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 con
c. 1759–1761 painting of a British Army dragoon
Cartoon of a French dragoon intimidating a Huguenot in the Dragonnades
French dragoon of the Volontaires de Saxe
French dragoons at the Battle of Jena
The blunderbuss is a seventeenth- to mid-nineteenth-century muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large-caliber, smoothbore barrel. It features a flared muzzle to facilitate loading shot, which usually
Dragoon
…infantry but were far less expensive than cavalry. The name reputedly derives from a type of firearm, called a dragon, which was a handgun version of a blunderbuss, carried by dragoons of the French Army. The title has been retained in modern times by a number of armoured or ceremonial mounted regiments. The…
A flintlock blunderbuss, built for Tipu Sultan
An English flintlock blunderbuss
A French blunderbuss, called an espingole, 1760, France
Musketoon, blunderbuss and coach gun from the American Civil War era