The Papal Zouaves () were an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

battalion (later regiment) dedicated to defending the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

. Named after the French

zouave The Zouaves () were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army and other units modelled on it, which served between 1830 and 1962, and served in French North Africa. The zouaves were among the most decorated units of the French Army ...

regiments, the ' were mainly young men, unmarried and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, who volunteered to assist

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

in his struggle against the Italian unificationist Risorgimento.

Origin

The Zouaves evolved out of a unit formed by Louis Juchault de Lamoricière on 23 May 1860, the '

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

of Franco- Belgian Tirailleurs'. The company was quickly increased to an 8-company battalion by amalgamating the Tirailleurs with another volunteer unit, the '

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

of Cathelineau'. On 1 January 1861 the unit was renamed the Papal Zouaves, after already proving themselves in 1860. The name had been introduced by Xavier de Mérode. The

Almoner An almoner () is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing money to the deserving poor. The title ''almoner'' has to some extent fallen out of use in English, but its equivalents in other languages are often used f ...

was Mgr. Edouard de Woelmont.

Composition

The unit was commanded by the Swiss colonel Eugène Allet (1814–1878), from Leuk, who had previously served in the Pontifical Swiss Guard under

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

. All orders were given in French. From 1867 to 1868, the Papal Zouaves increased their strength from that of a single battalion to a four-battalion regiment, each battalion having six active and one depot company. Initially, the French and Belgian unit was mostly composed of young aristocrats and gentlemen. Later on, the unit was truly international, and by May 1868 numbered 4,592 men. who cites the

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the '' New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Hi ...

for the numbers. A British volunteer, Joseph Powell, noted in his account of his service with the Papal Zouaves that at least three individuals of African descent and one person from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

served in the Zouaves. Between February 1868 and September 1870, the number of Canadian volunteers, mainly from the

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

and majority Catholic province of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, rose to seven contingents numbering some 500 men in total – with a contingent of 114 turning back to Canada because news had reached them of the surrender of the Papal States in September 1870.

Operational history

Peacetime service

In addition to involvement in the suppression of brigandage between 1864 and 1868, the Papal Zouaves were employed in humanitarian relief when a cholera epidemic devastated Albano during early 1867. All members of two companies of the 1st Battalion were decorated by Pope Pius IX for their work in burying the dead and tending to the infected.

The Battle of Mentana

One thousand five hundred Papal Zouaves assisted in the notable Franco-Papal victory at the Battle of Mentana, fought on 3 November 1867 between French-Papal troops and Italian volunteers led by

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

. In his report to the Pope, the commander of the Papal forces, General Kanzler, praised the elan of the Zouaves, citing a determined bayonet charge as a particular example. The Zouaves suffered the brunt of the fighting, sustaining 81 casualties in the battle, including 24 killed (the Papal forces suffered only 30 dead in total) and 57 wounded. The official French report of the battle prepared by the French commander, General de Failly, also cited the bravery of the Papal Zouaves. The youngest victim, aged seventeen, was English Zouave Julian Watts-Russell.

Last days of the Papal States

The Zouaves also played a role in the final engagements against the forces of the newly united Kingdom of Italy in September 1870, in which the Papal forces were outnumbered almost seven to one. The Zouaves fought off enemy lancers on the 13th, withdrew with Papal artillery under heavy fire on the 20th and made preparations for a counterattack against the Italians before being told of the surrender at the

Capture of Rome The Capture of Rome () occurred on 20 September 1870, as forces of the Kingdom of Italy took control of the city and of the Papal States. After a plebiscite held on 2 October 1870, Rome was officially made capital of Italy on 3 February 1871, c ...

. Several Zouaves were executed or murdered by the Italian forces following the surrender, including a Belgian officer who refused to give up his sword.

