SCHEDULE
wednesday

Early Origins and Predecessors of the 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment

• On March 2, 1833, acting on a measure presented by Richard Johnson, Congress created the United States Regiment of Dragoons With the creation of this unit, the U. S. Cavalry was born. The size of the U. S. Regiment of Dragoons was fixed by Congress, at 34 officers and 1,715 men. Henry Dodge was appointed the colonel in command. Other noteworthy officers were Lt Col Stephen Watts Kearny, Captain Edwin V. Sumner, 1st Lt Philip St. George Cooke, and 2nd Lt Jefferson Davis.
  
  

• For the Mexican War it was clear that the US needed more mounted troops: the distances in Mexico were so great. There was some expansion in the Regulars, but many of the units were volunteers that were dissolved at the end of the war. In 1850 the Federal Government followed suit. Only two Dragoon regiments and one regiment of Mounted Riflemen (created in 1846) survived the government postwar reductions. But five years later, on March 3, 1855, Congress authorized the raising of two regiments of horse. These were needed to handle the expanding western frontier, especially as settlers pushed more and more against the Indians.
  
  

• The 1st and 2nd U. S. Cavalry were the first regular American military organizations to bear the title of "cavalry". It was rumored among the Dragoons and Mounted Riflemen that Secretary of War Jefferson Davis purposely received this special designation to enable him to appoint many of his Southern friends while disregarding seniority among the older mounted units. Whether this rumor was true or not, the disproportionate number of Southern officers in the new units would severely impede the development of the Union cavalry in the Civil War, six years later.
  
  

• The 1st Cavalry was assembled at Fort Leavenworth and commanded by Col Edwin V. Sumner. Five of his officers were later to play a significant role in the Civil War: Lt. Col. Joseph E. Johnston, Maj. John Sedgwick, Maj. William H. Emory, Capt. George B. McClellan, and Lt. J. E. B. Stuart.
  
  

• The 2nd Cavalry was trained at Jefferson Barracks. Albert Sidney Johnston was the Colonel, and some of his officers were: Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee, Maj. William J. Hardee, Maj. George H. Thomas, Captains Earl Van Dorn, George Stoneman, Edmund Kirby Smith, Lieutenants John Bell Hood, and Fitzhugh Lee.
  
  

• The 2nd was nicknamed "Jeff Davis' Own", and over the next four years clashed with hostiles nearly forty times. The regiment's most successful sorties were directed by its senior captain, Brev. Maj. Earl Van Dorn. At the onset of the Civil War in 1861, there were five regiments of U. S. cavalry. Shortly after the 3rd Cavalry was organized in 1861, all the regiments were renumbered from one to six and the "12 Troop" (platoon) structure was created.
  
  

•  Out of the 176 officers of the five original regiments, 104 cast their lot with their native Southern states when the Civil War broke. As a result of this, not only did the Union cavalry have many green and untested troops, their officers were inexperienced too. In contrast, the Confederate cavalry had more experienced leadership which contributed to several years of battlefield superiority.