With the secession of South Carolina on December 20th, 1860, the chain of events was set in motion that would lead to the outbreak of the American Civil War, and it would see the largest number of Zouave units assembled to ever take the field of action in any armed conflict. Throughout the next four years the men who called themselves "Zouaves," "Tirailleurs" and "Chasseurs" would see action across the American continent, on both sides of the lines, in battles and skirmishes in every state, either as members of companies, battalions, regiments, or even a "Zouave" Brigade in the Army of the Potomac. In most cases these Zouaves proved themselves worthy of the name and lived up to the reputation of their French brethren, however there are always exceptions to every rule.

The following is a listing of those Zouave, Chasseur, and Trillauer units that were organized for service in the United States Armed Forces between January of 1861 and June of 1865. Some of these units were organized with the name of Zouaves, Chasseur's or Trillauers, however did not always adopt the style of dress associated with those names, and in other cases some units did not refer to themselves as them, but did adopt the dress of the units. Where possible it will be endeavored to indicate if the unit was a "name only" unit or an actual unit. Any corrections, additional names that should be added, or any additional information is more than welcome and should be sent to the Webmaster.