Amidst War’s Alarms

Abstract

Army children had a diverse range of experiences. Even those given official permission to follow the drum could be jettisoned on retreats or when soldier fathers died. Young camp followers were not always miserable, however; there are accounts of children finding comfort and pleasure at play in camps and garrisons. Large ships and tropical animals delighted young eyes. In fact, they were even more likely than their parents to experience alienation when the regiment returned to England from abroad. The Army might become a surrogate family, with officers and men alike helping to care for youngsters. This was less true of the enslaved children purchased to help officers’ wives, or the Eurasian offspring fathered by soldiers in colonial garrisons. Even the most cherished sons and daughters of the Army could be turned out of baggage carts when military goals clashed with juvenile interests. Contemporaries’ obsession with the serviceman’s orphan has obscured mothers’ significance in Army children’s lives. They were with their mothers more than their fathers, so her loss held far more terror than that of their father. Children in the midst of war also faced the threat of their own death, injury, imprisonment, and dislocation, yet the Army denied them the right to medical attention and took minimal responsibility for their safety, blaming their mothers for their unwanted presence in combat. The challenges faced by Army children persist today, indicating that the mobility and danger of military life can never be fully reconciled to juveniles’ need for stability and safety.