Zouzou! Does anyone know the origin of this photo?

John Hartwell

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Found this online. Zouaves, apparently. Can anyone identify the unit, location, or the source of the photo?
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Another angle:

32788v.jpg

  • Title: Confederate fortifications, Yorktown, Va.
  • Date Created/Published: [photographed between 1861 and 1865, printed between 1880 and 1889]
  • Medium: 1 photographic print on card mount : albumen.
  • Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-32788 (digital file from original item) LC-B8184-B141 (b&w film copy neg.)
  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
  • Call Number: LOT 4166-J, no. 11 [P&P]
  • Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
  • Notes:
 
It is my opinion that these men are from Co. I of the 55th New York Infantry "The Lafayette Guard". The 55th was formed from the 55th NY State Militia and was predominately comprised of French immigrants from New York City. Regis de Trobriand was responsible for the unit's organization. The militia unit being comprised mostly of Frenchmen, adopted a uniform that reflected French army uniforms complete with dark blue frock coats with red trim, shakos, and red trousers. http://appliedvb.com/NY40th/FRENCH.html Sometime later, Company I was formed as a Zouave unit. http://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/55thInf/55thInfCWN.htm

The men in the photograph are clearly Zouave troops. If you notice, at least four definitely have shakos on. The three wearing havelocks might also be wearing shakos underneath. I suspect this because of how high they sit on the men's heads, versus how high a kepi or forage cap would normally sit. One private wears a forage cap. The officer wears a kepi and trousers. (typical in a Zouave unit) The soldier standing on the parapet is wearing a fez. Because a number of the men are wearing shakos, and the original 55th wore shakos, I would argue that it is possible a number of the original members of the 55th Militia retained the shakos out of a sense of pride.

The 55th New York were in action at Yorktown during the Peninsula Campaign, 1862. http://www.civilwarintheeast.com/USA/NY/NY055.php

These men and their uniforms definitely have "foreign" look to them. In fact, when I was first presented with this photograph, I first thought it was of French troops in the Crimea. It was only when I saw the calk identifier on the gun carriage pointed out above did I realize it was CW. So, to try and discover who these men might be, I started searching foreign units serving I the federal army, then narrowed that to Zouave units, then those that were on the Peninsula. This is how I came up with the 55th NYVI.
 
Although most officers had French names, the companies were not French.Officer names:

25 French names
6 Belgian names
5 American names
3 German names
1 Irish name
1 Scottish name

The name could be translated in to English as "lost children" and is taken from the French unit Enfants Perdus de Cremee.
Their official name was the New York Independent Battalion, but they were also know as the Enfants Perdus, or the Independent Corps of Light Infantry, or the German Legion. The men were largly German or Swiss, but the unit contained many Belgians and Canadians as well.

Lieutenant colonel Confort having served in the French Army, chose French chasseurs a pied style uniforms. These uniforms somewhat resembled Zouave uniforms. The coat is dark blue, and the Zouave style trousers were dark blue and the kepi was dark blue with an American eagle on the front.
 
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The button pattern on the jackets worn by the men in the photograph is different from the sketch of the 31st's uniform. Note the surround of buttons in addition to the buttons along the opening. Unfortunately, we cannot determine the color of the pantaloons from the photograph. Besides the button pattern, both those in the photo and in the sketch have the same length and cut along the bottom hem. Two other differences I notice are the shakos being worn in the photo versus the kepi in the sketch, and the style of leggings between the tow. In the photo the leggings resemble the type also worn by the 5th New York with leather uppers. In the sketch, the leggings appear to be entirely of canvass.
 
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