Dragoon guards

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dragoon guards was, in some armies, particularly the British Army, the designation used to refer to heavy cavalry regiments from the 18th century onwards. Dragoon guards usually wore cuirasses and helmets and carried heavy sabres, and were similar to cuirassiers in other armies.

The British Army first used the designation in 1746, when the King's Own Regiment of Horse and the Princess of Wales's Own Regiment of Horse were redesignated the 1st and 2nd Dragoon Guards. Other regiments followed. By the early 19th century, the British Dragoon Guards regiments had abandoned their cuirasses (although they still wore helmets) and were essentially indistinguishable from Dragoon regiments.

The exercise of converting from Horse to Dragoon was to save money - Dragoons were paid less than Horse - and the change was very unpopular.

In the British army the regiments of Horse that were converted to Dragoon guards took precedence over all other Cavalry Regiments of the Line, which were Dragoons. As the senior regiments they could not take numbers sequential with those of the existing Dragoon regiments, so needed a new title and numbering system. Hence they were termed Dragoon Guards, the guards appellation giving them higher status, and allowing them to be numbered in their own sequence.

[edit] British Dragoon Guards Regiments

The Dragoon Guards regiments converted to armoured cars and tanks in the 20th century. There are still three Dragoon Guards regiments in the British Army:

[edit] External links