During the Civil War, women were denied the right to enlist in combat roles by both the Union and Confederate armies, but they served as nurses, laundresses and matrons. Some women didn’t let Army regulations stop them from joining the battle and posed as men and joined on their own. Others, known as “vivandieres,” followed their husbands, brothers, fathers and sons to war, wearing women’s uniforms and serving in combat with their units.
Serving as a vivandiere required dedication and strength to respond to the various needs of the regiment. Dressed in a feminine version of the prescribed uniform, the vivandieres accompanied their regiment into active service and combat. They functioned as the regimental mascots (Daughters of the Regiment), sutlers and field nurses but received little or no pay, relying on donations from officers and soldiers for income. Often married to a soldier in their regiment, the vivandieres were a source of emotional comfort for their comrades during the grueling life of warfare.
The concept of the vivandiere in the Civil War may have been inspired by stories of the vivandieres in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars who ministered to thirsty or wounded troops as well as the popular Civil War-era comic opera “Daughter of the Regiment.” An unusual and very limited phenomenon during the Civil War, vivandieres were recruited into “Zouaves,” the European style regiments of the American Volunteer army, which sported French-inspired uniforms. These women, who served openly in front line units, were extremely rare—so uncommon that the sighting of a vivandiere often received special attention in letters, diaries and memoirs, similar to glimpses of President Lincoln.
The addition of the Zouave regiments and the recruitment of women soldiers during the Civil War can be credited to the efforts of Charles H. T. Collis, an Irish immigrant who arrived in Philadelphia in 1853 and joined the 90-day 18th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment as Sergeant-Major at the start of the war. Upon the completion of his enlistment period, he returned to Philadelphia to form the Zouaves D’Afrique. Modeled after the elite Algerian troops of the French Army, Pennsylvania featured several Zouave style regiments. Collis recruited the most famous vivandiere of Pennsylvania—Marie Tepe, a valiant, determined woman who became known as “French Mary.”
The Zouave regiments followed U.S. Army regulations, with the exception of their uniform style, which was patterned after those of the French Army. One Pennsylvania unit—Collis’ 114th Pennsylvania Volunteers—wore the full French Zouave uniform and adhered to French military custom. The women’s uniforms included a blue jacket, short skirt trimmed with red braid and red trousers over a pair of boots.
Eventually, the vigor, bravery and sacrifices of several women who served in the army were officially recognized. Two women from Philadelphia—Marie Tepe and Mary Taylor—as well as Annie Etheridge of Michigan were awarded the “Kearny Cross,” a decoration issued only to soldiers of the First Division of the III Army Corps who had distinguished themselves in the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Few memorials or monuments dedicated to the service of the vivandieres during the Civil War exist today. The gravesites of some may be visited today, including Marie Tepe’s at St. Paul’s Cemetery on Lafferty Hill in Carrick, Pennsylvania and Annie Etheridge’s at the Arlington National Cemetery. The Women in Military Service For America Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, recognizes the military service of all women for the U.S. Army, including a few vivandieres.