| United States Zouave Cadets | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1856–1861 |
| Country |  United States |
| Allegiance |  Illinois |
| Branch | Militia |
| Type | Zouave infantry |
| Role | Foot guards |
| Size | 61 soldiers, 15 musicians (1860)[1] |
| Armory | Garrett Block (Chicago, Illinois)[2] |
| Nickname | Governor's Guard of Illinois[a] |
| March | "Zouave Cadets Quickstep" (A. J. Vaas)[4] |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Elmer Ellsworth |
TheUnited States Zouave Cadets (also known as theChicago Zouaves andZouave Cadets of Chicago) was a short-livedzouave unit of theIllinoismilitia that has been credited as the force behind the surge in popularity of zouaveinfantry in theUnited States andConfederate States in the mid-19th century. The United States Zouave Cadets were formed byElmer Ellsworth in 1856 from theNational Guard Cadets of Chicago, established three years earlier. The unit's 1860 tour of theeastern United States popularized the distinctive zouave appearance and customs, directly and indirectly inspiring the formation of dozens of similar units on the eve of theAmerican Civil War.
During the governorship ofWilliam Henry Bissell, the United States Zouave Cadets were granted the ceremonial designation ofGovernor's Guard of Illinois on 23 January 1860.[5] Its march was the "Zouave Cadets Quickstep".
In the years following theWar of 1812, manynorthern states defunded anddemobilized their militias.[6][b] In their place, units of volunteer militia organized themselves.[6] These units, often drawn frommembers of society, elected their own officers, adopted their own uniforms and customs, and generally financed themselves.[7] Well-drilled and commanded units could petition for recognition by their state government; if approved, their officers would be issued commissions by the Governor and their troops permitted access to the state's armories and munitions stores, all while maintaining their otherwise independent character.[7][8][9] Nevertheless, such volunteer militia companies of this period – despite forming a nucleus around which a state could build and expand its military forces in an emergency – were characterized by Phil Reyburn, an historian, as "more fraternal than martial".[10] A far greater emphasis was placed ondrill and ceremony than on battlefield tactics.[10]
The National Guard Cadets of Chicago was formed as a volunteer militiacompany on March 19, 1856, under commanding officer Captain Joseph R. Scott.[11] After three years, however, its strength sat at just 15 men.[11]
While commanding officer of the Rockford Greys militia company, Elmer Ellsworth introduced his men to drills inspired by those used by French zouave units.[11] Ellsworth, himself, had been introduced to zouave military customs by his fencing instructor, Charles A. De Villiers, a French physician, immigrant, and veteran of a zouave unit during theCrimean War.[11] In 1859, soldiers of the National Guard Cadets of Chicago saw the Rockford Greys performing zouave-inspired drills and offered Ellsworth command of their unit. Ellsworth accepted the offer, transforming the National Guard Cadets of Chicago into the United States Zouave Cadets.[12]
"The members of the corps, with one exception, are all young men of extraordinary muscular power, and there is not one member who is not a gentleman as well as a soldier. The drill is most arduous, but; notwithstanding, every movement, no matter how complex, is executed to perfection."
On July 4, 1859, the United States Zouave Cadets – now 46 members strong – first publicly appeared in their new Zouave uniforms and executed the unique Franco-Algerian Zouave drill in front of Chicago's Tremont Hall.[11] With a training schedule of three evenings per week,[c] the United States Zouave Cadets established a reputation for parade ground excellence, described by one observer as "unsurpassed this side ofWest Point".[11] The United States Zouave Cadets saw their biggest audience, estimated to be 70,000 in number, the following September during the seventh annualUnited States Agricultural Society Fair which was hosted by Chicago.[12]
In March 1860, the invalid and partially paralyzedGovernor of Illinois,William Henry Bissell, succumbed to pneumonia.[15][16] The Zouave Cadets formed part of the military escort during Bissell's state funeral, occupying a position in the cortège between the Quincy City Guards and a volunteer company of veterans of theMexican–American War.[3] Having previously been named as theGovernor's Guard of Illinois by Governor Bissell on January 23, 1860,[17] the Zouave Cadets were also given the task of firingthree volleys during the interment.[3]
That May the unit was again in the public spotlight when it executed its exotic drill and maneuver for the1860 Republican National Convention, held that year in Chicago.[2]: 32
In July 1860, the unit undertook a tour of the eastern United States, appearing in parades and performing exhibition drills inAdrian, Michigan;Detroit, Michigan;Cleveland, Ohio;Buffalo, New York,Rochester, New York;Utica, New York;Troy, New York;Albany, New York;New York, New York; andBoston, Massachusetts.[12] A crowd of tens of thousands turned-out to watch the unit's parade through the streets of New York City.[18]
