Salem Zouave Re-enactors photo from their Facebook page |
Re-enacting the 5th NY Volunteer Infantry from http://www.mikelynaugh.com/Remembrance/index.htm |
In 1862 the Zouaves were back in Salem, escorting funerals, putting on drills and parades in Essex County and Boston. They had nine months service at a camp in Boxford, Massachusetts. By November some of the Zouaves were in Port Hudson, near Baton Rouge performing picket duty with the 19th Army Corps. They were mustered out of service at Wenham, Massachusetts on 24 August 1863. The Salem Light Infantry continued until about 1890, but the Salem Zouaves unit was never reactivated.
During the Civil War, Zouave units were based on native North African troops in the French Army. They wore baggy harem style pants, usually red, and fez or turbans. During the Crimean War (1853-56) the Zouave troops became heroes, and illustrations of their uniforms influenced fashion in Europe and the United States. Their popularity spread to the United States and many local militias adopted the colorful uniforms and fancy drill programs. Colonel Ellsworth’s Chicago Zouave Cadets toured the United States and spread their popularity just before the start of the Civil War. This is when the local Salem militia “caught the fever”!
Zouave Style |
For more information:
Click here for my post yesterday about the Salem Zouave's and their rescue of the USS Constitution during the Civil War http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/04/old-ironsides-during-civil-war.html
Civil War Zouave History http://philazou.home.mindspring.com/page7.html
A Zouave Uniform from the Smithsonian Museum http://www.civilwar.si.edu/soldiering_zuoave.html
Albany Zouave Cadets, by James Hilton Manning, Albany, New York, 1910 [available at Google Books]
Zouave Drill Book, by Colonel Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth, King & Baird printers, 1861
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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
Wow...interesting.
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