The Zouave were French infantry soldiers, first raised in 1831 from the Zouave (Zouaoua, Zwawa) Berber tribe from Algeria. Later the French Zouave infantry were comprised solely of French soldiers, and were elite corps. The Zouave troops were famed for their uniform based on Moorish dress consisting of a short, blue, embroidered jacket and baggy red trousers reaching to just below the knee. A force of troops, named the Papal Zouave were later formed for the defence of the Vatican by an exiled French soldier. The term came to be used for soldiers in other corps modelled on the French Zouaves, such as several regiments of American volunteer Union troops of the American Civil War who modelled themselves upon the French Zouave troops, adopted the uniform to a degree and called themselves Zouave. Research Zouave
Abbreviations
Warfare
Research Zouave