E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Camp-followers.
Non-combatants (such as servants, carriers, hostlers, suttlers, laundresses, and so on), who follow an army. We are told that in 1859 as many as 85,000 camp-followers were in attendance on 15,000 combatants in a Bengal army.
