Zouaves were a style of dress and drill popularized before the war. They were basically light infantry who performed well in French service in Algeria. Their red baggy pants and fezzes captured the imagination of the public, along with their athleticism and esprit de corps.

A number of cities raised Zouave companies before the war, most based on Elmer Ellsworth's Zouaves (the man martyred in Alexandria when we went into a building there to rip down a secessionist flag). Ellsworth started the Zouave craze with his Chicago Fire Zouaves, who did a barnstorming tour of the US challenging local militias to drill contests. When the war broke out, Ellsworth took command of the 11th NY "Fire Zouaves." Please keep in mind that the fire brigades of the mid-19th Century were largely undisciplined hooligans in private employ and not the civil servants we think of today. To learn more about Ellsworth and Zouaves, go to:

http://www.zouave.org/craze.html

While all sorts of units of militia, regular infantry and state-raised volunteer regiments made their way to the front in a variety of uniforms and armaments, the Union war machine gradually removed most of the distinctive clothing and other attributes that distinguished the Zouave units. By mid-war, many of them were fighting in regular blue uniforms, perhaps retaining a few fezzes here and there to retain something of their individuality.

So it's not improbable that a cavalry regiment started out as Zouaves, though it runs counter in principle to what they were all about.

Bill Cross

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