Formation On 24 December 1828, the Regiment "Dragoni di Piemonte" (Regiment
Dragoons of
Piedmont) was formed in
Vigevano with personnel drawn from four existing
Royal Sardinian Army cavalry regiments:
Regiment "Piemonte Reale Cavalleria",
Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Piemonte",
Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Savoia", and
Regiment "Dragoni del Génévois". The new regiment received untamed horses directly from the army's herds and fielded 900 dragoons and 784 horses in eight squadrons, which were grouped in four divisions. The regiment's troops were armed with a
flintlock musket, two
flintlock pistols, and a
sabre. On 29 August 1831, all five Royal Sardinian Army cavalry regiments were reduced from eight to six squadrons and a
depot squadron, which was to be formed in wartime and train new recruits. On 3 November of the same year, the personnel of the disbanded squadrons was used to reform the
Regiment "Aosta Cavalleria". On 3 January 1832, the six Royal Sardinian Army cavalry regiments were renamed uniformly as "Cavalleria". On the same date the Regiment "Dragoni di Piemonte" was renamed Regiment "Novara Cavalleria" for the city of
Novara. The troops of five regiments, including the Regiment "Novara Cavalleria", were equipped with a flintlock musket, two flintlock pistols, and a sabre, while the troops of the Regiment "Piemonte Reale Cavalleria" continued to be equipped with a flintlock musket, two flintlock pistols, and a straight cavalry sword. With the name change the identifying color of the Regiment "Novara Cavalleria" was defined as orange, but in 1839 it was changed to white, which is still used as the color of the regiment's
gorget patches today. On 7 March 1835, the six cavalry regiments were grouped into two brigades: the I Brigade consisted of the regiments
"Nizza Cavalleria",
"Savoia Cavalleria" and "Novara Cavalleria", while the II Brigade consisted of the regiments
"Piemonte Reale Cavalleria",
"Genova Cavalleria" and
"Aosta Cavalleria". On 15 March 1836, the 6th Squadron of all six cavalry regiments was reorganized as a depot squadron. During the same year the troops of one squadron of each regiment, with the exception of the Regiment “Piemonte Reale Cavalleria”, replaced their flintlock musket with a
lance. On 4 October of the same year, the number of brigades was increased from two to three and the regiments were reassigned: the I Brigade consisted now of the regiments "Nizza Cavalleria" and "Genova Cavalleria", the II Brigade of the regiments "Piemonte Reale Cavalleria" and "Novara Cavalleria", and the III Brigade of the regiments "Savoia Cavalleria" and "Aosta Cavalleria". On the same day King Charles Albert declared war the Royal Sardinian Army's six cavalry regiments reformed their depot squadrons. At the start of the campaign the cavalry's I Brigade was attached to the I Army Corps, while the II Brigade was attached to the II Army Corps, while the III Brigade was attached to the army reserve division. On 25 March 1848, King Charles Albert ordered to issue all cavalry regiments a 60 cm wide square standard in the colors of the
Italian flag with the arms of Savoy displayed in the center of the white pale. On 9 April 1848, the Regiment "Novara Cavalleria" clashed with Austrian forces at
Monzambano, followed by combat at
Mantua and
Villafranca, and the
Skirmish of Pastrengo on 30 April 1848. On 6 May, the regiment distinguished itself in the
Battle of Santa Lucia. On 23 and 24 July, the Regiment "Novara Cavalleria" fought at
Sommacampagna and the next day in the
Battle of Custoza. On 27 July, the regiment fought in the
Battle of Volta Mantovana, after which King
Charles Albert ordered a retreat towards Milan. On 9 August, the Austrian General
Heinrich von Heß and the Sardinian General
Carlo Canera di Salasco signed the
Armistice of Salasco, which stated that Charles Albert's troops would withdraw from the whole of the
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, and the
Duchy of Parma and Piacenza and
Duchy of Modena and Reggio. Thus ended the war's First Campaign. On 1 March 1849, the Sardinian
Chamber of Deputies voted for the resumption of the war, with 94 votes in favour and 24 against. King Charles Albert decided that hostilities would resume on 20 March and, as stipulated in the 1848 armistice, the Austrians were informed about the continuation of the war eight days before the hostilities resumed. Charles Albert then massed his army near
Novara. At noon on 20 March, the whole Austrian Army crossed the
Ticino river at
Pavia and marched North towards Mortara and
Vigevano. On 23 March 1849, Field Marshal Radetzky decisively defeated the Sardinians in the
Battle of Novara. In the evening of 23 March, King Charles Albert abdicated in favour of his son
Victor Emmanuel. On 24 March, the new king met with Radetzky at
Vignale and agreed to an armistice, which ended the short Second Campaign of the First Italian War of Independence. On 31 March 1855, the regiment's 1st Squadron was assigned to the Provisional Cavalry Regiment for the
Sardinian expeditionary corps, which deployed to
Crimea for the
Crimean War. On 16 August 1855, the Provisional Cavalry Regiment fought in the
