Ladies, Wives and Women: British Army Wives in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 1793-1815

During the Napoleonic wars it was customary for British troops ordered on active service to take some of their wives with them. The usual proportion was six women per hundred men. The wives who were to accompany their husbands were chosen by ballot: excitement for the lucky ones and anguish for those left behind. The latter often marched with the regiment to the port of departure, desperate to remain with their men till the last moment, and there were harrowing scenes as families were separ...