Vivandière or cantinière is a French name for women who are attached to military regiments as sutlers or canteen keepers. Their actual historic functions of selling wine to the troops and working in canteens led to the adoption … See more

Revolutionary period
The French Revolution of 1789 destroyed the rigid, aristocratic structure of the French army. Many … See more

There is documented evidence of cantinières serving in the civil wars of the 1870s in Spain. During the Second Rif War of 1909–1910 a photograph of "Senorita Asuncion Martos, Cantinera of the Talavera Battalion in Morocco" was published in the See more

The origins of vivandières are impossible to pin down with precision. Soldiers' wives traveled with armies far back into history, and, in the years before 1700, armies often had more women … See more

As serving soldiers (vivandiers) were often too busy with their military duties to spend much time selling, their colonels granted them permission to marry. Their wives became de facto … See more

During the Crimean War, the United States War Department sent three United States Army officers to Europe to observe the current art of war … See more

French vivandières and cantinières frequently appeared in popular entertainment in the 19th century, from operas See more