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 such as the USA, Spain, Italy, and Great Britain.

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 such as the USA, Spain, Italy, and Great Britain.