Introduction

By 1642 England had enjoyed almost 150 years of freedom from significant conflict on its own soil. Nevertheless, many soldiers had gained combat experience overseas as, throughout the first half of the century English and Scottish troops had fought in Europe and in Ireland. London responded with uncharacteristic alacrity. On 10 January 1600, the Privy Council decreed that hospitals for sick and injured soldiers were to be provided in every province. 'Professional' nurses were not the only women to become involved with the care of the sick and wounded. Throughout the Civil War period, armies were accompanied by soldiers' wives and camp followers who shared the trials, tribulations and dangers of campaign. Despite a centuries-old tradition of warfare in which battle casualties and sick soldiers loomed large, the work of nurses who cared for sick and wounded soldiers in pre-Nightingale times has been inexorably excluded from the literature of warfare.