8th Bohemian Dragoons ( Count Montecuccoli ' s ) The regiment was a cavalry unit raised in the 17th century for the Imperial Habsburg Army . Over the course of time , this unit became the 8th Bohemian Dragoons ( Count Montecuccoli ' s ) ( " Böhmischen Dragoner - Regiment „ Graf Montecuccoli “ Nr . 8 " ) within the " Common Army " that formed part of the Austro - Hungarian Army . From 1888 the unit was to bear this new title " in perpetuity " . In 1769 the regiment was placed in the order of precedence as the 4th Cavalry Regiment ( " Cavallerie - Regiment Nr . 4 " ) and in 1798 it became the 6th Cuirassier Regiment ( " Cürassier - Regiment Nr . 6 " ) . By way of classification the unit was also subsequently given the following numbers : 1683 / 1 ( by Tessin ) , Kürassierregiment K 2 ( by Bleckwenn ) . Until 1798 the regiment was named after its various " Inhaber s " or colonels of the regiment , who were not necessarily its commanders . There was no authoritative naming system ( e . g . " Regiment Graf Serbelloni " or " Regiment Serbelloni " ) . Regiments changed their names with each change of colonel . After 1798 , the number of the unit took precedence , but could in certain circumstances be combined with the name of the regimental colonel . Because of this constant renaming of units , the regimental histories of Austro - Hungarian cavalry are very difficult to trace . In addition , there was a constant , and apparently arbitrary , sometimes repeated , redesignation of units ( e . g . the 14th Regiment of Bohemian Dragoons ( Prince of Windisch - Gratz , " Böhmisches Dragoner - Regiment „ Fürst zu Windisch - Graetz “ Nr . 14 " ) . History . The 8th Bohemian Dragoons is the oldest , regular regiment of horse in the Imperial - Royal , later Imperial and Royal ( " k . k . and k . u . k . " ) , Cavalry . According to the tradition decree ( " Traditionserlass " ) of the 19th century it existed for a total of 299 years . Other historic records consider the regiment ' s history to begin with its reformation in 1683 , because the unit had been first disbanded in 1679 . In 1619 , the Lower Austrian Protestant estates tried to obtain concessions from Emperor Ferdinand II at Hofburg Palace through the so - called storm petition ( " Sturmpetition " ) . On that occasion , three squadrons ( " Fähnlein " ) of Dampierre ' s Regiment of Arquebusiers stationed in Krems and a squadron of " Dampierre ' s Regiment of Cuirassiers " under the commander of the arsenal , Colonel Gilbert of St . Hilaire , deployed to Vienna . Embarked on boats ( so - called " Tschaiken " ) on the River Danube , they arrived on 5 June 1619 at Vienna , entered the " Residenz " through the Fishermen ' s Gate ( " Fischertor " ) and intimidated the Protestants into abandoning their undertaking . For this action , Emperor Ferdinand II bestowed on the regiment the following privileges , which were confirmed by Emperor Francis I during the secular celebrations of 1810 : " The regiment also has the assurance that it will " never be disbanded or reduced " , as long as it continues to maintain its current glory , and finally the distinction that no man of the regiment , for a crime punishable by death , shall be executed for the same , but in such cases the culprit will be transferred to another regiment where such penalty may be carried out at any time . " In 1619 , under the Imperial Commission of 16 March , 500 men were recruited by Grand Duke Cosmos II of Medici at his own expense ( 300 men as arquebusier s in the Netherlands and 200 men as cuirassier s in the imperial dominions ) . In 1621 , this regiment was in imperial service under the name of the " Florentine Horse " ( " Florentinische Reiter " ) . " Generalfeldwachtmeister " Dampierre , who had already been the proprietary colonel ( " Inhaber " ) and commander of a musketeer regiment since 1616 , was appointed colonel of this new regiment . Operations . Uskok War Thirty Years ' War After the wars : Austro - Turkish War ( 1663 – 64 ) Franco - Dutch War Great Turkish War Spanish War of Succession Austro - Turkish War of 1716 – 1718 War of the Polish Succession Austro - Russian – Turkish War ( 1735 – 39 ) Austrian War of Succession Seven Years ' War Bavarian War of Succession → Napoleonic Wars German campaign ( Napoleonic Wars ) Hundred Days Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire Austro - Prussian War Parent formation and status in July 1914 . First World War Fate . After the so - called successors states to the imperial and royal monarchy had declared their independence in October 1918 , soldiers of the new nationalities were called upon by their interim governments to cease fighting and return home . As a rule , this request was obeyed by the Czech and certain non - German members of the Regiment . Constitutionally it also applied to German - Bohemian soldiers , who suddenly found themselves as Czech citizens . How far they complied with this request is no longer clear , but those that did may have been the exception . The core of the Regiment was maintained to the end of the war by the returning German Austrian dragoons . It was now called the 2nd Regiment of Dragoons ( Field Marshall Montecuccoli ' s ) . The regimental staff were based in Enns . After the Austria ' s " Anschluß " to the German Reich , the Regiment was disbanded in 1938 and its members formed part of the 11th Cavalry ( " Kavallerie - Regiments 11 " ) within the German " Wehrmacht " . Uniforms of the Regiment . Cuirassier Regiment K 2 6th Cuirassier Regiment 8th Regiment of Dragoons Structure . Originally a regiment in the Austro - Hungarian cavalry usually consisted of three to four ( exceptionally more ) divisions . By division was is meant a unit of battalion strength . A proper division was called an infantry or cavalry division . Each division had three squadrons ( " Eskadronen " ) each of which comprised two companies ( " Kompanien " ) . The number of horsemen in the individual subunits varied , but was normally around 80 riders per company . The individual divisions were named after their official commanders : Under the Army reform begun by Emperor Joseph II , the cavalry abandoned the company subunit with its structure . In the wake of the Army reform of 1860 , the cavalry regiments that to that point consisted of three divisions were reduced in size to two divisions . All regimental honorary titles were cancelled in 1915 .