Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat with swords and firearms from horseback. While their use goes back to the late 16th century, dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the 17th and early 18th centuries; they provided greater mobility than regular infantry but were far less expensive than cavalry.
Mounted Russian dragoon armed with an infantry long gun, c. 1710
Cartoon of a French dragoon intimidating a Huguenot in the Dragonnades
French dragoon of the Volontaires de Saxe regiment, mid-18th century
French Dragoons with captured Prussian flag at the Battle of Jena
Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, "Mounted rifles are half cavalry, mounted infantry merely specially mobile infantry." Today, with motor vehicles having replaced horses for military transport, the motorized infantry are in some respects successors to mounted infantry.
Two Australian light horsemen in 1914