The 2nd Cavalry Regiment, also known as the Second Dragoons, is an active Stryker infantry and cavalry regiment of the United States Army. The Second Cavalry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army Europe and Africa, with its garrison at the Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany. It can trace its lineage back to the early part of the 19th century.

Previous names and dates Previous designations of the regiment:

2nd Regiment of Dragoons (May 1836 – March 1843, April 1844 – August 1861); 2nd Regiment of Riflemen (March 1843 – April 1844); 2nd US Cavalry Regiment (August 1861 – July 1942); 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Mechanized) (January 1943 – December 1943); 2nd Cavalry Group (Mechanized) (December 1943 – July 1946); 2nd Constabulary Regiment (July 1946 – November 1948); 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (November 1948 – July 1992); 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (Light) (July 1992 – March 2005); 2nd Cavalry Regiment (March 2005 – June 2006); 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (June 2006 – July 2011); 2nd Cavalry Regiment (July 2011 – present).

Motto and heraldry

Coat of arms Description/Blazon

Shield;

Tenné, a dragoon in the uniform of the Mexican War mounted on a white horse brandishing a saber and charging a Mexican field gun defended by a gunner armed with a rammer all proper, in chief two eight-pointed mullets Or.

Crest;

On a wreath of the colors (Or and Tenné) the head dress of the dragoons of 1836 Proper. Motto Toujours Prêt (Always Ready).

Symbolism

The color of the facings of the old dragoon regiment was orange, which is used for the field of the shield; the insignia was an eight-pointed star of gold, two of them (conforming with the numerical designation) are placed on the shield. The traditional episode in the regiment is the charge of Captain May's squadron on the Mexican artillery at Resaca de la Palma which is commemorated by the principal charge on the shield.

Background

The coat of arms was originally approved for the 2d Cavalry Regiment on 6 August 1920. It was amended to change the 6 pointed stars to 8 pointed stars to conform to the old dragoon star on 28 April 1924. The coat of arms was redesignated for the 2d Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron on 31 July 1944. On 26 November 1946, it was redesignated for the 2d Constabulary Squadron. It was redesignated for the 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment (US Constabulary) on 17 March 1949. The coat of arms was redesignated for the 2d Armored Cavalry on 1 September 1955. The insignia was redesignated effective 16 April 2005, for the 2d Cavalry Regiment.

Distinctive unit insignia Description/Blazon

A metal and enamel device one inch (2.54 cm) in height consisting of a gold eight pointed star of rays surmounted by a green palmetto leaf charged with a silver color fleur-de-lis, on a green ribbon scroll forming the base of the device, the regimental motto "Toujours Prêt" in gold metal letters.

Symbolism

The eight-pointed star insignia worn by dragoons, the 2d Cavalry having been originally formed as the Second Regiment of Dragoons in 1836. The palmetto leaf represents the Regiment's first action against the Seminole Indians in Florida, where the palmetto leaf grows in abundance. The fleur-de-lis is for combat service in France in both World War I and World War II. The motto "Toujours Prêt" (Always Ready) expresses the spirit and élan of the Regiment.

Background

The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 2d Cavalry Regiment on 16 January 1923. The insignia was amended to change the 6 pointed star to an 8 pointed star to conform to the old dragoon star on 28 April 1924. On 23 March 1931, it was amended to prescribe the method of wear. It was redesignated for the 2d Constabulary Squadron on 21 January 1948. The insignia was redesignated for the 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment (US Constabulary) on 17 March 1949. It was redesignated for the 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment on 1 September 1955. The distinctive unit insignia was amended to change the description on 20 August 1965. It was redesignated effective 16 April 2005, for the 2d Cavalry Regiment.

History

Between 1808 and 1815 In 1808, there was one regiment of light dragoons in the United States and during the War of 1812 another regiment was raised. Units of both regiments of dragoons served in engagements at the Mississineway River; the Battle of Lundy's Lane; Fort Erie and the Siege of Fort Meigs. These two regiments were consolidated on 30 March 1814 into the Regiment of Light Dragoons but this new unit was dissolved on 15 June 1815.Stubbs, Mary Lee; Connor, Stanley. Armor-Cavalry Part I: Regular Army and Army Reserve . From the Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington D.C., 1969.

Early organization

The precursor organization was originally established by President Andrew Jackson on 23 May 1836, as the Second Regiment of Dragoons of the US Army. A and I Companies were recruited in the Fort Myer, Virginia area, B Company recruited from Virginia and Louisiana, C Company drew recruits from Tennessee, E, F, G, and H recruited from New York, and K Company was drawn from New Orleans. D Company was organized from a detachment of the 1st Dragoons and served in Florida immediately. In April 1837, the regimental headquarters was moved to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, where the 400 new recruits and their instructors participated in the School of the Trooper, and learned the tactics and ways of being a dragoon, while some of their compatriots were battling the Indians in Florida.

