dragoon pistols pistols in use in the 1700-1800s that were single-shot flintlock technology, thus very slow to operate.
repeating carbines this is not entirely accurate. Buford's men were armed with breechloading rifles, which were an improvement over muskets. Breechloaders were loaded behind the barrel instead of down the muzzle as muskets were. While they were single-shot rifles, they were faster to fire and thus gave Buford's men the ability to hold off superior numbers of infantry. Buford did not, however, have repeaters, which could fire several shells before reloading was necessary.
Indian Wars from the time this country was first colonized by Europeans in the 1600s until the late 1890s, there were intermittent wars waged against various Indian tribes. The goals were either to eliminate them from an area the settlers wanted to colonize or, later on, to relocate them further west. Buford most likely grew up during the wars against tribes in Florida and the Southeast during the 1830s. As an adult, he saw action in some of the later Indian wars out West, before the Civil War.
corn dodger a small cake of cornmeal, baked or fried hard
Murat charge Joachim Murat was one of Napoleon's military commanders who was described as having little intelligence and no sense of strategy. His only ability to distinguish himself in battle was by leading dashing cavalry charges, but even there, his mistakes would sometimes almost cost Napoleon victory.
