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The Union Army 1861 By Gerald H.
Miler In the 1860 the Cavalry strength of the regular army totaled five
regiments, the 1st Dragoons established in 1833, 2nd
Dragoons from 1836, the Regiment of Mounted Rifles formed in 1846 and
the 1st and 2nd Cavalry regiments formed in 1855.
After the Mexican conflict of 1846-1847 the three mounted regiments then
in existence were scattered all over the Country, with 126 companies out
of 166 garrisoned West of the Mississippi River. The army of the 1850s
become so overextended guarding the immigrant trails and frontier posts
that Congress finally increased the army by two infantry regiments and
two mounted regiments, giving the army rolls an increase of one third
more manpower. The two mounted regiments were designated as Cavalry ,
Possibly to avoid an appearance that the mounted branch was being
permanently increased and they were organized and maintained separately
from the dragoons and the mounted rifles so much so that dragoon and
rifle officers were not eligible for advancement in the new Cavalry
regiments and the Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis. Read more in the
Tradition Magazine no.65
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