Who formed and led the Zouaves?

Answer 1

Zouaves were special units of light infantry first developed by the French Army in 1831. They were known for their casual uniforms of open front tunics with baggy trousers often with ornamental sashes and Moroccan style headgear.

Although all the early Zouaves were in the French colonial armies, this name was adopted later by units in other armies, such as volunteer regiments raised for service in the American Civil War. - The Union Army had over 70 volunteer regiments of Zouaves, usually seving 90 days each. Most of the more famous Zouave regiments were from NewYork and Pennsylvania. The 5th New York was considered one of the elite units of the Army of the Potomac,and was known by the name of it's founder Col. Abram Duryea.Other such units were the 114th Pennsylvania Infantry formed by Col. Charles Collisand the 11th New York Volunteer Infantry, formed by , Col. Elmer Ellsworth. The Confederate army also had Zouaves ,but thse were mostly in companies as the specialist 'sharp-shooters' in full regiments.

Many Colonial powers in Africa raised companies of native Zouaves in their colonies, and they were also a feature of the Brazilian Army