The Zouaves began in French-occupied Algeria in 1830, named for the Zwawa, Berbers of the Djurdjura Mountains. The first recruits included Kabyles, Turks, Moors, and Arabs, but desertion was severe, with 46 percent leaving over one 15-month span. By 1842 the ranks were entirely European and Jewish, largely Algerian-born settlers, yet they kept the chechia cap, buttonless jacket, baggy sarouel trousers, and a sash about 10 feet long. Their open-order tactics and prone loading drill made them feared shock troops.

The look spread to the Papal Zouaves defending Pius IX, the black-uniformed Zouaves of Death in the 1863 Polish uprising, and units in Spain, Brazil, and the British West Indies. In the United States, Elmer Ellsworth’s touring Zouave Cadets helped inspire more than 70 Union Zouave regiments and about 25 Confederate companies. Rifled muskets made the bright uniforms deadly targets, World War I ended the colorful dress by 1915, and the French Zouave regiments were disbanded in 1962 after Algerian independence.

• Paris uses a 17-foot Zouave statue on the Alma Bridge to judge how high the Seine is flooding.
• Putting on the sash took two men, with the soldier spinning himself into it.
• Notable American units included the 11th New York Fire Zouaves, the 5th New York, and the Louisiana Tigers.
• At Second Bull Run the 5th New York lost about 120 killed and 330 wounded out of 525 men in under 10 minutes.
• Legend says a Zouave at Sevastopol rolled tobacco in gunpowder paper, inspiring the Zig-Zag logo.