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"French Mary" Tepe - "Vivandiere" in the Civil War

"French Mary" Tepe - "Vivandiere" in the Civil War

Posted: 19 Jun 2000 12:00PM GMT
Classification: Biography
Edited: 21 Oct 2002 11:06PM GMT
Surnames: Tepe, Collis, Paxson
French Mary's Wartime Odyssey -

Among the Union wounded at Fredericksburg was "French Mary" Tepe, a "vivandiere" (a woman who carried provisions to sell to the soldiers) who was attached to Col. Charles Collis' Zouaves. She washed and mended the men's clothes and often carried her small keg of whiskey to the front lines to comfort the wounded and encourage the faint of heart. Her bravery at Fredericksburg earned her a decoration from her corps.

Mary was a French immigrant who married the Philadelphia tailor Bernardo Tepe. When he enlisted in 1861, according to legend, Mary followed him to Virginia and braved 13 battles. The wound she suffered in her heel in Fredericksburg continued to cause such pain that it may have contributed to her suicide in 1900.

In most cases, vivandieres were wives of soldiers in the regiment to which they were attached.

Her uniform appears to be dark blue, consisting of a short jacket and short skirt following the traditional French pattern with pantaloons worn under the skirt. The jacket had red cuffs with gold lace at the wrists, three rows of gold buttons and a gold-decorated, turned-down collar, her flared skirt had red trimming around the bottom in a band and around the large pocket.

Collis' Zouaves included members of Company G of the 114h Pennsylvania, where they were pictured assembled in full dress at their camp near Petersburg, VA, in August, 1864.
They are seen wearing a very short blue jacket with red decorations, red trousers and fez with gold tassel, fabric imported from France. According to one of the regiment's musicians, their uniforms "pricked up the pride of the new recruits and gave us an imposing and war-like appearance."

Union officers wore a bright-red "kepi", a more traditional-looking, flattened civil war cap with brim that was commissioned with a tailor-made insignia on the top of the hat. Most officers personalized their hats, purchasing metal numbers to indicate their regiments.

One person named was Pvt. Thaddeus Paxson of Collis' Zouaves from the 114th Pennsylvania Infantry; he wore a fez with a braided gold cord tassel.

New York and other Pennsylvania Zouve regiments had various other uniforms that were similiar, but not exactly as those described above.

Excerpt from "Echoes of Glory, Arms and Equipment of the Union," Time-Life Books.

Re: "French Mary" Tepe - "Vivandiere" in the Civil War

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 5:52PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi! Just wondering if you are related to Mary Tepe?
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