Cavalry or horsemen are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the most mobile of the combat arms. An individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations such as cavalryman, horseman, dragoon, or trooper. The designation of cavalry was not usually given to any military forces that used other animals, such as camels, mules or elephants. Infantry who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot, were known in the 17th and early 18th centuries as dragoons, a class of mounted infantry which later evolved into cavalry proper while retaining their historic title.
Dragoons originally were a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 18th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry, trained for combat with swords from horseback.
A hussar was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry regiments in European armies in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Australian Light Horse were mounted troops with characteristics of both cavalry and mounted infantry, who served in the Second Boer War and World War I. During the inter-war years, a number of regiments were raised as part of Australia's part-time military force. These units were gradually mechanised either before or during World War II, although only a small number undertook operational service during the war. A number of Australian light horse units are still in existence today.
The Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) is a corps of the Australian Army which provides the Australian Defence Force's armour capability. Armour combines firepower, mobility, protection and networked situational awareness to generate shock action and overmatch in close combat. Armour is an essential element of the combined arms approach that is employed by the Australian Army.
The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, was the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army from the late 18th to the early 20th century. The Cavalry branch became the Armor branch with tanks in 1950, but the term "Cavalry" such as "armored cavalry" remains in use in the U.S. Army for mounted reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) units based on their parent Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) regiment. Cavalry is also used in the name of the 1st Cavalry Division for heraldic/lineage/historical purposes. Some combined arms battalions are designated as armor formations, while others are designated as infantry organizations. These "branch" designations are again, heraldic/lineage/historical titles derived from the CARS regiments to which the battalions are assigned.
Light cavalry comprises lightly armed and lightly armoured troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders are heavily armored. The missions of the light cavalry were primarily reconnaissance, screening, skirmishing, raiding, and most importantly, communications, and were usually armed with spears, swords, bows and later with pistols and carbines.
The Poona Horse is an armoured regiment in the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. The regiment, known before independence as The Poona Horse, was raised as a regular cavalry regiment in the Bombay Presidency army of the East India Company. It was formed from the 3rd Regiment of Bombay Light Cavalry, raised in 1820, and the Poona Auxiliary Horse, raised about 1817-18. The latter unit was absorbed into the regular forces about 1860 and the two regiments later became the 33rd Queen Victoria's Own Light Cavalry and the 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse.
Chota Nagpur Division, also known as the South-West Frontier, was an administrative division of British India. It included most of the present-day state of Jharkhand as well as adjacent portions of West Bengal, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh.
Armoured cavalry began to replace horse cavalry as the reconnaissance arm in most armies after the First World War, although many armies continued to maintain horse cavalry through the end of the Second World War.
There are 13 Cavalry Regiments of the British Army each with its own unique cap badge, regimental traditions, and history. Of the currently 9 regular cavalry regiments; 2 serve as armoured regiments, 3 as armoured cavalry regiments, 3 as light cavalry and 1 as a mounted ceremonial regiment. There are also four yeomanry regiments of the Army Reserve, of these, 3 serve as light cavalry and 1 as an armoured regiment. Each yeomanry light cavalry unit has been paired with a regular unit of the same role, the armoured yeomanry unit is paired with the 2 regular armoured units. All except the Household Cavalry are part of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps.
This is a list of auxiliary regiments or units formed by the British in individual colonies of the British Empire. In some colonies, the units were led by officers seconded from the British Army. Especially in the case of units that recruited non-whites, even in colonies where the officers were primarily colonials, commissions were generally restricted to whites until after the Second World War. Non-white colonials, as well as non-whites from Britain itself served primarily in the other ranks. Although militias operating on the same principle as the militia in England and Wales were established in many colonies during the 17th and 18th Centuries, from the 19th Century onwards colonial units were mostly voluntary, and supplied a reserve force either to be called up in war time to reinforce regular British Army garrisons for home defence, or in some cases were entirely responsible for home defence. Many units, however, took part in active campaigns outside of the role of home defence in various conflicts the British Empire was involved in, including the two world wars.
Sitabuldi Fort, site of the Battle of Sitabuldi in 1817, is located atop a hillock in central Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. The fort was built by Mudhoji II Bhonsle, also known as Appa Sahib Bhosle, of the Kingdom of Nagpur, just before he fought against the British East India Company during the Third Anglo-Maratha War. The area surrounding the hillock, now known as Sitabuldi, is an important commercial hub for Nagpur. To the south is Nagpur Railway Station and behind it is Tekdi Ganapati, a temple of Ganesha. The fort is now home to the Indian Army's 118th infantry battalion.