Their tour closed with exhibition drills for GeneralWinfield Scott at West Point, forPresident of the United StatesJames Buchanan at theWhite House, and in one final public appearance inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[12]
The United States Zouave Cadets effectively ceased to exist with the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, most of its personnel scattering to other units.[12] In April 1861 – following thecapitulation of Fort Sumter and in response toAbraham Lincoln's call for an initial mobilization of 75,000 volunteers – officers of the United States Zouave Cadets raised three separate zouave companies each comprising between 80 and 89 men, which were integrated into the19th Illinois Infantry Regiment.[2]: 34–35
Ellsworth, who had worked on Abraham Lincoln's campaign in the1860 U.S. presidential election, took command of the11th New York Infantry,New York's so-called "Fire Zouaves".[12][19][20] On May 24, 1861 — the day following the ratification of Virginia's Ordinance of Secession — federal forces, among them the Fire Zouaves, seized the city ofAlexandria, Virginia. Ellsworth was shot and killed by innkeeper James Jackson while confiscating a Confederate States flag that had been flying from the roof of Jackson's establishment, thereby becoming the first fatality among Union officers in the war.[12][19] Ellsworth's national reputation earned as the head of the Chicago Zouaves inspired a period of national mourning; according toAdam Goodheart, it was "Ellsworth’s death, even more than the attack on Sumter, that made Northerners ready not just to take up arms, but to kill".[21] Ellsworth's remains wereplaced in repose in theWhite House while aNew York Times war correspondent reported that the entire city of Alexandria faced the possibility of being razed "from the uncontrollable fury of the troops" of Ellsworth's regiment.[22] Later efforts inNew York, Ellsworth's home state, resulted in the raising of a regiment of zouaves to avenge his death; that unit, the44th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, was known as "Ellsworth's Avengers".[23][24] A.J. Vaas, composer of the Chicago Zouave's unit march, wrote arequiem that year titled the "Ellsworth Requiem" in commemoration of the officer's death.[19]
De Villiers, the French physician and veteran of the Crimean War who had originally inspired Ellsworth's interest in zouaves, was later employed as an informal inspector of theCamp Dennison recruiting post.[25] He was described in one account by a Camp Dennison soldier as "a dapper little gentleman of very dark complexion".[25] The11th Ohio Infantry later elected De Villiers its commander and he was commissioned a colonel.[25]
_issued_by_Kinney_Tobacco_Company_to_promote_Sweet_Caporal_Cigarettes_MET_DPB872458.jpg)
_issued_by_Kinney_Tobacco_Company_to_promote_Sweet_Caporal_Cigarettes_MET_DPB872457.jpg)
The Chicago Zouaves had uniforms that borrowed heavily from, without strictly copying, French Zouaves from which they drew inspiration.[26]Enlisted men in the Chicago Zouaves wore uniforms that consisted of red kepi, red chasseur trousers with whitegaiters, and an open-fronted, beaded blue blouse worn with a yellow waist sash.[14][27] Officer uniforms consisted of straight-legged trousers and blue blouses with choker collars.[27] The loose-fitting chasseur trousers worn by enlisted personnel allowed greater fluidity of movement than traditional, straight-legged trousers[26] allowing them to perform their drill movements.
The "Zouave Cadets Quickstep" by A.J. Vaas was registered for copyright on April 13, 1860; sheet music to the march was published by Root & Candy.[28] It became briefly popular, with theChicago Daily Herald reporting that the publisher was – by August – receiving "daily orders in the hundreds" for it.[28] It was included in the Caxton Club's 2018 volumeChicago by the Book: 101 Publications That Shaped the City and Its Image.[28]
The popularity of the public appearances undertaken by the United States Zouave Cadets during their 1860 national tour helped inspire the formation of additional zouave units in other states.[29] Writing in 1910 James Gross, a veteran of the Albany Zouave Cadets (Company A,10th New York Infantry), recalled that the demonstration drill of the Chicago Zouaves in Albany "aroused such enthusiasm among my young friends and companions that we held a meeting on the upper floor of the Bank of Albany building, located on Broadway, and then and there decided to form a company to be known as the Albany Zouave Cadets, to drill and contest the honors with the Chicago Cadets, not dreaming of the great Rebellion which was soon to follow" [sic].[30]
During the American Civil War, more than 50 zouave units existed in theUnion Army alone, with additional zouave forces raised by theConfederate States.[31]: 66–67 However, units inspired by the Chicago Zouaves later found the zouave uniform impractical in combat conditions with the colorful chasseur trousers making easy targets of their wearers.[32][33] During the American Civil War, zouave units soon switched to more conventional uniforms, though, in the post-war era zouave-style uniforms gradually reappeared among some militia.[32][d]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
