Sherri Cecile's Page

Sherri - you asked about the Zouave, Here is an answer in two parts. The Zouaves of the American Civil War took their name from companies in the French Army. They had zouaves as early as 1830 in Africa. The American uniforms were quite different from that of the regular soldier. Usually brightly colored baggy trousers and blousey shirts topped by a fancy cap.

The origins of the Zouaves can be traced to the Zouaoua, a fiercely independent Kabyli tribe living in the rocky hills of Algeria and Morocco. In the summer of 1830 a number of Zouaoua tendered their services to the French colonial army, and in October of that year were organized into two battalions of auxiliaries. Over the following decade these Zouaves -- as the French styled them -- proved their valor in dozens of bloody desert encounters. Although the Zouave units were increasingly comprised of native Frenchmen, their distinctive uniform remained a derivation of traditional North African dress: A short, collarless jacket; a sleeveless vest (gilet); voluminous trousers (serouel); 12-foot long woolen sash (ceinture); white canvas leggings (guetres); leather greaves (jambieres); and of course the tasseled fez (chechia) and turban (cheche). In their time the French Zouaves were better known than the French Foreign Legion.

Most of the above comes from http://www.zouave.org/