A FAMOUS FRENCH CORPS.

Waikato Argus, Volume VII, Issue 464, 22 July 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

A FAMOUS FRENCH CORPS.

A famous corps (says a writer in Chums) is that of the French Zouaves, whose picturesque uniforms, consisting of baggy red trousers, short blue braided jackets, gaiters and close fitting cap (a sort of fez) have been seen in many great battles. The Zouaves gained their richest laurels during the Crimean War, at which time the corps, although supposed only to consist of Frenchmen, had attracted to its ranks many young men of other nations —English, Scottish, Irish, Germans and Italians. Many of these, no doubt, were soldiers of fortune, anxious to serve in a body the fame of which was world-wide. But Franca was not to enjoy the monopoly of a Zouave corps, for some ten years later when the American Civil War broke out, two bodies of American Zouaves were formed —one by the Federals, the other by Confederates. They uniformed much after the French style, and gained a great reputation for dash and courage. This was particularly the case with the Confederate Zouaves, who were known as the “Louisiana Tigers.” Whan the French Zouaves were serving in Africa, they had one day to perform a long and terrible march in the blistering sun. The Chasseurs, a corps of famous marchers, were with them, but the soldiers of both corps were ready to sink with hunger, thirst and exhaustion. Towards evening they arrived at the town, and the colonel of the Chasseurs appealed to his men to enter the place in a style worthy of French soldiers. The men responded bravely, and with bugles sounding they marched in with a light springy step, looking as little ns possible like men who were half dead with farigue. This was too much for the Zouaves. They had suffered, if possible worse than the Chasseurs, but, at the command of their colonel, they braced themselves up, and although ready to drop, entered the town at the run, swinging their muskets round their heads, that being the evolution in the Zouave drill. They had “ gone one better ” than the Chasseurs.