U.S. Army

Cavalry

From Continental Dragoons at the Revolution to air cavalry over the Ia Drang to Stryker squadrons on NATO's eastern flank, the cavalry has always been the first to make contact. The horse changed to a tank, the tank changed to a helicopter, the helicopter changed to a Stryker — but the scout mission never changed. Find the enemy. Report. Fight for information. If you ain't Cav, you ain't.

"If You Ain't Cav..." Est. 1775

U.S. Army Cavalry

Stetson & Spurs

Earned · Not Issued

Silver = Combat

PRIMARY MISSION

The cavalry tradition is the oldest mounted fighting lineage in the United States Army — from Continental Light Dragoons at the Revolution to armored cavalry scouts rolling through the Fulda Gap. The Stetson is earned, not issued. Silver spurs mean you've seen combat. The cavalry's job has never changed: find the enemy, report what you see, and fight for information. If you ain't Cav, you ain't. Read more

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Horse Cavalry — The Frontier 1775 – 1942

1ST & 2ND DRAGOONS

Dragoons & Light Cavalry

Continental Army to Mexican War

1st Dragoons Est.

2nd Dragoons Est.

FIRST MAJOR WAR

American cavalry began with Light Dragoons in the Revolution — scouts and raiders who screened Washington's army. The 1st and 2nd Regiments of Dragoons were established in the 1830s to patrol the expanding frontier and fight the Seminole Wars. By the Mexican-American War, American dragoons were fighting alongside the infantry at Buena Vista, Chapultepec, and the gates of Mexico City. The mounted tradition was born on the frontier and baptized in Mexico. Read more

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Civil War Cavalry

From Reconnaissance to Decisive Arm

Union Cav Regiments

Valley Campaign

Station · Largest Battle

REPEATING CARBINE

The Civil War transformed American cavalry from scouts into a decisive combat arm. Brandy Station in 1863 — the largest cavalry battle in North American history — proved Union horsemen could match Stuart's Confederate riders. Sheridan's Valley Campaign burned the Shenandoah and broke Confederate logistics. The Spencer repeating carbine gave Union cavalry firepower that dismounted troopers could use to fight as infantry. The war that taught cavalry to do everything. Read more

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BUFFALO SOLDIERS

9th & 10th CAVALRY

Buffalo Soldiers

9th & 10th Cavalry Regiments

Frontier · Cuba · Philippines

The 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments — the Buffalo Soldiers — were formed in 1866 as all-Black regiments with white officers. They fought across the frontier for thirty years, earning eighteen Medals of Honor. The 10th Cavalry charged up San Juan Hill alongside the Rough Riders in Cuba. Buffalo Soldiers served with distinction in every conflict through WWII — fighting for a nation that hadn't yet decided they were equal. They earned the respect of every enemy they ever faced. Read more

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SPANISH-AMERICAN

SAN JUAN HILL · 1898

1st United States Volunteer Cavalry

LTC Theodore Roosevelt

POSTHUMOUS · 2001

Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders — cowboys, miners, Ivy League athletes, and frontiersmen who charged up Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill in Cuba on July 1, 1898. They fought dismounted — their horses never made it off the transport ships. Roosevelt led the charge on horseback under fire and earned the Medal of Honor, awarded posthumously in 2001. The Rough Riders existed for only 133 days. They became the most famous cavalry unit in American history. Read more

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JANUARY 16, 1942

Last Horse Cavalry Charge

26th Cavalry Regiment (PS) — Bataan, 1942

Philippine Scouts

Village of Morong

Horse Charge in U.S. History

On January 16, 1942, the 26th Cavalry Regiment of Philippine Scouts — mounted on horses — charged Japanese positions near the village of Morong on the Bataan Peninsula. It was the last mounted horse cavalry charge in United States Army history. The regiment fought a delaying action down Bataan, eventually slaughtering their horses for food as the siege tightened. The age of horse cavalry ended not with a ceremony but with starving troopers eating their mounts on Bataan. Read more

