Dragoon
Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat with swords and firearms from horseback. While their use goes back to the late 16th century, dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the 17th and early 18th centuries; they provided greater mobility than regular infantry but were far less expensive than cavalry.
The name reputedly derives from a type of firearm, called a dragon, which was a handgun version of a blunderbuss, carried by dragoons of the French Army. The title has been retained in modern times by a number of armoured or ceremonial mounted regiments.
Origins and name
The establishment of dragoons evolved from the practice of sometimes transporting infantry by horse when speed of movement was needed. During the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors fought on horse with arquebuses, prefiguring the origin of European dragoons. In the Spanish army, dragoons were initially mounted infantry, trained to fight both on horseback and dismounted. They were a type of cavalry that could perform a variety of roles, including scouting, raiding, and direct combat. Dragoons played a significant role in the Spanish army where they were known for their versatile combat capabilities and distinctive yellow uniforms.In 1552, Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, mounted several companies of infantry on pack horses to achieve surprise, another example being that used by Louis of Nassau in 1572 during operations near Mons in Hainaut, when 500 infantry were transported this way. It is also suggested the first dragoons were raised by the Marshal de Brissac in 1600. According to old German literature, dragoons were invented by Count Ernst von Mansfeld, one of the greatest German military commanders, in the early 1620s. There are other instances of mounted infantry predating this. However Mansfeld, who had learned his profession in Hungary and the Netherlands, often used horses to make his foot troops more mobile, creating what was called an armée volante.
The origin of the name remains disputed and obscure. It possibly derives from an early weapon, a short wheellock, called a dragon because its muzzle was decorated with a dragon's head. The practice comes from a time when all gunpowder weapons had distinctive names, including the culverin, serpentine, falcon, falconet, etc. It is also sometimes claimed a galloping infantryman with his loose coat and the burning match resembled a dragon. It has also been asserted that the name was coined by Mansfeld as a comparison to dragons represented as "spitting fire and being swift on the wing". Finally, it has been suggested that the name derives from the German tragen or the Dutch dragen, both being the verb to carry in their respective languages. Howard Reid claims the name and role descend from the Latin Draconarius.
Use as a verb
Dragoon is occasionally used as a verb meaning to subjugate or persecute by the imposition of troops; and by extension to compel by any violent measures or threats. The term dates from 1689, when dragoons were used by the French monarchy to persecute Protestants, particularly by forcing Protestants to lodge a dragoon in their house to watch over them at the householder's expense.Early history and role
Early dragoons were not organized in squadrons or troops as were cavalry, but in companies like the infantry. Their commissioned and non-commissioned officers bore infantry ranks, while they used drummers, not buglers, to communicate orders on the battlefield. The flexibility of mounted infantry made dragoons a useful arm, especially when employed for what would now be termed "internal security" against smugglers or civil unrest, and on line of communication security duties.In Britain, companies of dragoons were first raised during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and prior to 1645 either served as independent troops or were attached to cavalry units. When the New Model Army was first approved by Parliament in January 1645, it included ten regiments of cavalry, each with a company of dragoons attached. At the urging of Sir Thomas Fairfax, on 1 March they were formed into a separate unit of 1,000 men, commanded by Colonel John Okey, and played an important part at the Battle of Naseby in June.
Supplied with inferior horses and more basic equipment, the dragoon regiments were cheaper to raise and maintain than the expensive regiments of cavalry. When in the 17th century Gustav II Adolf introduced dragoons into the Swedish Army, he provided them with a sword, an axe and a matchlock musket, using them as "labourers on horseback". Many of the European armies henceforth imitated this all-purpose set of weaponry. Dragoons of the late 17th and early 18th centuries retained strong links with infantry in appearance and equipment, differing mainly in the substitution of riding boots for shoes and the adoption of caps instead of broad-brimmed hats to enable muskets to be worn slung.
A non-military use of dragoons was the 1681 Dragonnades, a policy instituted by Louis XIV to intimidate Huguenot families into either leaving France or re-converting to Catholicism by billeting ill-disciplined dragoons in Protestant households. While other categories of infantry and cavalry were also used, the mobility, flexibility and available numbers of the dragoon regiments made them particularly suitable for repressive work of this nature over a wide area.
In the Spanish Army, Pedro de la Puente organized a body of dragoons in Innsbruck in 1635. In 1640, a tercio of a thousand dragoons armed with the arquebus was created in Spain. By the end of the 17th century, the Spanish Army had three tercios of dragoons in Spain, plus three in the Netherlands and three more in Milan. In 1704, the Spanish dragoons were reorganised into regiments by Philip V, as were the rest of the tercios.
Dragoons were at a disadvantage when engaged against true cavalry, and constantly sought to improve their horsemanship, armament and social status. By the Seven Years' War in 1756, their primary role in most European armies had progressed from that of mounted infantry to that of heavy cavalry. They were sometimes described as "medium" cavalry, midway between heavy/armoured and light/unarmoured regiments, though this was a classification that was rarely used at the time. Their original responsibilities for scouting and picket duty had passed to hussars and similar light cavalry corps in the French, Austrian, Prussian, and other armies. In the Imperial Russian Army, due to the availability of Cossack troops, the dragoons were retained in their original role for much longer.
