Dragoons?

[Manassas 1861]

Did the US Army use any dragoon regiments during the ACW?

 

[rpkennedy]

No. The dragoon regiments had been converted to standard cavalry regiments prior to the war.

Ryan

 

[Sgt. Tyree]

Yes and no.

No regiments were designated as dragoons, but there were several regiments designated as mounted infantry. And the original definition of dragoons was…….yep, you guessed it, mounted infantry.

There were also a lot of regiments designated cavalry that operated like mounted infantry. Were they de facto dragoons? Hmmmm.

 

[Dan Kohli]

The only ones truly considered dragoons, by name and use, were the 1st and 2nd Dragoons of the Regular Army. The some militia and volunteer companies and regiments did call themselves dragoons, whether or not if they were used as dragoons could be debated and would have lasted a few months before being used as regular cavalry. The U.S. Regular Army dragoons were re-designated as cavalry a few months into the Civil War.
I remember reading somewhere that a foreign observer reported that the main body of cavalry were using tactics that were a hybrid of dragoon tactics and light cavalry tactics. I will try to find the reference again if I remember in the morning.

 

[Bentonville]

Yes and no.

No regiments were designated as dragoons, but there were several regiments designated as mounted infantry. And the original definition of dragoons was…….yep, you guessed it, mounted infantry.

There were also a lot of regiments designated cavalry that operated like mounted infantry. Were they de facto dragoons? Hmmmm.

I read but I could be wrong that Forrest's men fought as dragoons. I doubt he or they gave the name much thought.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Dragoons were mounted men who were also trained to fight dismounted. Heavy artillery men, in a similar vein, were crosstrained to fight as infantry.

When tactics involved firing smoothbore carbines or heavy pistols fitted with a stock against opponents armed with smoothbore muskets, it was a distinction with a difference. Dragoons performed saber & other drill evolutions of standard list like ordinary cavalry.

When Wilder mounted his infantry brigade & armed them with Spencer repeating rifles the old dragoon designation did not apply. For the first time , mounted soldiers could hold ground vs infantry.

Unlike dragoons, Wilder's men did not practice standard mounted cavalry tactics. Not only did they not carry sabers, they went so far as to pick the yellow piping off their jackets.

In an age where the effective range of infantry muskets increased from fifty yards to five hundred, a man on a horse had become a giant target. Across the board, horses had become transport for men who fought dismounted. Dragoon had become a distinction without a difference.

 

[Borderruffian]

I read but I could be wrong that Forrest's men fought as dragoons. I doubt he or they gave the name much thought.

The only formation with NBC equipped as traditional cavalry was the Escort the rest were equipped with rifles and were often employed like dragoons or mounted infantry.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Thought there were no designated units of U.S. Army dragoons that fought in the Civil War. At the start of the war, all mounted regiments were redesignated/renamed cavalry (see Dragoon Soldier-Historical Background - Fort Scott National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) )

Immediately preceding the Civil War, there were two regiments of U.S. Army dragoons (these units carried out roles as mounted infantry, armed with carbines and sabers) – the 1st Regiment of Dragoons (formed in 1833) and the 2nd Regiment of Dragoons (raised in 1836).

At the beginning of the Civil War, the U.S. War Dept. decided to eliminate the distinctions between the various mounted regiments operating at the time, resulting in all these units being redesignated as cavalry. In Aug., '61, the 1st Dragoons became the 1st U.S. Cavalry; the 2nd Dragoons, the 2nd U.S. Cavalry. The underlying intent was to normalize the carried weaponry and tactics applied by the U.S. Army's cavalry.

 

[Rhea Cole]

The opening phase of the Tullahoma Campaign June 23, 1863 demonstrated that both evolved & conservative tactics succeed. Within 20 miles as the crow flies, Mitney & Wilder had signal success.

Rosecrans had brought old school Gen Stanley to whip the hapless Army of the Cumberland into shape. Saber drill & Spencer rifles / breechloading carbines brought the A of the C to a high standard, indeed.

At the same time as Wilder's mounted infantry was earning their "Lightening Brigade" moniker at Hoover's Gap, Mitney's " Saber Brigade" was inflicting one of the most lopsided defeats of cavalry vs cavalry on Wheeler at Shelbyville.

Shelbyville & Hoover's Gap were what was & what will be fought at exactly the same time.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Actually, all American cavalry would have been classified as dragoons in European military thinking. They were all armed with a long arm and were trained to fight both from the saddle and dismounted. They were primarily used for the scouting, screening and deep raiding missions traditionally associated with light cavalry. What the American cavalry tradition never produced was any heavy cavalry. Big men on big horses used primarily for shock effect were not something that the North American experience ever required.

 

[Story]

Did the US Army use any dragoon regiments during the ACW?

1) I've wondered, what sparks your question(s)?

2) The folks above nailed it, but looking at 1865 and beyond (when the Army *pivoted* to the western frontier) the Cavalry regiments mostly fought as Dragoons.