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Air Cavalry — The New Horse 1965 – Present

NOVEMBER 14, 1965

Ia Drang — Air Cav Is Born

1/7 Cavalry · LZ X-Ray · November 1965

Moore & Galloway

On November 14, 1965, LTC Hal Moore landed 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry into Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley — the same regiment that had ridden with Custer at Little Bighorn. They flew into a base camp of three NVA regiments. For three days, 450 troopers fought 2,000 NVA in the first major battle between U.S. and North Vietnamese regulars. The helicopter had replaced the horse. Air cavalry was born in blood. Read more

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1st CAV DIV · VIETNAM

1/9 Cavalry "Headhunters"

1st Cavalry Division Air Cav Squadron

Air Cav Squadron

OH-6 Loach Pilots

CONTACTS IN VIETNAM

The Headhunters of 1/9 Cavalry flew the most dangerous mission in Vietnam — low-level scout reconnaissance in OH-6 Loach helicopters, deliberately drawing enemy fire to find NVA positions. When they found the enemy, Cobra gunships and infantry swooped in. Hunter-killer teams. The 1/9 Cav made more enemy contacts than any unit its size in the entire war. Their casualty rate reflected it. The air cavalry squadron that reinvented the scout mission from 1,500 feet. Read more

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Modern Air Cavalry

Attack Reconnaissance Squadrons

Attack · Security

Division Has One

OF THE DIVISION

Today's air cavalry squadrons fly AH-64 Apaches and scout helicopters as the division commander's eyes and killing arm. Every combat division in the Army has an attack reconnaissance squadron carrying cavalry lineage. In Desert Storm, Apaches from 1/101st fired the opening shots of the war, destroying Iraqi radar sites to open the air corridor. In Iraq and Afghanistan, air cav provided armed overwatch for every major ground operation. The horse became a helicopter. The mission never changed. Read more

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Armored Cavalry Regiments Cold War to Present

VILSECK, GERMANY

2nd Cavalry Regiment

Second Dragoons

Easting · 1991

Current Platform

FORWARD DEPLOYED

The oldest continuously serving mounted regiment in the United States Army. The Second Dragoons fought in the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, both World Wars, and Vietnam. At the Battle of 73 Easting, Eagle Troop destroyed an Iraqi Republican Guard brigade in 23 minutes. Now a Stryker cavalry regiment forward-deployed to Vilseck, Germany — NATO's tripwire on the eastern flank. Read more

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FORT CAVAZOS, TX

3rd Cavalry Regiment

Rifles · Winfield Scott

Current Platform

TAL AFAR · MOSUL

"Brave Rifles! Veterans! You have been baptized in fire and blood and have come out steel!" — General Winfield Scott after Chapultepec, 1847. The 3rd Cavalry has carried that name for 178 years. From the frontier to the Philippines, both World Wars, and Iraq — where the regiment's operations in Tal Afar became a counterinsurgency model. Now a Stryker regiment at Fort Cavazos. Read more

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11th Armored Cavalry Regiment

Thunder Runs · ACAVs

NTC · Fort Irwin

UNIT FIGHTS THEM

The Blackhorse Regiment fought in Vietnam with a ferocity that earned them one of the most feared reputations of the war — running thunder runs in M551 Sheridans and ACAVs through enemy territory. Since 1994, the 11th ACR has served as the opposing force at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin — playing the enemy so well that they beat almost every unit that rotates through. Every brigade that deploys to combat trains against Blackhorse first. Read more

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Storied Regiments Lineage & Honors

OLDEST CAV REGIMENT

1st Cavalry Regiment

Dragoons · Frontier

Civil War · West

The oldest cavalry regiment in the United States Army. Established as the 1st Regiment of Dragoons in 1833 to patrol the frontier and protect settlers moving west. Redesignated 1st Cavalry in 1861, the regiment fought through the Civil War, the Indian Wars, the Mexican Expedition, both World Wars, and Iraq. Nearly 200 years of continuous lineage — the longest mounted heritage in the Army. Read more

