Vicksburg weekly herald., 1870-08-27

lFrnm lhe q % World. |

From the New YORK World
Besides the Zouaves, Of which
a description has lately been given,
the French army contains the fol-
lowing special corps:
TIE zEPHRs.
They resemble the Zouaves in
their uniforms, arms and equip.
ment, and their organization and
drill are almost the same; but
while the Zouaves are a proud
corps, and believe in military hon
or, such is by no means the case
with the Zephyrs. They are sim.
ply corps Of culprits and jail
birds. If a soldier of the French
army commits a vulgar and dis.
honoring crime, that is, if he robs,
steals, cheats or proves to be a COW.
ard, he is condemned to serve on the
galleys; but if he olny commits
what might be termed a genteel
crime, that is, if he commits man
slaughter, or ravish q woman, OF
is subordinate then he is condemn.
ed to serve in the corps Zephyrs,
They are permanently stationed in
Africa, and the discipline among
these rather dangerous and des.
perate characters is severe. Every
officer has the right to kill a
Zephyr on the spot should he
show the least sign of insubor.
dination, and to this circumstance
they owe their name, which they
have adopted themselves to ex.
press thereby Of how little value
their lives are, which at any time
might die out like a zephyr. Their
official appellation is Corps Of Pun
ishmeHt, and they now number
several thousand men. They paint
themselves with blue ink all over
their bodies in the most fantasti-
cal manner, and even the hardest
punishment could not put a stop to
this singular amusement, to which
they seem to have taken, because
they are not permitted to have cats
and get no pay. When Gen. Pei
issier was offered the command in
the Crimea, he accepted it only un-
der the condition that the Zephyrs
should accompany him there, and
that, if they should behave well
they were to be pardoned and per
mitted to return to their regiments,
They we're sent there, and their
success was complete.
In the battle near Tracts, the
Russians had formed a square
which the Sardenian cavalry had
vainly attacked, when Gen. Bos-
quet, who then commanded them,
advanced the Zephyrs.
Some English officers requested
him not to sacrifice his men use
lessly, but General Bosquet made
them a speech which commend
ed, "You sons of hell" and
closed with, "forward to the
attack" With the war cry, ViUG
la Mort, ViUe I Emperor, they
swept into and over the Russian
bayonets like q whirlwind, and
soon their yataghans had made
such a terrible havoc in the Rus
sian lines that the most desperate
exertions of the Russian officers
were unable to avert defeat.
THE cHAssEURs D'AFRIQUE.
These are a cavalry corps con.
sisting of four regiments. They
carry a long rife, two revolvers
and a sword, and are all mounted
on select horses of the best Bar.
barry blood. Their continuous ser.
vice in Africa amongst and against
the Be louins has made them su,
perior riders, and they perform all
the feats on horse back in which
the sons of the desert excel, and
will ride at full gallop, turn in the
saddle, and fire to the rear with
precision.
They also distinguished them.
selves during the Crimean war
Gen. Allonvily, who commanded q
corps of 1900 Chasseurs DAT
rique, attacked with them 12,00C
Russian dragons, the favorite
cavalry corps of the Emperor
Nicholas, on the plains Of Simfer.
opol, and defeated them so com
plctely that their commander
General Corf, committed suicide
from shame,
THE TURcos AND sPAHIs.
These are native African OF
Algerian corps, and consist ex
clusively ofvolunteers. The Tur
cos are light infantry, and CONF
more particularly from the noun
tain regions of Algeria.
The Spahis are a cavalry corps
and are recruited amongst the Be
douins. Both the Turcos anC
Spahis are Mohamedans, bu
their officers are mostly French
men. But they are not at all pro
hibited, ON religious ground, from
advancing to the highest militar,
. position, and one of them, Gen
Jussuf, now occupies high posi-
ton in the French army. Their