A civilian who follows military camps in order to sell goods or services that the military doesn't supply. These can include prostitution, cloth cleaning, cooking, and alcohol. It can also be someone who scavenges after a battle. Prostitution is the sale of sexual services. ... Cooking is an act of preparing food for eating. ... In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. ...

The term is at times used to described the families of military personnel who accompany the soldier from base to base. This was not an uncommon practice during wartime. In United States history, Molly Pitcher was considered a camp follower during the Revolutionary War. There were a number of camp followers on both the Union and Confederate sides of the Civil War. Molly Pitcher was a nickname given to a woman who may have fought briefly in the American Revolutionary War. ...

Today, the term is at times used derisively against those women who are considered military groupies, those who actively seek out and exclusively date, have sexual relationships with, or marry men in the armed forces in order have financial security. A groupie is a person whose devotion to a person (usually a celebrity, especially a rock and roll star) approaches the level of fanaticism. ...

External Link

• Camp Followers During the Revolutionary War
• Who's Following The Army? Suite 101 article descsribing camp followers throughout history