The “Palmetto Riflemen” & “New York Zouaves” are an American Civil War Living History Group based in the Carolinas and Georgia, with the Company Headquarters currently (2010) being in Chapin, South Carolina. The primary goal of the company is to further the education of the general public and to preserve the memory of the Federal & Confederate Soldiers of the American Civil War, 1860 to 1865.

The officers and men of the “Palmetto Riflemen” & “New York Zouaves” represent the Volunteers of the original units that served from 1860 to 1865 across the States of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, & Pennsylvania.

The present members of company are a group of men and women, mostly from the states of South Carolina & Georgia who participate in local and national living histories and battle reenactments. The members are drilled in the proper Infantry Tactics and formations of the time-period, as outlined by our By-Laws. (Hardee’s Rifle & Light Infantry Tactics, and McClellan’s Bayonet Drill.)

While our primary impression is that of Confederate Skirmishers & Federal Zouaves, we do welcome, and often portray, the soldiers of various regular & volunteer Regiments when needed at events where the 17th Veterans or the Palmetto Sharpshooters were not present themselves. While we are a Zouave unit, it is not mandatory that all members wear the Zouave uniform. Each is encouraged to do so, but those who do not wish to, are not required to do so. Our company strives to live up to the statement of then Captain George B. McClellan that:

“The Zouaves are all French; they are selected from among the old Campaigners, for their fine physique and tried courage, and have certainly proved that they are, what their appearance would indicate, the most reckless, self-reliant, and complete infantry that Europe can produce."