The Zouaves took their colorful uniforms from North African French colonial troops. Most Zouave units were from the North, like the New York unit that wore the uniform pictured here. There were some Southern Zouave units as well..
Zouaves got a lot of attention for their flashy duds, and some fought as light infantry like their North African namesakes, rather than in the closed formations used by regular units.
Zouave units are popular at reenactments, and one of my fellow Osprey Publishing authors, Robin Smith, reenacts the Civil War as part of the 5th New York Duryées Zouaves. So. . .he's an Englishman pretending to be a New Yorker pretending to be a North African in the French Army! It takes a special breed to write for Osprey. :-)
Photo courtesy Matthew G. Bisanz.
Think I would feel silly in the hat though.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Zuoaves...thanks for the education. I'm kinda thinking you wouldn't want bright uniforms in the woods?
ReplyDeleteYay, we made it!
I've never heard of these guys being in the Civil War, but I've heard that name, Zouave. I would think that sort of tailoring by hand would have cost the regiment a few dollars.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, Sean, and a fitting end to the Challenge. Congrats on getting it done!
Yeah, I'd never heard of this, either.
ReplyDeleteHi Sean .. I love the uniform and Zuoaves is a great word .. good for you and interesting info ..
ReplyDeleteCheers for now - Hilary
Colourful! It has many similarities to Mongolian troop uniforms, the ones they wear at special occasions.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot stopping by my blog and good luck to your friend who is doing the Prague-Ulaanbaatar rally. I will be there in July. So who knows might bump into them?! :)