The Army of the Indus now consisted of around a thousand Europeans and 14,000 East India Company sepoys—excluding the 6,000 irregulars hired by Shuja—accompanied by no fewer than 38,000 Indian camp followers. The baggage for these men was to be carried to war on more than 30,000 camels,
This keeps coming up. The heroic armies of yore were it seems always accompanied by masses of servants. The Boer history I learned in S. Africa emphasized the rugged pioneer spirit of the Boers, neglecting to mention that each Boer wagon was supported by dozens of man and maid servants.
