Cavalry knowledge

The history of the Swiss Cavalry and the Cavalry Squadron 1972

The year 1874 was the birth year of the Swiss Army. The 24 dragoon squadrons and 12 guide companies of the cavalry were made up of 3,500 men.

The strength increased to 6,600 men by 1924. After that, the strength was reduced with each troop order (TO). From 1962 until the abolition, there were about 3,400 men, who were divided into 18 dragoon squadrons.



On December 5, 1972, the Swiss Federal Assembly abolished the cavalry. The last remaining mounted units in Europe were retrained and integrated into the mechanized units. In order to keep the tradition of the cavalry alive, former cavalrymen, mainly from the Dragoon Squadron 15, founded the Swiss Cavalry Squadron 1972 in 1995.

Learn more about the history of the Swiss cavalry on Wikipedia