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| Fifth Michigan Fire Zouave Lancers |
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Jonathan’s grandfather (and Lewis’ great-grandfather) had fought in the American Civil War as part of the Fifth Michigan Fire Zouave Lancers [The House with a Clock in its Walls, 24].
When Lewis asks who they were, Mrs. Zimmermann quickly says they were “idiots.” Later Jonathan explains that, in olden days, lancers carried long spears that were used to run through enemy soldiers. The problem in the Civil War was that they were up against soldiers that used cannons and muskets and other weaponry that made lancers pointless. He admits his grandfather probably only joined the unit because he was attracted to their “flapping pennants and bright-colored uniforms.” The Lancers were defeated at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, with only two New Zebedee boys (Grampa Barnavelt and Walter Finzer) surviving the battle because they never got involved [The Figure in the Shadows, 20-2].
Zouave was the name given to certain infantry regiments in the French army, as well as to units in other armies which imitated the dress or drill of the French zouaves, especially volunteer regiments in the army of the United States in the Civil War.
We’re told a group called the Marshall Zouaves formed in 1861 and another group from Jackson used to march in Marshall-area parades.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zouave
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