Dragoon

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For other uses, see Dragoon (disambiguation).
French dragoon, 1745.
French dragoon, 1745.
Statue of a dragoon on the Triumph Arc of the Louvres in Paris
Statue of a dragoon on the Triumph Arc of the Louvres in Paris

Dragoon is the traditional name for a soldier trained to fight on foot but transport himself on horseback, in use especially during the 17th and early 18th centuries.

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[edit] History and use

The name derives probably from the dragoon's primary weapon, a carbine or short musket called the dragon. Dragon carbines are said to have been so-called because they "breathed fire" — a reference to the flames carbines emitted when fired. According to another theory, the name originated from the title of Dragon given to Guillaume de Gomiécourt, an 11th century French lord, by King Henry of France, and from his son Raoul Dragon de Gomiécourt, who trained a group of soldiers to fight both from horse and foot.

Creation of dragoons, although still not bearing that name, is now generally credited to Piero Strozzi, an Italian condottiero who fought for the King of France in the early 16th century.

Dragoons were organized not in squadrons or troops like the cavalry, but in companies like the foot soldier, and their officers and non-commissioned officers bore infantry ranks. The flexibility of mounted infantry made dragoons a useful arm, especially when employed for what would now be termed "internal security work" against smugglers or civil unrest. The dragoon regiments were also cheaper to recruit and maintain than the notoriously expensive regiments of cavalry. When in the 17th century Gustav II Adolf introduced dragoons into the Swedish Army, he provided them with a sabre, an axe and a matchlock musket (flintlocks from 1635): many of the European armies henceforth imitated this all-purpose set of weaponry.

However, dragoons were at a disadvantage when engaged against true cavalry, and constantly sought to raise their horsemanship, armament and social status to the levels of the cavalry regiments. "Dragoon" came to refer to medium cavalry by the time of the early wars of Frederick the Great, in the 1740s.

The term "to dragoon" dates from the earlier mounted infantry period. Dragoons were the most efficient and economical form of cavalry for police work and counter guerrilla warfare.

From the late 18th century, some regiments started to be designated as Light Dragoons, who rode faster and lighter horses and carried lighter sabres. They were trained in reconnaissance, skirmishing and other work requiring speed. In the early 19th century, the British Light Dragoon regiments converted to Lancers and Hussars. Between 1881 and 1910 all Russian cavalry other than Cossacks and Imperial Guard units were designated as dragoons, reflecting an emphasis on dismounted action in their training.

In 1914 there were still dragoon regiments in the British, French, German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Swedish, Danish and Spanish armies. Their uniforms varied greatly, lacking the characteristic features of hussar or lancer regiments. There were occasional reminders of the mounted infantry origins of this class of soldier. Thus the dragoon regiments of the Imperial German Army wore the pickelhaube (spiked helmet) of the same design as those of the infantry and the British dragoons wore scarlet tunics (hussars and all but one of the lancer regiments wore dark blue). In other respects however dragoons had adopted the same tactics, roles and equipment as other branches of the cavalry and the distinction had become simply one of traditional titles.

[edit] Modern armies

A light dragoon from the American Revolution.
A light dragoon from the American Revolution.
  • Creation and deployment of dragoons by Continental and Patriot militia forces during the Revolution was limited. The United States formed its first dragoon unit under the Congressional act of March 5, 1792, as a squadron of four troops commanded by Major Michael Rudolph, later reduced in 1796 to two troops commanded by Major William Winston. In 1798, Congress authorized six new troops which, with the two previously constituted troops, formed a Regiment of Light Dragoons commanded by Lt. Col. Jonathan Watts, but this unit was reduced to two troops in 1800 and disbanded altogether in 1802 during a wave of Jeffersonian optimism and frugality. The Congressional act of April 12, 1808, authorized a Regiment of Light Dragoons consisting of eight troops, commanded by Colonels Wade Hampton and later Leonard Covington and Jacint Laval, and the act of January 11, 1812, authorized another Regiment of Light Dragoons, commanded by Colonel James Burn, respectively known afterwards as the First and Second United States Dragoons. The Congressional act of March 30, 1814, combined these two regiments, which could not meet their authorized strength, into one Regiment of Light Dragoons, which was disbanded by the act of March 3, 1815, and their officers and men retained were folded into the Corps of Artillery by June 15, 1815, when all others were discharged. Elements of these Regiments fought Indian, Canadian, and British forces during the War of 1812, playing crucial roles in the Mississiniwa River campaign and battles such as Stony Creek and Lundy's Lane. Westward expansion and the Indian Wars revived the functional importance of dragoons as an ideal combat force, and the Congressional act of March 2, 1833, constituted the First Regiment of Dragoons in March 1833. This unit was renamed the First Regiment of Dragoons when the second regiment was formed in 1836. Known as the Black Hawks, the First Dragoons served in the Black Hawk Wars, the Mexican War, and (under the title 1st United States Cavalry) in virtually every campaign in the east during the American Civil War. Shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War the U.S. dragoon regiments were redesignated as "Cavalry", losing their previous distinctions. The change was an unpopular one and the former dragoons retained their orange braided blue jackets until they wore out and had to be replaced with cavalry yellow.

The 1st Dragoons was reformed in the Vietnam conflict as 1st Regiment, 1st Cavalry, and continues to this day in the Iraqi War as the oldest cavalry unit, as well as the most decorated unit, in the US Army. Today's 1-1 Cavalry is a modern scout/attack unit, equipped with M1A1 Abrams tanks and M3 Bradley CFVs. Another modern United States Army unit informally known as the 2nd Dragoons is the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. This unit was originally organized as the Second Dragoon Regiment in 1836 until it was renamed the Second Cavalry Regiment in 1860. The regiment is equipped with Stryker infantry fighting vehicles.

  • In the Swiss Army dragoons existed until the early 1970s, when they were converted into Armoured Grenadiers units.

[edit] Popular Culture

In modern fiction, "Dragoons" are usually heavily armed shock troops, and do not ride horses.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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