ZOUAVE, zoo-äv, a soldier in the French
army. Zouaves were organized in 1831 and
were originally mercenaries belonging to a
Kabyle tribe. The Zouaves in the pay of the
dey of Algiers were, when Algeria became a
French possession, incorporated with the French
army there, preserving their Arab dress. Ultimately the native element was eliminatcd, and the Zouaves became French soldiers in the picturesque Arab costume. As such they distinguished themselves in the Crimea, which was their first European service, and the Franco-Italian War of 1859. There were several regiments of Zouaves among the volunteer Federal troops in the American Civil War, so-called because of their wearing an adaptation of the costume of the French Zouaves. The
Papal or Pontifical Zouaves were recruited from
French soldiers at Rome in 1860 and under
General Lamoricière, a former commander in
Algeria, defended the temporal sovereignty
of the Pope. They were unsuccessful against
the Italian troops at Rome in 1870, and after
serving in France against the Germans and the
Commune they were disbanded in 1871.