FRENCH DISMOUNT DRAGOONS (TYW)

It is very often assumed that the formation of dragoons is a French creation, and for the first time a regiment of dragoons was formed by Henry IV of the Bourbon family (he ruled in the years 1589-1610) at the end of the 16th century. The Dragons of the beginning of the 17th century in the French army were treated as a universal unit - on the one hand, they could be used as medium or heavy cavalry on the battlefield, and on the other hand, they could be used as fast-moving infantry with considerable - for those times - strength fire. The Dragons were used during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), but when Louis XIV took power alone, the French army had only two[!] regiments of dragoons. During the reign of the Sun-King, this number increased significantly and fluctuated, reaching 43 in 1690, and in 1715, at the time of the monarch's death, it was set at 15 regiments at a peaceful rate. The dragoons regiment in the French army in the second half of the 17th century had 324 full-time employees (much less than in the 18th century!), Who were divided into two squadrons. Each squadron in turn was divided into three companies. Such an organization was in force in the French army from 1672. The armament of dragoons was usually a saber, a pair of pistols and - very often - a flintlock infantry rifle.