Dragoon

Not to be confused with Dragon.

Dragoons were originally a type of mounted infantry. They used horses to move around, but got off the horses to fight on foot. They were also used as cavalry and were trained to fight with swords on horseback.^[1] The name is taken from a type of firearm, called a "dragon". The dragon was a handgun version of a blunderbuss. It was carried by dragoons of the French Army.^[2][3] In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, most European armies had dragoons. In modern times, some armoured or ceremonial mounted regiments still call themselves dragoons.

French dragoons with a captured Prussian flag at the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt

References

1. Carman, W.Y. (1977). A Dictionary of Military Uniform. p. 48. ISBN 0-684-15130-8.
2. "Dragoon". Oxford English Dictionary. A kind of carbine or musket.
3. "Dragoon". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911. ... took his name from his weapon, a species of carbine or short musket called the dragon.

Other websites

• Napoleonic Cavalry: Dragoons, Cuirassiers
• Saskatchewan Dragoons (Canada)
• British Columbia Dragoons (Canada)
• First Regiment of Cavalry (USA) Archived 2021-04-12 at the Wayback Machine
• The Society of the Military Horse
• “Field Marshal Nieto” Regiment of Cavalry (Perú) Archived 2019-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
• Perú 1970: Changing of the Dragoon Guard