NURSING AND LAUNDRY
Women were employed as nurses and laundresses with the British Army, the latter often working closely with the nurses to keep a supply of fresh sheets, shirts and bandages. The muster rolls mark the soldiers who are sick (those in hospital are marked separately) and typically there are between 2 - 7 sick at any one time. A glimpse at the muster roll below for example tells us that Robert Stewart and James McGrath are sick when the muster roll was taken at Rhode Island on 20th October 1776.
Laundry Marks
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With reference to Cuthbertson, our Laundress has been busy marking up the shirts with names of the soldiers in our regiment. Some are the real names of current members, others are the original names found on the muster rolls.
You can see the shirt frill lifted up out of the way for the photo above Private Richard Webb's name.