Rumanian Cavalry questions

[James A Pratt III]

It seems Tsar Nicholas II was apparently made a honoray Colonel of a Rosiori regiment in the Rumainian army pre WW I. The uniform has a red Hussar laced jacket. Does anyone know which regiment this is? Also are the Rosiori the Rumainian equivent of Hussars?
Did the Rumainians have a mounted Gendarmeri as a branch of the cavalry?
Thansk in advance.

[Victor]

It was the 5th Rosiori Regiment Imparatul Nicolae al II-lea. During WW2 it was a motorized cavalry regiment, but still held the name of the tsar. The men wore the monogram of the tsar on their epaulettes.

The Rosiori were the regular cavalry of the 19th century. They were initially more similar to uhlans than to hussars. The first row of the regiment was equipped with lances, while the rest were equipped with carbines.
The Calarasi were the territorial cavalry of the 19th century and acted more like hussars. However, by the 20th century the differences between the two types of units have mostly disappeared and the only differentiator was the name.
Below is a photo of a rosior lieutenant from the beginning of the 20th century. You can also find photos of brig. gen. Radu Korne in a typical rosior uniform here: http://www.worldwar2.ro/generali/?article=102

During the 19th century, there were also 2 mounted gendarmes squadrons, which acted mostly as princely/royal guards together with the two foot gendarmes companies. The mounted gendarmes squadrons eventually formed the Royal Horse Guards Regiment in 1908. The regiment was disbanded after King Mihai I was forced to abdicate in 1947. Nowadays there is only a small unit of mounted gendarmes, mostly used for parades than for crowd control.

[James A Pratt III]

Thanks Victor. I think seeing the monograf of Nicholas II probably raised more that a few Russian eyebrows when they saw it on the epeulettes of a Rumainian cavalry regiment espealicaly after the Rumainians switched sides and were fighting alongside the Red army.