On 21 April 1796 the regiment charged the dragoons and hussars of Napoleon Bonaparte's Army of Italy during the Battle of Mondovì.

[4][5] On 26 January 1683 the Regiment Dragoons of His Royal Highness (Italian: Reggimento Dragoni di Sua Altezza Reale) was formed on orders of the Duke of Savoy Victor Amadeus II.

In 1713 the war ended with the Peace of Utrecht, which transferred the Kingdom of Sicily and parts of the Duchy of Milan to Savoy.

The war ended with the 1720 Treaty of The Hague, which restored the position prior to 1717, but with Savoy and Austria exchanging Sardinia and Sicily.

[5][10] In 1733 King Charles Emmanuel III joined the War of the Polish Succession on the French-Spanish side.

[5][10] In 1742 King Charles Emmanuel III joined the War of the Austrian Succession on the Austrian side and the Dragoons of His Majesty fought in 1744 in the Battle of Casteldelfino and on 10 August 1746, in the Battle of Rottofreddo, the regiment captured several flags of the Duke of Anjou's regiment.

In March 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Italy and took command of the French forces, with which he defeated the Royal Sardinian Army in the Montenotte campaign within a month.

During this battle the regiment charged the French dragoons and hussars on the Bricchetto hill, allowing the Sardinian infantry to retreat from the battlefield.

[4][5][10][6] However, only one week later, on 28 April 1796, King Victor Amadeus III had to sign the Armistice of Cherasco and on 15 May 1796 the Treaty of Paris, which forced Sardinia out of the First Coalition.

On 16 October 1796 Victor Amadeus III died and his eldest son Charles Emmanuel IV ascended the throne.

On 26 October 1796 King Charles Emmanuel IV ordered the reduction of the Kingdom's cavalry forces.

On 9 December 1798 the Sardinian troops were released from their oath of allegiance to the King and sworn to the Piedmontese Republic.

On 5 April 1799 the regiment fought in the Battle of Magnano, which the Austrians won, forcing the French out of Italy.

[5][10] After returning from exile King Victor Emmanuel I abolished all the freedoms granted by the Napoleonic Code and established a fiercely oppressive rule.

[4][5][10] On 24 December 1828 the Dragoons of Génévois provided some of its personnel to help form the new Regiment "Dragoni di Piemonte".

[4][5][10][11]: 5 In 1866 the regiment participated in the Third Italian War of Independence and fought in the Battle of Custoza, where it checked the Austro-Hungarian advance to allow the infantry divisions "Principe Umberto" and "Bixio", as well as some artillery units, to retreat.

In 1895-96 the regiment provided 69 enlisted personnel for units deployed to Italian Eritrea for the First Italo-Ethiopian War.

On 1 October 1909 the Genova ceded one of its squadrons to help form new Regiment "Lancieri di Mantova" (25th).

[4][5][6] In 1917 the regimental depot in Pordenone formed the 733rd Dismounted Machine Gunners Company as reinforcement for infantry units on the front.

After the Italian defeat in the Battle of Caporetto the II Cavalry Brigade, together with the II/25th Battalion and III/26th Battalion of the Infantry Brigade "Bergamo", stalled the Austro-Hungarian advance on 30 October 1917 in the Battle of Pozzuolo del Friuli, which allowed the Italian III Army to escape across the Tagliamento river.

[6]: 11 After the war the Italian Army disbanded 14 of its 30 cavalry regiments and so on 21 November 1919 the II Group of the Genova was renamed "Lancieri di Mantova" as it consisted of personnel and horses from the disbanded Regiment "Lancieri di Mantova" (25th).

After their return to Italy in late spring 1937 the I and II truck-mounted machine gunners groups were disbanded.

[5] In April 1941 the Genova was attached to the 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" for the invasion of Yugoslavia.

Afterwards the regiment returned to Italy, where on 1 August 1942 it joined the 2nd Cavalry Division "Emanuele Filiberto Testa di Ferro".

The regiment was quickly overcome and disbanded by the invading Germans, while the regiment's depot in Rome organized an ad hoc battle group under command of Captain Franco Vannetti Donnini, which, together with troops from the 12th Infantry Division "Sassari", 21st Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna", 135th Armored Cavalry Division "Ariete", and Regiment "Lancieri di Montebello" (8th) defended Rome against German forces.

On 10 September the Italian troops and hundreds of civilian volunteers were forced to fall back to Porta San Paolo for a last stand.

Soon afterwards the remaining units surrendered to the Germans as the flight of the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III from Rome made further resistance senseless.

[8] During the war the regiment's depot in Rome formed the:[5] In November 1941 the IV Machine Gunners Group "Genova Cavalleria" was attached to the German Afrika-Division z. b. V. in North Africa, with which it fought in the Western Desert Campaign.

In January 1945, the XXVII Group "Genova Cavalleria" was attached to the British Eighth Army's 56th Area Command in Siena.

The same year the regiment provided a mixed squadron for the security corps of the Trust Territory of Somaliland, which was under Italian administration.