72nd Pennsylvania Zouaves

I know one of my relatives was in the unit and had fought at Gettysburg and couple of major battles
They fought in the majority of the battles that the AoP took part in until 1864 when their enlistments ran out, the majority of them returned home and the 72nd ceased to exist.
 
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Love them or hate them, they were a very interesting group and being a retired firefighter, I have followed and collected items from both the Philadelphia and New York firefighter units.
 
Just curious: were there any Zouave units on either side that continued to wear their unique uniforms throughout the war? Or renewed the uniform style after the war?
I've often heard that most threw them away about their first combat experience....

As @AUG mentioned, several Zouave units continued to wear their distinctive uniforms throughout the war. The 8th Missouri "American Zouaves" are indeed one of those units. There is, however, some conflicting information concerning their uniforms.

Some sources indicate that they were originally issued typical Zouave dress... short trimmed jacket, fez, baggy red pantaloons, canvas gaiters... you get the picture. Other sources disagree, and indicate that the regiment voted to eschew the pants, fez, and gaiters, and go with a less flashy uniform... short trimmed jacket, gray flannel shirt, Federal issue sky-blue trowsers, and a chasseur's style kepi. All surviving photos show their members in the latter uniform. Whether this represents an 'as mustered' look, or one that evolved over the life of the regiment is still open to some debate.

As for the uniforms themselves, Cpl. Philip Smith indicated that, indeed, there was a difference between their 'made to order' uniforms upon muster, and the, "...fashionable style of Uncle Sam..." which didn't fit as well. By looking at the photographs and details of the only surviving 8th MO Jacket, it seems that their jackets were Schuylkill Arsenal products which would have conformed to Federal sizing guidelines, hence the complaints.

The American Zouaves were the pet project of General Nathaniel Lyons, so I do believe they would have had little problem obtaining replacement Zouave clothing.
 
Wish I could find it again, read one era source ( I think NY or Rhode Island ) where the author says one reason the uniforms were initially used so frequently was how much easier they were to make? That source only mentioned women of the town hurriedly sewing uniforms for just-formed regiments.
 
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