Papal Zouaves

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The Pontifical Zouaves (ital. Zuavi Pontifici ) was an infantry - regiment , which in 1861 to defend the Papal States was set up. The model was based on the Zouaves of the Second French Empire .

origin

The Zouaves emerged from a unit set up in 1860 by General Louis Juchault de Lamoricière as French-Belgian tirailleurs . On January 1, 1861, the unit was renamed the Papal Zouaves . This term was introduced by Frédéric-François-Xavier Ghislain de Mérode .

International composition

Papal Zouave, Major O'Reilley's Papal Brigade, veteran of the war against Garibaldi. Fully armed and equipped with a French 71 caliber rifle model 1842 with bayonet and backpack
Jules Marie DELUEN (1849–1918) in papal zouave uniform in Nantes, France
John Surratt in Zouave uniform in Nantes, France, approx. 1866–1867
Douwe and Matthijs Walta from Workum , two Dutch Zouaves serve under Pope Pius IX. 1870.

The papal Zouaves were mostly young men who were unmarried and Roman Catholic . They voluntarily served Pope Pius IX. in his struggle against the Italian Revolution . Their uniform differed from that of the French Zouaves only in the color gray and a red trim. A red-gray cap replaced the typical for the North African Zouaves Fes .

All orders were given in French. The head of the association was the Swiss Colonel M. Allet.

The regiment was recruited internationally. In May 1868 there were 4,592 men, consisting of 1,910 Dutch , 1,301 French , 686 Belgians , 157 Romans and papal subjects, 135 Canadians , 101 Irish , 87 Prussians , 50 British , 32 Spaniards , 22 Germans , 19 Swiss , 14 Americans , 14th Neapolitans , 12 Muden , 12 Poles , 10 Scots , 7 Austrians , 6 Portuguese , 6 Tuskiers , 3 Maltese , 2 Russians and one volunteer each from the South Sea Islands, India , Africa , Mexico , Peru and the Caucasus .

A British volunteer, Joseph Powell, noted in his service report, Two Years in the Pontifical Zouaves , that at least three "blacks" and one Chinese had served with the Zouaves .

Between February 1868 and September 1870, the number of Canadian volunteers, who came mainly from the Francophone and predominantly Catholic province of Québec , rose to 500 men. 114 of them returned to Canada following the impending surrender of the Papal States in September 1870.

The battle for Mentana

In the battle for Mentana on November 3, 1867, 1,500 papal Zouaves supported the French-papal troops in their victory over Italian volunteer troops led by Giuseppe Garibaldi .

In his report to the Pope, the commander of the papal troops, General Hermann Kanzler , praised the courage of the Zouaves, citing a particular bayonet attack as a particular example.

The Zouaves bore the brunt of the fighting with 81 dead and wounded. They suffered 24 fatalities - out of a total of 30 fatalities of the papal troops - and 57 injured. The official French battle report of the French commander General de Failly also mentioned the bravery of the papal Zouaves. The youngest victim was the 17-year-old English Zuave Julian Watts-Russel.

The Zouaves are mentioned in Victor Hugo's poem Mentana .

The last days of the papal state

The Zouaves played a role in the final battle against the armed forces of the newly unified Kingdom of Italy in 1870. In addition, the papal Zouaves were in the minority, seven to one. The Zouaves fought the enemy lancers with papal artillery . Furthermore, the Zouaves prepared a counter-attack against Garibaldi's troops. Before the surrender came, the Zouaves destroyed their weapons.

Several Zouaves were executed or murdered by the Italian armed forces , including an officer who refused to give up his sword.

Volunteers from the west

After the conquest of Rome by Victor Emmanuel II of Italy in 1870, the French contingent of the former papal Zouaves served the French for defense during the Franco-Prussian War . In their previous red and gray uniform they fought, now under the new name Volontaires de l'Ouest (Volunteers of the West), against the Prussians and their German allies. In the battle at Artenay between October 11 and 12, 1870, 15 men were injured, some of them fatal. The former papal Zouaves fought in the Battle of Loigny (December 2, 1870) with an army of 1,800 men . In doing so, they lost 216 fighters while standing up for the retreating French army. The volunteers of the West disbanded after the Prussians had advanced as far as Paris.

Monuments

There are several monuments to the papal Zouaves, including that of a Dutch museum near the basilica of Oudenbosch , the mass chapel in the Capuchin Crypt and another monument in the Lateran . Zouave tombstones can be found in Frascati Cathedral .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Joseph Powell: Two Years in the Pontifical Zouaves , p. 287
  2. ↑ Howard R. Marraro: Canadian and American Zouaves in the Papal Army, 1868-1870 CCHA report, 12 (1944-45), 83-102, page 83. The digits are the New York Herald taken on 10 June. 1868 Online (PDF file)
  3. ^ Zouaves ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  4. ^ Joseph Powell: Two Years in the Pontifical Zouaves, p. 26.
  5. ^ Joseph Powell: Two Years in the Pontifical Zouaves, p. 28.
  6. ^ Joseph Powell, Two Years in the Pontifical Zouaves, p. 32.
  7. ^ Joseph Powell, Two Years in the Pontifical Zouaves, pp. 35-36.
  8. ^ Joseph Powell: Two Years in the Pontifical Zouaves, p. 219.
  9. ↑ Victor Hugo's poem: Mentana
  10. ^ Joseph Powell: Two Years in the Pontifical Zouaves , pp. 297 ff.
  11. ^ French Army 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War - Republican Troops , pp. 32-33, ISBN 1-85532-135-1
  12. ↑ The Zouave museum ( Dutch )
  13. ^ The Papal Zouaves