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The assortment of people who travel with an army’s wagon or mule train. In more permissive cultures or for larger armies, the number of camp followers can approach a quarter or more of the number of soldiers in the army.

The composition of the camp followers is a surprising mixture. Of course, the group typically will include gamblers, pimps, prostitutes, and peddlers. But it also will include grain traders, other commodities merchants, scribes, minstrels, bards, leatherworkers, shoemakers, laundresses, several banker’s agents, traders offering gold for valuable loot items. Retired soldiers who help with cooking or running the encampment or caring for the horses, the women and children of some soldiers, orphans serving as errand boys or apprentices, carters and sumpters, shepherds tending to any purchasable livestock herds, and journeyman smiths also travel with the armies.

The downside of camp followers is that they consume a lot of food and drink while offering little combat effectiveness in exchange for the resources. The upsides are that they handle many useful tasks and their presence is good for morale.

A professional army under a strong commander might limit the number of camp followers, but if the army is only covering five to ten miles each day, it almost always will attract a body of camp followers, even if they are required to live in a separate encampment.