The National Volunteers
			Bahia's Zouaves  - 1865/70
					by Jose Washt Rodrigues
	The National Volunterrs Batallions were created by imperial decree on January 7, 1865 in order to fufill the needs of reinforcement of the small Imperial Army in the fight against Paraguay (1864-1870). An example of the Volunteers were the Zouaves from the province of Bahia. This unit adopted a french-style uniform. The zouaves fought on many occasions during the Triple Alliance War, mainly at the early stages of the conflict.