Second Seminole War The 2nd Dragoons saw their first combat during the Second Seminole War. The 2nd Dragoons brought the fight to the hostile Seminoles, rather than wait to be attacked inside a fort like other units did. Company D drew first blood on 10 June 1836 in an engagement at Welika Pond, close to Fort Defiance, Florida. In December 1836, A, B, C, E, and I Companies arrived in South Carolina, and immediately moved south. In January 1837, the troopers were engaged by the Seminoles at Fort Mellon only two days after their arrival. On 9 September 1837, three Dragoon companies and two companies of Florida Militia surrounded and raided a hostile village, capturing King Philip, an important chief. On 11 September 1837, Lieutenant John Winfield Scott McNeil was killed by the Seminoles, becoming the first officer of the 2nd Dragoons to die in combat. The regiment under Lieutenant Colonel William S. Harney later fought at the Second Battle of the Loxahatchee on 24 January 1838. The 2nd Dragoons would suffer a major defeat at the Battle of the Caloosahatchee on 23 July 1839.

Mexican–American War Under an act of Congress dated 23 August 1842 the regiment was re-designated as the Regiment of Riflemen effective 4 March 1843. This act was repealed on 4 April 1844 and the regiment reverted to its previous designation.

In October 1842, A, D, E, F, and G Companies moved to Fort Jessup, Louisiana and Fort Towson. The remainder of the regiment stayed in Florida to patrol for hostile bands of Seminoles. Fort Jessup became the regimental headquarters, and was the 2nd Dragoons' home for four years. When hostilities with the Centralist Republic of Mexico began to boil over in 1845, General Zachary Taylor assembled his "Army of Observation" at Fort Jessup, and the 2nd Dragoons marched overland to occupy Corpus Christi, Texas.

They soon established Fort Texas, near modern-day Brownsville, Texas. The regiment conducted aggressive patrolling along the Rio Grande, and on 25 April 1846, they received word that Mexican troops were crossing the river. Two companies of the 2nd Dragoons were ambushed by 500–1,600 Mexican troops (accounts vary), and all were either killed or captured. This battle, known as the Thornton Affair, gave US President Polk the casus belli he needed to invade Mexico.

When General Taylor counterattacked, the 2nd Dragoons forced the enemy to turn their flank during the Battle of Palo Alto. The next day, during the Battle of Resaca de la Palma on 9 May 1846, Companies D and E under Captain Charles A. May were ordered to eliminate a battery of Mexican guns. Prior to the charge, May issued a simple order; "Remember your Regiment and follow your officers." This became the 2nd Dragoon Regiment's motto. The attack destroyed the enemy battery and captured a Mexican general.

On 29 June 1846, COL David Twiggs was given command of the regiment from COL William S. Harney, and he was lauded for his bravery at the Battle of Monterrey. COL Twiggs commanded the 2nd Dragoons for the rest of the war, and by the end, the regiment was one of two regiments in the Army that had elements participate in every major battle.

Heroism was not limited to the officers of the 2nd Dragoons; in November 1847, SGT Jack Miller's small patrol of 20 Dragoons was ambushed by near Monclova by 100 Mexicans. Reaching for their carbines, SGT Miller urged them to charge with only their sabers. In the ensuing battle, 6 Mexicans were killed, 13 were wounded, and 70 were captured at the cost of 1 wounded Dragoon and 3 wounded horses.

Frontier duty After the Mexican–American War, the 2nd Dragoons headed west to protect the settlers on the new frontier that had just been gained by the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In June 1849, F Company, under MAJ Ripley Arnold, established Fort Worth along the Trinity River. These years were spent patrolling the frontier in order to protect American settlers heading west from hostile Indians. In 1854, the Companies E and K of the regiment defeated a sizable Sioux force in the Battle of Ash Hollow in Nebraska, forcing the Sioux to sign a peace treaty.

In late 1857, in response to growing hostilities between federal authorities and Mormon settlers in Utah, a battalion of the 2nd Dragoons was sent to quell any Mormon resistance to federal power. These Dragoons, under LTC Philip St. George Cooke, joined a 2,500-man expedition and began the march to Utah, and in response, Brigham Young, the Mormon leader, mobilized the Nauvoo Legion to combat this force. Peace talks succeeded before much blood was shed, but the 2nd Dragoons still had to complete a long and arduous winter march across the frontier. The Utah War ended in July 1858. On 14 June 1858, William S. Harney was promoted to Brigadier General, and LTC St. George Cooke was made the 3rd Colonel of the 2nd Dragoons.

On 1 October 1858, other elements of the 2nd Dragoons that hadn't gone to Utah were engaging in operations against the Comanche in Texas. In the summer of 1858, a group of Dragoons pursued a number of Comanche who had captured a white child, but soon were ambushed by 25 braves. The firefight escalated and the Dragoons and Texas Rangers fought off a band of roughly 500 Comanches, and killed 70 after five hours of fighting. The captured child was rescued in the end, and the engagement became known as the Battle of the Wichita Village.

Civil War

At the onset of the Civil War in 1861, the regiment was recalled to the Eastern theater and redesignated on 3 August 1861 as the Second Cavalry Regiment. Thomas J. Wood was named the fourth Colonel of the regiment, but was promoted out of the job shortly after. Throughout the war, the 2nd Cavalry would be commanded by many company-grade officers such as Captains Wesley Merritt and Theophilus Francis Rodenbough. C Company was the last unit of the regiment to fight as dragoons, during the Battle of Wilson's Creek.

For much of the war, the regiment was a key part of either the "Reserve Brigade" or the "Regular Brigade" of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac and served in numerous campaigns and battles. They fought in numerous battles, including the Siege of Yorktown, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and the Battle of Cold Harbor.