Vivandière

Who is Vivandière?

Vivandière or Cantinière is a French name for women attached to military regiments as sutlers or canteen keepers. Their actual historic function of selling wine to the troops and working in canteens led to the adoption of the name 'cantinière' which came to supplant the original ‘vivandière' starting in 1793, but the use of both terms was common in French until the mid-19th century, and 'vivandière' remained the term of choice in non-French-speaking countries like the USA/CSA, Spain, Italy, and Great Britain. Vivandières served in the French army up until the beginning of World War I, but the custom spread to many other armies. Vivandières also served on both sides in the American Civil War, and in the armies of Spain, Italy, the German States, Switzerland, and various armies in South America, though little is known about the details in most of those cases as historians have not done extensive research on them.