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The Strength
Surrounding the Army.
An organization devoted to the followers, tradespeople, families, and support staff whose lives intersected with Revolutionary armies.
Our purpose.
Our mission is to provide an inclusive and focused community resource to discuss research-based, documented activities and events pertaining to followers and other support staff—both male and female—of the combatant forces in the American Revolutionary War era.
Those experiences belong within the history of the American War for Independence. We examine their roles, labor, and material culture through historical research, preservation, and public interpretation.
A place to grow.
OAS offers a support network for reenactors exploring roles beyond combat. Members can seek guidance, exchange findings, and develop an interpretation at their own stage of experience.
We are an umbrella for individual members, rather than member units.
Research we share.
A useful finding should be possible to trace. We share documentation, help identify reliable sources, and encourage members to examine the evidence behind their choices of clothing, equipment, and activities.
The work that sustained
an army’s world.
Our interpretations include laundry, tailoring, mess cooking, sutlers, market inhabitants, hospitals, various military trades, and other contributory activities.
Research guides our work. We distinguish documented evidence from interpretation and acknowledge the questions that remain.
Beyond the battlefield.
Domestic work, medical care, commerce, and skilled trades reveal how a military community functioned. These perspectives give audiences a fuller understanding of the war.
Working across organizations.
OAS is available to collaborate with other umbrella organizations on immersive programming at their events.
The aim is to connect civilian interpretation with the wider event, in service of public education.
Choose your way into OAS.
Explore opportunities for site partnerships, individual membership, and scholarship-supported projects below.