Special Forces on horseback, Afghanistan, horsemanship, Trails Found.: The last recorded cavalry charge made by US Army personnel assigned to a formal Cavalry in combat was led by Lt. Ed Ramsey of Troop G, 26th US Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) in January, 1942. The final recorded cavalry action, according to most history books, involved mounted troops of the Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop of the 10th Mountain Division in Europe, three years later.
Those were the last ones unless you count the mounted SOF troops in Afghanistan in 2001, however (remember ODAs 595 and 534?), and the ones conducting FID operations from horseback in unfriendly places now. Just last month saw the dedication of the “Horse Soldier” monument, more properly called the De Oppresso Liber, America’s Response Monument. Sited in New York City’s Liberty Park, overlooking One World Trade Center, the 16 foot bronze statue honors those and other soldiers of TF Dagger, many of whom were thrust unprepared into their role as mounted troops by necessity.
