Intrepid Women: Cantinières and Vivandières of the French ArmyCantini res and vivandi res were women who served as official, uniformed combat auxiliaries of French army units from 1793 to the eve of World War I. Technically non combatant spouses of active duty soldiers, they fought and died in every conflict from the wars of the Revolution through colonial campaigns in Algeria, Mexico, West Africa, and Indochina. At a time when women were strictly controlled by the Napoleonic Code, cantini res owned property,