Aftermath

After being disbanded, veterans of the Papal Zouaves fought on in other units, for example, on the side of the Carlists in the

Third Carlist War The Third Carlist War (), which occurred from 1872 to 1876, was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second Carlist War", as the earlier Second Carlist War, "Second" War (1847–1849) was smaller in scale and relative ...

and on the side of the French in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

Franco-Prussian War

After the

by Victor Emmanuel in 1870, 760 French soldiers of the disbanded Papal Zouaves, led by Colonel de Charette, offered the French Government of National Defense their service. They were renamed as ' (Legion of the Volunteers of the West) and, by 7 October 1870, the contingent, composed of 64 officers, 1,620 men, 80 cavalry, 80 gunners, was organised into: * three 6-company battalions, plus three depot companies * squadron of mounted éclaireurs * mountain battery While retaining their grey and red Papal uniforms, the Zouaves fought the Prussians and their other German allies outside

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Battle of Loigny A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

where the 2nd Battalion charged with the bayonet, losing 216 out of 300 men (18 officers and 198 men) while covering the retreating and shattered 16th Corps. The ' were armed with

Chassepot The Chassepot (pronounced ; ), officially known as , was a bolt-action military breechloading rifle. It is famous for having been the arm of the French forces in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. It replaced an assortment of muzzleloading ...

s and Remingtons. The unit was disbanded after the entrance of Prussian troops into Paris.

Third Carlist War

Some Spanish Papal Zouaves fought on the Catalan Front as the Carlist Zouaves (), commanded by Alfonso de Borbón, the brother of the Carlist King Carlos VII, who asked him to enter the Catalan front, naming him General in Chief of the Zouaves. The Carlist Zouaves were also joined by many of the young aristocrats who previously fought side by side in Rome with the Infante Alfonso for the pontifical cause.

Uniform

The Zouaves wore a similar style of uniform to that of the French Zouaves but in grey with red trim. A grey and red

kepi The kepi ( ) is a cap with a flat circular top and a peak, or visor. In English, the term is a loanword from , itself a re-spelled version of the , a diminutive form of , meaning . In Europe, the kepi is most commonly associated with French ...

was normally substituted for the North African fez, while a black busby with white plume was worn for parade dress. File:Royal Belgian Army Museum 10.JPG, Medals of a Papal Zouave, blue original uniform in collections of the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces, Brussels File:John Surratt.jpg,

John Surratt John Harrison Surratt Jr. (April 13, 1844 – April 21, 1916) was an American Confederate States of America , Confederate spy who was accused of plotting with John Wilkes Booth to kidnap U.S. President Abraham Lincoln; he was also suspected of ...

in Papal Zouave uniform in Nantes, France, File:Knötel III, 48.jpg, Papal Zouaves (individuals in grey) File:Zouaven douwe matthijs walta.jpg, Douwe and Matthijs Walta from Workum, two Dutch Zouaves serving under

in 1870 File:Zouave Pontifical.jpg, Jules Marie Deluen (1849–1918) in Papal Zouave uniform in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, France

Monuments and mementos

There are a number of monuments to the Papal Zouaves, including a Dutch museum near the Oudenbosch Basilica, the Mass chapel in Rome's

Capuchin Crypt The Capuchin Crypt is a small space comprising several tiny chapels located beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini on the Via Veneto near Piazza Barberini in Rome, Italy. It contains the skeletal remains of 3,700 bodi ...

and a monument in the

Lateran 250px, Basilica and Palace - side view Lateran and Laterano are names for an area of Rome, and the shared names of several buildings in Rome. The properties were once owned by the Lateranus family of the Roman Empire. The Laterani lost their p ...

. The names of the 507 Canadian Papal Zouaves are engraved in gold letters on marble slabs in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

’s Mary, Queen of the World. Also in Montreal, a miniature silver ship was hung from the ceiling of Our Lady of Succor chapel by Papal Zouaves as an

ex-voto An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or a divinity, given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ''ex voto suscepto'', "from the vow made") or in gratitude or devotion. The term is usually restricted to Christian example ...

to thank the Virgin Mary after they escaped a shipwreck.

In popular culture

Literature

The Zouaves are mentioned in

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

's poem ''Mentana.''

Film

A bombing of the Zouave barracks at

Palazzo Serristori, Rome Palazzo Serristori is a Italian Renaissance, Renaissance building in Rome, important for historical and architectural reasons. The palace is one of the few Renaissance buildings of the rioni of Rome, rione Borgo (rione of Rome), Borgo to have outl ...

Origin

Composition

Operational history

Peacetime service

The Battle of Mentana

Last days of the Papal States

Aftermath

Franco-Prussian War

Third Carlist War

Uniform

Monuments and mementos

In popular culture

Literature

Film

See also

Former Pontifical Guard Corps

References

Sources

Books

Journals

Further reading