Battle of the Chernaya. After the Crimean War the regiment was repatriated and, on 18 June 1856, disbanded and its squadrons returned to their original regiments. Around 14h three Austro-Hungarian and German divisions attacked the Italian line: the German
5th Infantry Division attacked Carpeneto, while the Austrio-Hungarian 60th Infantry Division attacked Pozzuolo, and the German
117th Infantry Division attacked the "Genova Cavalleria". With the "Genova Cavalleria" under heavy attack the lancers of the Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" (5th) began to harass the left flank of the enemy in repeated
cavalry charges. By 17:30 the cavalry brigade had suffered almost 400 dead and the enemy had entered Pozzuolo. Around 18h General Capodilista ordered his troops to disengage and retreat. Colonel Balbi and the "Bergamo" troops chose to stay in Pozzuolo to cover the retreat. Fifteen minutes later the remnants of the II Cavalry Brigade rode in formation south towards
Santa Maria di Sclaunicco. The last cavalry unit to leave Pozzuolo was the 4th Squadron of the "Genova Cavalleria", which executed a last suicidal charge against the enemy to cover the other units' escape. By nightfall the Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" (5th) had lost 186 men, while the Regiment "Genova Cavalleria" (4th) had lost 281 men. In total the II Cavalry Brigade lost 467 of its 968 men, while the Brigade "Bergamo" lost more than 3,500 men. Ultimately however, the Battle of Pozzuolo was a success as it bought the Italian 3rd Army the time to escape across the Tagliamento river. On 20 May 1920, the Royal Italian Army disbanded five additional cavalry regiments, among them the
Regiment "Lancieri di Milano" (7th), whose 4th Squadron, which was part of the II Squadrons Group "Cavalleggeri di Roma", was transferred to the Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" (5th). On the same date, the II Squadrons Group "Cavalleggeri di Piacenza" and one of the squadrons group's squadrons were disbanded. Furthermore the Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" (5th) retired its lances and was renamed Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Novara". On 1 July 1920, the traditions and standard of the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Piacenza" (18th) were entrusted to the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Novara". In 1921, the regiment moved from Treviso to
Parma. On 24 May 1925, the standard of the disbanded Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Piacenza" (18th) was transferred to the
Shrine of the Flags, which at the time was located in
Castel Sant'Angelo, for safekeeping. By early 1942, the Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" had lost 15 officers and 100 lancers and half its horses. For its conduct and valour in July 1942 during the Battle of Krasnyi Luch and in August 1942 at Yagodnyi the Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" was awarded a
Gold Medal of Military Valor, which was affixed to the regiment's standard. On the evening of 17 January 1943, the Alpine Army Corps commander, General
Gabriele Nasci, ordered a full retreat. At this point only the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" was still capable of conducting combat operations. The 40,000-strong mass of stragglers — Alpini and Italians from other commands, plus German and Hungarians — followed the "Tridentina", which led the way westwards to the new Axis lines. As the Soviets had already occupied every village, bitter battles had to be fought to clear the way. During the retreat, the II Group of the Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" carried out rearguard and flanking actions. On 1 February 1943, the remnants of the Alpine Army Corps reached Axis lines. The Novara's survivors were repatriated on 23 March 1943 and on 30 March the regiment's standard returned to regiment's garrison in
Verona. On 12 November 1976, the
President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone assigned with decree 846 the
standard and traditions of the Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" (5th) to the squadrons group. For its conduct and work after the
1976 Friuli earthquake the squadrons group was awarded a Bronze Medal of Army Valor, which was affixed to the squadrons group's standard and added to its coat of arms.
Recent times On 4 September 1992, the 5th Tank Squadrons Group "Lancieri di Novara" lost its autonomy and the next day the squadrons group entered the reformed Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" (5th). On the same day, the standard and traditions of the Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" (5th) were transferred from the squadrons group to the regiment. The regiment consisted of a command, a command and services squadron, and a squadrons group with three squadrons with wheeled
Centauro tank destroyers. From 8 January to 31 March 1994, one of the regiment's squadrons was deployed to
Somalia as part of the
United Nations Operation in Somalia II. In January 2013, the regiment was transferred from the
Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli" to the
132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete". == Organization ==