David Cassin was born on February 2, 1822 in Dublin, Ireland. After migrating to the United States, in May 1844 at St. Louis, Missouri, David Cassin was mustered into Company A of the 1st U.S. Dragoons Regiment as a Private that same month.

Dragoons were U.S. soldiers originally trained to fight on horseback and on foot. They used their horses mainly to move them from place to place, but not so much for fighting. Most, if not all of their fighting, was done dismounted. The name Dragoon is derived from their primary weapon, a carbine or short musket called the "dragon." Dragoons were the most efficient and economical form of cavalry for police work and guerrilla warfare there was.

The Dragoons were considered to be the elite of the United States Army. When the Infantry walked, they rode: while the Infantry toiled through summers drilling and marching, they broke new trails across the Continent. They were the United States Dragoons, established by an act of Congress on March 2, 1833.

The needs of the West forced Congress on March 2, 1833 to give the Army its first permanent cavalry unit, the 1st Regiment of U.S. Dragoons, consisting of 749 officers and men. The new organization, the Regiment of United States Dragoons, was an answer to advocates of a mounted force as well as to the economy minded. It was mounted for speed, yet trained and equipped to fight both mounted and dismounted. As it came about, however, the regiment was turned into a marching infantry unit. No sooner were the dragoons dismounted though, than agitation for remounting them began. It was argued that at least two mounted regiments should be stationed on the western frontier and maintained there in readiness for swift offensive action. If action were not needed, the mounted force could then make a show of strength at least once a year by marching into the Indian country. In 1844, as a result of those arguments, and pressure from the frontier states for a greater number of mounted Regulars in that area, Congress passed legislation to remount the riflemen and to restore to the regiment its original designation.

Only one regiment was authorized at first, but its success soon led Congress in 1836 to raise a Second Dragoon Regiment. The designation Dragoon Regiment remained in use until 1861, when the name officially was changed to Cavalry.

The First Dragoon Regiment was composed of ten companies, but after the first five companies were recruited, they were sent to Fort Gibson under Colonel Henry Dodge, to winter; the others following later. Dodge was a politician, who was transferred to the Dragoons from a battalion of Mounted Rangers. Much of the actual training of the new companies though devolved under the second in command, Lt. Col. Stephen Watts Kearny, and officers who served under Kearny attributed the "high character which the regiment subsequently attained" to him.

In the summer of 1834 Colonel Dodge led the Dragoons on their first march south to meet with the Pawnee and Comanche Indians and to try and rescue an white boy whose father had been murdered by Indians while hunting, west of Fort Gibson. That first venture was unsuccessful, although the boy was rescued and the painter, George Catlin who accompanied the regiment, had the opportunity to sketch the Indians he encountered. The regiment left Fort Gibson with 400 men but sickness soon broke out among the men and the horses, and by the time the False Washita River was reached only 250 men were able to continue. Over 100 Dragoon soldiers and several officers died along the way.

In 1836 Colonel Dodge resigned, was succeeded by Kearny and Maj. Richard Mason advanced to Kearny's former position. That same year, the Second Regiment of Dragoons was organized at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and sent to Florida to participate in engagements against hostile Seminole Indians. The First Regiment, however, remained on the frontier, principally west of the Mississippi River.

The American Army in 1844 consisted of 8,573 men of which the ten companies of the First Dragoons numbered about 623 men. Each company at full strength had a captain, a first lieutenant, a second lieutenant, four sergeants, four corporals, two buglers, one farrier and blacksmith, and fifty privates. The men were all armed with Hall's carbines and, later, musketoons and Dragoon sabers called "old wristbreakers" of the Prussian pattern, and horse pistols.

All of the weapons had drawbacks though. The carbine when carried muzzle down lost the charge from the chamber and couldn’t stand much wear. In Indian fighting, sabers were simply a nuisance. They jingled, made a lot of noise and were difficult to keep sharp in metal scabbards, and when a soldier was close enough on an Indian to use a saber, it was just chance  as to who got the first blow in.

The 1st Dragoons marched with General John E. Wool from Texas into northern Mexico. Wool joined General Taylor southwest of Monterrey, and played an important role in stopping the attack of General Santa Ana at the Battle of Buena Vista in February of 1847.

Even though David Cassin never stayed with the Dragoons long enough to see action in the American Civil War, the Dragoons went on to make a distinguished name for Cassin’s old regiment in the years to follow. Having signed up for a five year period, David Cassin did his service fighting and defending the American frontier and was discharged at San Diego, May 1, 1849 due to his expiration of service; returning to England after living a short while in New York, then migrated to Australia.

The Act entitling Mexican War veterans, and those that fought on the American frontier,  to a pension, was passed in 1887 and Cassin applied for his pension in February of 1897. His pension was granted on  November 1, 1897 and was initially Eight Dollars a month, but was increased to Twelve Dollars a month from  March 3, 1903. He was still receiving a pension from the United States Government at the time of his death on January 19, 1904 at Richmond, Victoria, Australia. David Cassin was buried in the St. Arnaud Cemetery, Victoria, Australia.

The Cassin family held a Cassin Family Reunion & Memorial on  September 26, 1993 and American Vice Consul, Jeff Daffer attended the memorial service at St. Arnaud Cemetery on a Sunday to unveil a plaque on the grave of a St. Arnaud pioneer; David Cassin, who was also an American Soldier. The St. Arnaud Citizens band was in attendance and played the National Anthems of both countries as well as other appropriate American tunes. The St. Arnaud R.S.L. President, David Canty, said the Ode and Taps and the Last Post were played, bringing the simple and moving ceremony to a close. The plaque was donated by the United States Authorities and was unveiled by two direct descendants of David Cassin; Vera Robinson and David Cassin.

Andrea C. Hunter

“Army Lineage Series: Armor-Cavalry”, Pt. I , Washington, 1969

 Cassin Family Reunion papers

“Historic Furnishing Plan for The Dragoon Stables”, Sally Johnson Ketcham.

National Archives, Washington, D.C.

 “New York in the War of the Rebellion”, Frederick Phisterer, 1912.

“Regimental History of the First New York Dragoons”, Rev. J. R. Bowen, 1900

U.S. Consulate, Sydney, Australia

 U.S. Pension Records, Washington, D.C.

 Will Gorenfield, Researcher