British Army and Continental Army
An exception to the rule was the British Army, which from 1746 onward gradually redesignated all regiments of "horse" as lower paid "dragoons", in an economy measure. Starting in 1756, seven regiments of light dragoons were raised and trained in reconnaissance, skirmishing and other work requiring endurance in accordance with contemporary standards of light cavalry performance. The success of this new class of cavalry was such that another eight dragoon regiments were converted between 1768 and 1783. When this reorganisation was completed in 1788, the cavalry arm consisted of regular dragoons and seven units of dragoon guards. The designation of dragoon guards did not mean that these regiments had become household troops, but simply that they had been given a more dignified title to compensate for the loss of pay and prestige.Towards the end of 1776, George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, realized the need for a mounted branch of the American military. In January 1777 four regiments of light dragoons were raised. Short term enlistments were abandoned and the dragoons joined for three years, or "the war". They participated in most of the major engagements of the American War of Independence, including the battles of White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Saratoga, Cowpens, and Monmouth, as well as the Yorktown campaign.
19th century
During the Napoleonic Wars, dragoons generally assumed a cavalry role, though remaining a lighter class of mounted troops than the armored cuirassiers. Dragoons rode larger horses than the light cavalry and wielded straight, rather than curved swords.France
Emperor Napoleon often formed complete divisions out of his 30 dragoon regiments, while in 1811 six regiments were converted to Chevau-Legers Lanciers; they were often used in battle to break the enemy's main resistance. In northern and eastern Europe they were employed as heavy cavalry, while in the Peninsular War they also fulfilled the role of lighter cavalry, for example in anti-guerrilla operations. In 1809, French dragoons scored notable successes against Spanish armies at the Battle of Ocaña and the Battle of Alba de Tormes.British Army
Between 1806 and 1808, the 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th regiments of Light Dragoons of the British Army were re-designated as hussars and when the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, some became lancers. The transition from dragoons to hussars was however a slow one, affecting uniforms but not equipment and functions. Even titles often remained ambiguous until 1861, for example, 18th King's Light Dragoons.The seven regiments of Dragoon Guards served as the heavy cavalry arm of the British Army, although unlike continental cuirassiers they carried no armour. Between 1816 and 1861, the other twenty-one cavalry regiments were either disbanded or rebadged as lancers or hussars.
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia in the Napoleonic era included 14 Regiments of Dragoons, designated Numbers 1 through 14, in their Order of Battle at the start of the 1806 Campaign against Napoleon's French Army. Prussian cavalry regiments were better known by their "Chef" or "Inhaber", the titular commander responsible for supporting the regiment, while command in the field might fall to a more junior Colonel, Lt. Colonel, or even a Major. As a result, every time there was a change in "Chef" the name of the regiment changed. By 1806, the Prussian Dragoons wore a very tall bicorn hat worn slanted slightly obliquely with a tall, white plume. Their uniforms had changed by 1802 from coats that had been cut like the infantry to short, medium-blue cavalry tunics. Each regiment had differentiating colors for a variety of uniform accessories such as small pompoms at the side of the hat, tunic facings and shoulder flaps on the left shoulder, woolen tassels for the sabre straps, and the horse saddlecloths. Dragoons were issued a long, straight blade with a single edge, the Dragoon Pallasch sword, which featured a brass basket hilt for hand protection. The Pallasch was designed for powerful cutting and thrusting action, making it effective for cavalry charges.For the period of 1798 to October of 1806, the majority of Prussian Dragoon regiments were similar to Prussian Cuirassier regiments in staffing and organization. Most were made up of 5 squadrons with an 'on paper' war-time regimental strength of 935 men including soldiers, officers, and all the support staff. The minor difference was that Dragoon regiments had 10 more carabiniers and therefore ten fewer regular troopers. The average regimental staff of most of the regiments was around 37 officers, 65 NCOs, one staff trumpeter and 14 trumpeters, supported by 5 surgeons led by a regimental surgeon, 9 blacksmiths, a regimental quartermaster, a chaplain and a judge, a horse trainer, a saddlemaker, a gunsmith and a gunstock maker, a provost, and 68 servants. The two regiments that were exceptions were the 5th "Bayreuth" and the 6th "Auer" Dragoon regiments, which were double-strength with 10 squadrons and retained 2/3rd German heavy horses.
After the disastrous results of the 1806-07 war with France, most of the Prussian army had ceased to exist. For example, the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 14th Dragoon regiments were totally lost and even the 9th and 14th Dragoon regimental depots had been destroyed. The complete re-organization of the Prussian army in 1808 led to numerous regiments being re-organized and re-designated, mixing surviving Dragoons and Cuirassier veterans with new recruits into a new numeric system and losing the traditional "Chef" naming schema in favor of a mostly geographical designation, with a few exceptions. For example, the old pre-1807 5th "Bayreuth"/"Königin" Dragoons became the 1st "Königin" Dragoon regiment, while the 7th "von Baczko" Dragoons became the 3rd "Lithuanian" Dragoon regiment. The newly designated 5th "Brandenburg" Dragoons were formed from merging the remains of the 5th "von Bailliodz" Cuirassier regiment and its depot with the remains of the old 1st "Konig von Bayern" Dragoon regiment and its depot. This resulted in the reduction of Prussian Dragoon regiments from 14 to 6.
Many of these new Prussian Dragoon regiments fought in the 1813 Wars of Liberation in the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon in central Europe and France into 1814.