A Peach Is A Peach Is A Vivandiere

So that's why I keep seeing only four women attached to a company (though at the beginning of the war, there could be 17 or more -- until the men went out into the field).

It's that behind-the-scenes stuff like this that interests me. Thanks for the clipping.
I have not done research to see what updates Congress instituted between 1802 and 1861, but I imagine that the tradition of four women per company was kept for a long time. They were pretty cheap auxiliaries. Officers got servants who were entitled to one ration each, but I imagine these were envisioned as males. It would require an almost year-by-year review of Act of Congress to track it more accurately.
 
I have not done research to see what updates Congress instituted between 1802 and 1861, but I imagine that the tradition of four women per company was kept for a long time. They were pretty cheap auxiliaries. Officers got servants who were entitled to one ration each, but I imagine these were envisioned as males. It would require an almost year-by-year review of Act of Congress to track it more accurately.

*brain melts*

Well, we'll just say that this "four women to a company" thing sounds like a good rule of thumb and leave it at that.
 
My hunch is that women in each company devolved from Acts of Congress into Army regulation. In 1802 the Honorable Members measured how much beef and pork and vinegar each ration should consist of. At some point they freed themselves from that level of detail. Feeding the auxiliaries, but not paying them, was a good deal. Laundresses earned money by washing clothes.
 
"View attachment 73033"

Thanks for this wonderful thread, JPK. I became intrigued by this one and had to look up the sheet music. It's here at the New York Public Library:
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-f232-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99/book#page/1/mode/2up

Here are the lyrics:

The pride of soldier boys,
The sharer of their joys,
When on a summer’s day
To camp they march away;
Their mascot’s ever near,
The jolly vivandiere;
Young and fair, debonair,
With a heart that’s free from care.
And when she taps her keg of ruby wine,
To “have a smile” the boys cannot decline,
They clink their glasses with a cheer:
“Long life to her, our vivandiere!”
Both high and low, all love her so,
By old and young her praise is sung.

REFRAIN:
For she’s a wonder!
The boys all ponder
To whom she’ll give her heart and hand,
This dearest girl in all the land!
She is the neatest, completest, sweetest,
A girl without a peer, the jolly vivandiere!

But when, in war and strife,
The soldier risks his life
For home and country dear,
You find the vivandiere.
And in the time of need,
She is a friend indeed.
Not afraid is this maid,
And to dangers pays no heed.
The cannons roar!
The drums beat!
Bugles call!
And right and left the bravest soldiers fall;
But with a smile is ever near,
And with a cheer, the vivandiere!
Both friend and foe, all love her so,
By old and young her praise is sung.

REFRAIN
 
Thanks so much Loyalty of Dogs, awesome, right? I copied it out of the blue box, little easier to read. Wish songs sounded like this now!

The pride of soldier boys,
The sharer of their joys,
When on a summer’s day
To camp they march away;
Their mascot’s ever near,
The jolly vivandiere;
Young and fair, debonair,
With a heart that’s free from care.
And when she taps her keg of ruby wine,
To “have a smile” the boys cannot decline,
They clink their glasses with a cheer:
“Long life to her, our vivandiere!”
Both high and low, all love her so,
By old and young her praise is sung.

REFRAIN:
For she’s a wonder!
The boys all ponder
To whom she’ll give her heart and hand,
This dearest girl in all the land!
She is the neatest, completest, sweetest,
A girl without a peer, the jolly vivandiere!

But when, in war and strife,
The soldier risks his life
For home and country dear,
You find the vivandiere.
And in the time of need,
She is a friend indeed.
Not afraid is this maid,
And to dangers pays no heed.
The cannons roar!
The drums beat!
Bugles call!
And right and left the bravest soldiers fall;
But with a smile is ever near,
And with a cheer, the vivandiere!
Both friend and foe, all love her so,
By old and young her praise is sung
.
 
You're welcome, JPK, and thank you for the formatting help! Once I had pasted it into the blue box to connect it with the link to your photo, I couldn't figure out how to remove it. (Any technical advice is welcome!)
 
You're welcome, JPK, and thank you for the formatting help! Once I had pasted it into the blue box to connect it with the link to your photo, I couldn't figure out how to remove it. (Any technical advice is welcome!)

That happens to me all the bleached-blond time. I usually just scrap the entire thing and start over. :cry:
 
Not that she was a ' real ' vivandier- another example where children delighted in dressing up! This is a riot. Someone provided her with child sized cask, shoes, hat- everything! What is not clear ( Pinterest ) is whether she is American or French.

Hate ' wasting ' old threads. So frequently newer members haven't seen them, seems a good op for a bump, when relevant photos come up.

viv1crop.jpg
 
I have a question, perhaps it could be answered. Was it only zouve units who had vivandieres, or did the non-zouve American units adopt them as well? Would a non-Louisiana Confederate unit have one, possibly?
 
I have a question, perhaps it could be answered. Was it only zouve units who had vivandieres, or did the non-zouve American units adopt them as well? Would a non-Louisiana Confederate unit have one, possibly?


Yes, they did ( from what I've been able to see, no expert here ). It's only a guess but it seems as if the French style Vivandier ' uniform ' faded away as the men's Zouave uniforms became less common or morphed as the war went on? It's hard to find newspaper mentions of Vivandier after 1862 or so, maybe because not as many were there? Some. We know Tepe was at Gettysburg for instance. Others became front line nurses too or stopped following regiments when the need for nurses in hospitals became overwhelming.

Anyway, there are sure quite a few Vivandier images where the women don't seem to follow the whole French thing? Virginia Hall, 72nd PA- who knows how accurate the sketch is but it's clear a military style was intended?
hall 7nd pa.jpg


Then there's our Kady-
lo kady b dor.jpg

There are other photos of Kady. It looks like she put together an outfit that ' worked ' for the purpose instead of trying to replicate a regiment's uniform?

This is only an opinion ( and for what it's worth ). If a reenactor was interested in a Vivandier persona it'd be a wide open field. You see a terrific range, only thing seeming to tie all of them together would be that whole skirt-over-pants thing?
 
I remember seeing a few with longer skirts, but most seem to do the whole "skirt over pants thing." I was leaning myself towards a dress with an ankle length skirt as seen in the below images, and my respective army's shell jacket and cap on top. Maybe a haversack with first aid supplies, and a little cask of wine or brandy... voila.
220px-army_mil-2008-08-05-123736-jpg.jpg

viv-dor1crop-jpg.jpg

annie-jpg-jpg.jpg

1567370130391.jpeg
 
Back
Top