The picture below is of a rather inaccurate and crudely made model. Why? It was the first model I had ever handcarved. Originally carved in wax, a friend cast it in white metal for me. Why go to all that trouble? Because when I made this little model no one else, to my knowledge, had made one before in this scale.
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The wives of French NCOs often made a few Sous selling brandy and other unobtainables to the troops. When fighting was tough some of these wives would actually go into battle with their men and sell tots of brandy from their barrels. They would not take money knowing that many of their customers would not survive the battle to pay them. Those that did survive paid later when the fighting was over. Their clothes were often uniform castoffs. One of these cantinnieres was decorated for bravery. Imagine her standing behind the 17th Line on the previous page. |