Conclusion

Summary

During The Nineteenth Century, Women in soldiers’ lives faced a range of often daunting challenges. In spite of public perceptions that military wives were for the most part drawn from the lowest sectors of the working class, and were generally drunken, quarrelsome harridans, this study has shown that most came from more respectable sectors of plebeian communities, and they brought with them to their lives in the army, the strategies, tactics, and expectations they had learned growing up. They clung to the notions of respectability embraced by labouring-class women generally, but frequently also identified strongly with their husbands’ regiments. These women were answerable to two sets of authority: their husbands – as the patriarchal domesticity of the period dictated – and the army, especially as constituted in the form of the regiment and its commanding officer. As seen in this study, this situation presented unique demands, but also afforded opportunities for these women. The husband's authority was diluted by the fact that he was frequently absent from home and he only partially provided for his family; the army did so as well, supplying housing, household goods, some health care, some rations under certain circumstances, and paid employment for the wives. Of necessity, this meant greater autonomy for soldiers’ wives than was often the case in civilian marriages. It also meant that by making the husband less responsible for his family's well-being, the army lessened the likelihood that he would feel compelled to prioritise their needs over those of his regiment. By providing employment for the wives – low-paid, but necessary to make ends meet – and limiting the number of permissible marriages, the army also ensured that there would be a sufficient number of women to perform its necessary work, but no more. Thus, the army gained committed soldiers, and wives who needed to be compliant with its demands and discipline, at least overtly. As long as these women did its bidding, the army was content to leave their well-being in the hands of the regiments, with the result that the actual treatment of the wives varied from unit to unit. Regiments expected, for the most part, that in return for basic supports, these wives could simply be left to cope on their own.

This situation, while frequently challenging, also meant that soldiers’ wives were given space to fashion their own regimental culture, which was characterised by strong mutual dependence among these women.