University of Oklahoma Press“Women of Empire” by Verity McInnis Women of Empire By Verity McInnis (University of Oklahoma) During his honeymoon in 1869, a U.S. military officer gave his wife a list of 10 rules he expected her to follow. They included orders to smile at breakfast, ask his permission to move furniture, serve meals on time with meat four times a week, and this admonition: “You are not in command of anything except the cook.” Life wasn’t easy for military wives in remote parts of the world.