Dragoon

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

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.

Dragoon Media

Mounted Russian dragoon armed with an infantry long gun, c. 1710
Cartoon of a French dragoon intimidating a Huguenot in the Dragonnades
French dragoon of the Volontaires de Saxe regiment, mid-18th century
Picture depicting a Mexican dragoon officer in 1826
German dragoons near Reims 1914
Baden dragoon in a World War I monument at Karlsruhe. While almost an anachronism after the early stages of that war, German dragoons did see continuing service on the Eastern Front until 1917. Note the functional Stahlhelm helmet.
Prince Regent Pedro of Braganza (later Emperor of Brazil as Pedro I) declares the Brazilian independence while surrounded by his guard of honour, which later became known as Independence Dragoons, 7 September 1822
The Independence Dragoons during the arrival ceremony of French president Jacques Chirac at the Palácio da Alvorada in Brasília, 25 May 2006
Memorial stained glass window at Royal Military College of Canada of 2770 LCol KL Jefferson, a member of the 12th Manitoba Dragoons, an armoured regiment of the Canadian Army and Canadian Forces

References

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

Other websites

[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.

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