When you look in the manuals or at artwork, you'll see units in 'columns of four' (behind the officer and guidon bearer).

This has a practical reasons, as each group of four troopers had a designated *horse holder*.

A unit - no matter what it's size - would stop at a position back from / out of sight of the potential battlegroup. The horseholders would be responsible for retaining the unit/detachments mobility, while the rest of the Troopers formed a skirmish line (could be straight, could even be circular if needs be).

Period artwork to illustrate the concept.

Brandy Station

Out west

The Horse Holder, as a wargaming element

Australians in Palestine, 1917/1918

 

[Story]

Another notion - often (but not an absolute) Mounted Infantry were issued longer rifled muskets and Cavalry the shorter-range carbines. The Mounted Infantry could also be issued mules, as the Cavalry would get their jimmies rustled by such.

This thread needs music.

 

[Manassas 1861]

1) I've wondered, what sparks your question(s)?

2) The folks above nailed it, but looking at 1865 and beyond (when the Army *pivoted* to the western frontier) the Cavalry regiments mostly fought as Dragoons.

When you look in the manuals or at artwork, you'll see units in 'columns of four' (behind the officer and guidon bearer).

This has a practical reasons, as each group of four troopers had a designated *horse holder*.

A unit - no matter what it's size - would stop at a position back from / out of sight of the potential battlegroup. The horseholders would be responsible for retaining the unit/detachments mobility, while the rest of the Troopers formed a skirmish line (could be straight, could even be circular if needs be).

Period artwork to illustrate the concept.

Brandy Station
View attachment 497983

Out west
View attachment 497984​

The Horse Holder, as a wargaming element
View attachment 497985

Australians in Palestine, 1917/1918
View attachment 497986​

Answer to #1, I'm trying to study basically everything about the ACW and early 1800s US Army, because of this I have many questions that I'm not really able to find answers to, so I ask them here.

 

[Story]

Answer to #1, I'm trying to study basically everything about the ACW and early 1800s US Army, because of this I have many questions that I'm not really able to find answers to, so I ask them here.

Right, got that. But what was the catalyst - that heartbeat that triggered the synapse - where you asked yourself "what's up with these Dragoons?" A specific book?

 

[Manassas 1861]

Right, got that. But what was the catalyst - that heartbeat that triggered the synapse - where you asked yourself "what's up with these Dragoons?" A specific book?

I know that the US used dragoons before the war, but I never heard anything about them during the conflict, which made me wonder if they were actually used in the war or not.

 

[7thWisconsin]

The mounted infantry of the Civil War were just that - they were infantrymen who could get from place to place quickly. There was never any disctinct mounted infantry doctrine or training. In fact, sometimes, they could barely stay in the saddle. The only 2 cavalry regiments the British sent to the Colonies during the Revolution were dragoons - the 16th and 17th. The first cavalry regiments raised by the US in the American Revolution were all dragoons, and named as such, even though none of the regiments ever got anywhere near full-strength enlistment. Anthony Wayne kept the designation ¨dragoon¨ for the squadrons of the Legion of the United States. By the time you fast forward to the Mexican War, the term ¨dragoon¨ has been around for a long time, but it gets replaced by the ¨cavalry¨ regiments in the 1850s. I suspect that was really just recognizing what was already a given fact. The Americans really had a significant part in changing cavalry usage and doctrine world-wide in the way we used cavalry - a big difference from the way cavalry was used in the Napoleonic period just 50 years earlier.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Another notion - often (but not an absolute) Mounted Infantry were issued longer rifled muskets and Cavalry the shorter-range carbines. The Mounted Infantry could also be issued mules, as the Cavalry would get their jimmies rustled by such.

This thread needs music.

The Spencer repeating rifle balances perfectly forward of the trigger guard, Original examples that were carried by mounted men have a wear spot where the fingers are in this photo. The rifle rode securely athwart the saddle.

Anecdotally, many men preferred the rifle over the carbine. The broad leather strap & awkward weight of the carbine on a long ride was uncomfortable.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

No regiments were designated as dragoons, but there were several regiments designated as mounted infantry.

Actually, that is not true. What about the 1st New York Dragoons, which became part of the Army of the Potomac's Reserve Brigade in 1864?

 

[Dan Kohli]

It appears that in several primary and secondary sources by the mid-18th century dragoons were considered, and used as, a form of less prestigious cavalry by most of the major powers and their spheres of influence. Although the carbines allowed them to dismount and act as light infantry without suffering the same issue as most other types of cavalry when dismounted.

 

[Story]

The only 2 cavalry regiments the British sent to the Colonies during the Revolution were dragoons - the 16th and 17th. The first cavalry regiments raised by the US in the American Revolution were all dragoons, and named as such, even though none of the regiments ever got anywhere near full-strength enlistment.

Tangential but I've been working primary sources on a surprise Crown Dragoon mounted night attack (one troop, @ 40 troopers) on a Connecticut troop dismounted and dispersed for the night. So that's the cavalry factor in action for RevWar Dragoons in action.