The Grenadiers were formed on July 6, 1827 as the then second regiment of cavalry of the reorganized Chilean Army per a presidential decree by President Francisco Antonio Pinto, and its honorific title is a remembrance of the regiment's first commanding officer, future president Manuel Bulnes. The designation of "Horse Grenadiers" is a remembrance of the role played by the Argentine Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers in assisting the young Army in the campaigns for the independence of Chile in 1818. The regiment's baptism of fire was in the Chilean Civil War of 1829–30 and later fought in the Chilean campaigns of the War of the Confederation and for its contribution for the total collapse of the Peru-Bolivia Confederation was rewarded by being bestowed the duty as the presidential horse guards regiment in Santiago, serving until 1862 on public duties activities, having left that role to help in the Chilean Army actions during the long Occupation of Araucanía.