First Dragoons
| 1st Cavalry Regiment (1st Regiment of Dragoons) |
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|---|---|
Coat of arms
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| Active | 1833–present |
| Country |
 United States of America
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| Branch |
 United States Army
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| Type | Cavalry |
| Nickname(s) | "1st Regiment of Dragoons" |
| Motto(s) | Animo Et Fide ("Courageous and Faithful") |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Henry Dodge Stephen W. Kearny |
| Insignia | |
| Distinctive unit insignia |  |
| U.S. Cavalry Regiments | |
|---|---|
| Previous | Next |
| none | 2nd Cavalry Regiment |
The 1st Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army unit to have its antecedents in the early 19th century in the formation of the United States Regiment of Dragoons. To this day, the unit's special designation is "First Regiment of Dragoons".
The "United States Regiment of Dragoons" was organized by an Act of Congress approved on 2 March 1833. It became the "First Regiment of Dragoons" when the Second Dragoons was raised in 1836. With the outbreak of the Civil War and the War Department's desire to redesignate and reorganize its mounted units, its designation was changed to "First Regiment of Cavalry" by another Act of Congress on 3 August 1861. Its Headquarters were initially established at Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Missouri. In the spring of 1855, two new regiments of cavalry, the First and Second Cavalry, were authorized. One of these was named "The First Cavalry Regiment", under the command of Lt. Col. Edwin Vose Sumner, the first regular American military unit to bear that name. Sumner was previously with the First Dragoons.
The regiment was initially organized as:
The first order announcing appointments in the regiment was dated 5 March 1833, and gave the names of the colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, four captains and four lieutenants, stating that the organization of the regiment would be perfected by the selection of officers from the "Battalion of Mounted Rangers." In June 1834, the regiment filled its complement of officers, many of whom later became noted Civil War generals:
In October 1833, the five companies first organized were sent under Colonel Dodge to winter in the vicinity of Fort Gibson, Arkansas Territory, where they remained until June 1834. Then, the regiment was sent on the Pawnee Expedition, during which, although it ended in September, a full one-fourth of the officers and men died of fever. For the winter, Headquarters with Companies A, C, D and G, were sent to Fort Leavenworth; Companies B, H and I, Lieutenant Colonel Kearny, commanding, into the Indian country on the right bank of the Mississippi River, near the mouth of the Des Moines River; and Companies E, F and K, Major Mason commanding, to Fort Gibson. Throughout the summer of 1835, all the companies of the regiment were kept in the field.
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Wikipedia