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1ST ID · 25th ID

4th Cavalry Regiment

COL Ranald Mackenzie

Indian Wars Legend

IRAQ · AFGHANISTAN

The 4th Cavalry under Colonel Ranald Mackenzie was considered the most effective regiment on the frontier — Grant himself called Mackenzie "the most promising young officer in the Army." The 4th broke the Comanche power on the Staked Plains, fought in the Civil War and both World Wars, and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Squadrons of the 4th Cavalry serve today in the 1st Infantry Division and 25th Infantry Division. Read more

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FRONTIER · EUROPE · PACIFIC

6th Cavalry Regiment

The Fighting Sixth rode across the frontier chasing Geronimo's Apaches, fought dismounted in the Meuse-Argonne in WWI, and served in the Pacific in WWII. The 6th Cavalry's lineage spans every era of American horse and mechanized cavalry — from sabers on the frontier to Strykers in the 21st century. One of the longest-serving cavalry regiments in the Army. Read more

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7th Cavalry Regiment

Little Bighorn · 1876

LZ X-Ray · 1965

PARENT DIVISION

The most famous cavalry regiment in American history. The 7th Cavalry rode with Custer at Little Bighorn in 1876 — a defeat that became legend. Ninety years later, 1/7 Cavalry flew into LZ X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley and fought the battle that defined air cavalry. "Garryowen" — the Irish drinking song the regiment adopted as its march — has been played before every charge, every assault, every deployment since 1867. From horse soldiers to helicopter soldiers, the Garryowen has never stopped fighting. Read more

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8th Cavalry Regiment

Honor & Courage

Korea · Chinese Attack

PARENT DIVISION

The 8th Cavalry fought across the frontier, through the Pacific in WWII, and into Korea — where the regiment was devastated at the Battle of Unsan in November 1950. Chinese forces attacked at night and overran the 8th Cavalry's positions in one of the most catastrophic defeats of the Korean War. The regiment rebuilt, fought on, and carries that memory as a reminder of what happens when an army underestimates its enemy. Read more

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BUFFALO SOLDIERS

9th Cavalry Regiment

Buffalo Soldiers

30 Years on the Plains

The 9th Cavalry — Buffalo Soldiers — patrolled the frontier for thirty years, earning twelve Medals of Honor fighting on the plains that most white regiments rotated away from. They escorted settlers, guarded stagecoach routes, fought Comanche, Apache, and Sioux, and charged up San Juan Hill in Cuba. The 9th Cavalry spent more continuous years on frontier duty than any other regiment in the Army. They served with honor in a nation that gave them very little in return. Read more

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BUFFALO SOLDIERS

10th Cavalry Regiment

Buffalo Soldiers — "Ready and Forward"

Hill · With Roosevelt

Expedition · 1916

The 10th Cavalry charged up San Juan Hill alongside the Rough Riders — a fact Roosevelt initially acknowledged and later downplayed. The 10th rescued the Rough Riders when they were pinned down. During the Punitive Expedition into Mexico in 1916, the 10th Cavalry fought at Carrizal in the last true horse cavalry engagement against a foreign army. The Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th served on the frontier, in Cuba, in Mexico, and through both World Wars. Read more

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Modern Cavalry Squadrons The Scout Mission Today

SCOUT · RECON · SECURITY

Cavalry Squadrons Today

Every BCT Has One

Active Squadrons

Bradley · JLTV

Security · Screen

CAVALRY SCOUT MOS

Every brigade combat team in the Army has a cavalry squadron. They carry the lineage of the horse regiments but fight in Bradleys, Strykers, and JLTVs. The 19D Cavalry Scout MOS is the modern incarnation of the trooper who has always done the same job — ride ahead of the main body, find the enemy, and report back. Or fight. Scouts still earn the Stetson. They still earn the spurs. And they still do Spur Rides to prove they deserve them. Read more

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15+

Cavalry Regiments

249

Years Mounted

19D

Cavalry Scout

Stetson

Earned · Not Issued