1st U.S. Dragoons

1st U.S. Dragoons (1833-1861) - "The U.S. Regiment of Dragoons" was created on 2 Mar 1833 by an Act of the U.S. Congress. That designation remained until the 2nd U.S. Dragoons was formed in 1836 and it then became the 1st U.S. Dragoons.

The Dragoons were different in that they were trained to fight mounted or dismounted and they carried the latest weaponry. The 1st U.S. Dragoons were initially headquartered out of Jefferson Barracks and performed frontier duty. They saw action during the Mexican War in both Mexico and California. The regimental headquarters location shifted with the duty and the regimental headquarters included Fort Leavenworth, Fort Union and finally Fort Tejon in California.

Company A, 1st U.S. Dragoons built Fort Tejon in 1854 and they were joined by the headquarters, company H and company I. Fort Tejon was abandoned by the 1st Dragoons in June 1861 when they withdrew to Los Angeles at the beginning of the U.S. Civil War. The regiment was re-designated the 1st U.S. Cavalry on 3 Aug 1861.

Links:
 * Wikipedia - 1st Cavalry Regiment
 * History of the First Dragoons