The 155th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment was a Federal infantry regiment that served in the American Civil War in the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater of the conflict.
Recruits from the Pittsburgh area and Allegheny County organized at Camp Copeland from September 2–19, 1862 into the 155th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Edward J. Allen served as the first colonel. After initial training and drilling, the regiment moved via train to Washington, D.C. where it joined the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division of the Union Fifth Corps. From there, it went to Sharpsburg, Maryland, after the Battle of Antietam. Their first introduction to battle came on December 13, 1862, at the Battle of Fredericksburg where the color guard suffered heavy casualties in an ill-fated assault.
During its first years, the regiment wore the regulation uniform of the Union Army, but in February 1864 they, along with the 140th New York received a uniform inspired by the French Zouave uniform. Another regiment in the brigade, the 146th New York Volunteer Infantry, had already been issued their Zouave uniform in June 1863. The 140th New York wore a predominantly dark blue Zouave uniform with red trim. The 146th New York wore a light blue uniform with red and yellow trim. The 155th Pennsylvania uniform was French blue (not dark blue) with yellow trim that featured very large yellow "tombeaux", a stylized false pocket on the front left and right breasts of the jacket. A red Zouave sash with yellow trim, a red fez with yellow trim with a dark blue tassle attached, completed the uniform. Slight variations in jacket styles can be seen in the unit's regimental history entitled "Under the Maltese Cross" published in 1910.
The 155th Pennsylvania along with the 140th New York and the 146th New York became the "Zouave Brigade" in the Army of the Potomac's Fifth Corps. The brigade would later grow with the addition of the 5th New York Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment, however the 155th would be transferred to another brigade due to a disagreement between the regiment's colonel and the brigade commander.
Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Alfred L. Pearson, commander of the regiment at the Battle of Lewis's Farm on March 29, 1865, was awarded the Medal of Honor on September 17, 1897, for his actions leading a counterattack which regained lost ground and repulsed the Confederates, driving them back to their original positions.
The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army serving between 1830 and 1962 and linked to French North Africa; as well as some units of other countries modelled upon them. The zouaves were among the most decorated units of the French Army.
The 5th New York Infantry Regiment, also known as Duryée's Zouaves, was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the U.S. Army during the American Civil War. Modeled, like other Union and Confederate infantry regiments, on the French Zouaves of Crimean War fame, its tactics and uniforms were different from those of the standard infantry.
The 69th Pennsylvania Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War.
The 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment which served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was part of the famous Philadelphia Brigade.
The 62nd New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It is also known as the Anderson Zouaves.
The 19th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Three companies formerly with Col. Elmer Ellsworth's Zouave Cadets wore a zouave uniform consisting of a dark blue zouave jacket with red trimmings, red pants, leather gaiters, a sky blue shirt, red sash, and a red French styled kepi with a dark blue band. The jacket cuffs were trimmed in yellow-orange and red. Brass buttons went down both fronts of the jacket. They were organized into four separate companies on May 4, 1861, in Chicago. It was consolidated and mustered into Federal service as the 19th Illinois Volunteer Infantry on June 17, 1861. It was mustered out at Chicago on July 9, 1864.
The 5th New York Veteran Infantry Regiment was an Infantry Regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was known as "Duryée‘s Zouaves." The regiment had two uniforms during its time. The first uniform consisted of a medium blue zouave jacket with red trimming, a grey shirt, a red sash with sky blue trimming, red chasseur trousers with yellow piping, a red fez with a yellow tassel, and a white turban. The second and official uniform consisted of a dark blue zouave jacket with red trimmings in the Hawkin Zouave design, a dark blue zouave vest with red trimming, baggy red trousers, a red sash with sky blue trimming,a red fez with a yellow tassel, and a white turban.
The 44th New York Infantry Regiment was a regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War which was formed up in mid-1861, and mustered in on August 30, 1861. The regiment wore an americanized zouave uniform which consisted of a dark blue zouave jacket with red piping on the cuffs, dark blue trousers with a red stripe, a red zouave shirt, a dark blue forage cap, and a pair of leather gaiters. The jacket had buttons down the front of it which was not part of the original French zouave uniform.
The 73rd New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of Union Army in the American Civil War. The regiment was organized in New York City in May 1861, originally under the designation the Fourth Excelsior Regiment, as a Zouave regiment, known for its unusual dress and drill style. The uniform worn by this regiment consisted of a dark blue chasseur jacket with light blue trim and light blue trefoils on each sleeve, sky blue chasseur trousers with two white stripes down each leg, brown leather gaiters, a light blue kepi with a dark blue band and dark blue piping, and a red Zouave fez with a blue tassel as a fatigue cap. Drawn from the ranks of the city's many volunteer fire companies, the unit was known alternately as the Second Fire Zouaves, after the 11th New York was known as the First Fire Zouaves, and they were also known as the Excelsior Zouaves. Some of the men wore the brass letters "E Z" on the bands of their kepis. Many artists have depicted this regiment also with red shirts with the collar sticking out over the jacket creating a "red collar."
The 10th New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as the McChesney Zouaves or National Guard Zouaves.
The military uniforms of the Union Army in the American Civil War were widely varied and, due to limitations on supply of wool and other materials, based on availability and cost of materials. The ideal uniform was prescribed as a dark blue coat with lighter pants, with a black hat. Officer's ranks were denoted with increasing levels of golden decoration. Specific jobs, companies, and units had markedly different styles at times, often following European customs such as that of the Zouaves. Officers uniforms tended to be highly customized and would stray from Army standard. Ironically, several main pieces of gear had been created by order of the U.S. War Secretary Jefferson Davis before the war; he later became Confederate President.
The 140th New York Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that was created on September 13, 1862, for the Union Army during the American Civil War. From January 1864 they wore a Zouave uniform.
The 146th New York Infantry Regiment, nicknamed Garrard's Tigers, was a Federal regiment which mustered on October 10, 1862, and mustered out on July 16, 1865. The regiment was raised and organized in Rome, New York, and was known as the 5th Oneida Regiment. Another nickname for this unit was the Halleck's Infantry, after New York-born general Henry Halleck.
The 114th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. They were notable for their colorful Americanized version of the Zouave uniform worn in emulation of certain French light-infantry units that became world-famous during France's colonization of North Africa, the Crimean War, and the Second War of Italian Independence fought in the years prior to the American Civil War.
The 41st New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the American Civil War. They were nicknamed De Kalb Regiment. The regiment was formed from German immigrants from both New York and Pennsylvania.
The 74th New York Infantry Regiment was a Union regiment recruited in 1861, during the American Civil War. The regiment was part of Sickles' Excelsior Brigade and their first commander was sailor and engineer COL Charles K. Graham.
The 91st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was a Union infantry regiment which fought in multiple key engagements of the American Civil War, including the Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of Chancellorsville and Battle of Gettysburg. It was established through the combined efforts of Edgar M. Gregory, who had received approval from the U.S. War Department to begin recruiting soldiers for an entirely new regiment during the fall of 1861, and Edward E. Wallace, who had initiated his own recruitment efforts that October. Their recruits were volunteers, the majority of whom initially enlisted for three-year terms of service from their hometown of Philadelphia; they were divided into 10 lettered companies upon muster in during early December 1861: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and K.
The 64th New York Infantry Regiment, the "First Cattaraugus Regiment", was an infantry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 165th New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 53rd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, also known as D'Epineuil's Zouaves or the Poughkeepsie Boys was an infantry unit of the Union Army organised in New York City for service in the American Civil War.