Ironside (cavalry) and foot soldiers in Jo Walton's alternate history series the Small Change trilogy are named 'Ironsides'. Lawrence J. Epstein writes that the lyric "heaven is like Ironside's" in Bob Dylan's I Pity the Poor Immigrant refers to the puritanical view of religion shared by the followers of Cromwell. Ironside (cavalry) The Ironsides were troopers in the Parliamentarian cavalry formed by English political leader Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century, during the English Civil War. The name came from "Old Ironsides", one of Cromwell's nicknames. Cromwell first mustered a troop of cavalry (then referred to as "horse") at Huntingdon in Huntingdonshire,
1st District of Columbia Cavalry Regiment 1st District of Columbia Cavalry Regiment The 1st District of Columbia Cavalry was a Union Army cavalry regiment which fought in the American Civil War. Four cavalry companies were formed from June to December 1861, under the command of Colonel Lafayette C. Baker for service in the defenses of Washington, D.C.; in November it was transferred to the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Eight companies which had been raised in Augusta, Maine were attached to the regiment in early 1864. The regiment participated in the Siege of Petersburg during the remainder of 1864 and early 1865. In August 1864,