompany a given regiment on campaign varied by state and army. Within the French army, for example, the cantinère had an official place. They were limited to two per cavalry squadron and four per infantry battalion. The Prussian army, by contrast, tried to exclude women as part of its military reform programme after the crushing defeats at Jena and Auerstedt…."
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Amicalement
Armand

I asked on a thread if anyone had a woman figure in their soldiers ranks, no one offered up a opinion. After reading Swords around a Thrown if it was a French unit wouldn't even asked as seems lots of women took up arms, but it is going in my Russian unit

I have severals….!

Amicalement
Armand