Sutler

A Dutch female sutler with her baby and dead husband during the Battle of Waterloo. Painted by Jacobus Josephus Eeckhout.
Sutler's tent at the Siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War

A sutler or victualer is a civilian merchant who sells provisions to an army in the field, in camp, or in quarters. Sutlers sold wares from the back of a wagon or a temporary tent, traveling with an army or to remote military outposts.[1] Sutler wagons were associated with the military, while chuckwagons served a similar purpose for civilian wagon trains and outposts.[2]

  1. ^ Delo, David Michael (1998). Peddlers and Post Traders: The Army Sutler on the Frontier. Larousse Kingfisher Chambers. ISBN 0-9662218-1-8.
  2. ^ Tangires, Helen (Summer 1990). "American Lunch Wagons". Journal of American Culture. 13 (2): 91–108. doi:10.1111/j.1542-734x.1990.1302_91.x.