6th Cavalry Regiment
military unit
The 6th Cavalry ("Fighting Sixth'") is a regiment of the United States Army that began as a regiment of cavalry in the American Civil War. It currently is organized into aviation squadrons that are assigned to several different combat aviation brigades.
History
American Civil War (1861-1865)
The 3rd U.S. Cavalry Regiment was organized on 3 May 1861 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was commanded by
Colonel David Hunter (1802-1886), and second in command was Lieutenant Colonel William H. Emory (1811-1887). The regiment's designation was changed to the 6th U.S. Cavalry Regiment on 10 August 1861 due to a general reorganization of all United States Army cavalry regiments a few months shortly after the beginning of the Civil War; the Regiment of Mounted Rifles took on the name of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment instead. The troopers were recruited from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Western New York. Arriving in Washington D.C. by company between 12 October and 23 December, the regiment joined the Union Army of the Potomac, camping south of the federal national capital city and began its training with a strength of 34 officers and 950 men.
Due to supply shortages, all but one squadron was equipped as light cavalry, armed with pistols and sabers. It wasn't until 10 March that the rest of the regiment received carbines. The 6th Cavalry left winter quarters on 10 March 1862 and was assigned to General Philip St.
“6th Cavalry Regiment” enters the record as military unit. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Cavalry, Regiment and military can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“6th Cavalry Regiment” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Cavalry, Regiment and military provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2818116. VIAF identifies the subject as 144592561. The Library of Congress control number is no2003060243. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861, 1865, 1802 and 1886.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “6th Cavalry Regiment”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 6th Cavalry Regiment primary sources, 6th Cavalry Regiment archive and Cavalry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “6th Cavalry Regiment”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “6th Cavalry Regiment” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.