Dragoon

From the old fable that the dragon spouts fire, the head of the monster was worked upon the muzzle of a peculiar kind of short muskets which were first carried by the horsemen raised by Marshal Bri ac in 1600. This circumstance led to their being called dragoons; and from the general adoption of the same weapon, though without the emblem in question, the term gradually extended itself till it became almost synonymous with horse-soldier. Dragoons were at one time a kind of mounted infantry, drilled to perform the services both of horse and foot. At present, dragoon is simply one among many designations for cavalry, not very precise in its application. This term is not now used in the U. S. service.