The Volunteer Corps was a British voluntary part-time organization for the purpose of home defence in the event of invasion, during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
The Volunteer Corps was a British voluntary part-time organization for the purpose of home defence in the event of invasion, during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
At the start of the War of the First Coalition, the Secretary of State for War, Henry Dundas, began to receive "a great number of Letters", from people living in coastal areas, requesting arms and equipment so that they could defend their localities against any French incursions. The government firmly rejected proposals from Kent and Chichester to form "military associations" but similar bodies were formed in Brighton, Rye, Lindfield and Penzance without any official sanction. [1] Dundas had also received more practical proposals for volunteer forces from the Marquess of Buckingham, Arthur Young and General Sir William Erskine. [2] All this led Dundas together with Lord Amherst, to formulate plans for volunteer forces, which were sent to the king for approval in February 1794. On 14 March, the "Plan of Augmentation for the Forces for Internal Defence" were circulated to the lords lieutenant, who would have a central role in creating the new forces. William Pitt the Younger's government ensured the passage of the Volunteer Act 1794 through Parliament in the same month. [3]
The lords lieutenant were tasked with organising committees and obtaining subscriptions from wealthy donors, to raise and support the Volunteers. Local companies or "corps" of Volunteers fulfilled three roles; to man coastal artillery batteries, to augment the regular Militia in the infantry role, and to form cavalry troops, which were called Yeomanry. [4]
The government became concerned that there were too few Volunteer or Yeomanry Cavalry and passed the Provisional Cavalry Act 1796. This act established the Provisional Cavalry, a force liable for service anywhere in the country. The members of these units were recruited by requiring one man to be provided for service by each man who owned ten or more horses (those who owned fewer horses were collected into groups which were each required to provide one man). [5] Later in 1797 an amendment was passed by parliament which removed the requirement to raise a Provisional Cavalry unit in counties where the Yeomanry already amounted to 75% of the strength required by the Provisional Cavalry Act. This proved to be the case in the majority of counties owing to the strength of the Yeomanry which was a more popular option for the country gentry. [6]
Initially recruitment was slow but the invasion of Belgium and the 1794 Treason Trials caused an increase in volunteers. Further recruits were brought in by Pitt's appeal for volunteers in 1798, which came as Britain was facing the loss of Europe, failed peace negotiations, manpower shortages in the army, financial problems and potential rebellion in Ireland. [7] At its height more than 300,000 men were members of the Corps and other volunteer units, a number matched by the regular army and militia only at the very end of the Napoleonic Wars. The success of the volunteer corps partly enabled Britain to avoid the costly and unpopular measure of mass conscription. [8]
The Volunteer Corps typically drew its members from the propertied classes. Officers were usually members of the gentry (though some junior officers were members of the professional or middle classes) and the enlisted ranks tended to be from the lower middle classes (for example shopkeepers and publicans). [9] The failed Expédition d'Irlande of 1796 and invasion at Fishguard caused the expansion of the corps, including the formation of workplace units such as the 863-strong Cyfarthfa Ironworks unit in South Wales, in which the enlisted ranks were filled by the workmen and the officers were drawn from the clerks and foremen. Such units, made up of working-class men, became more common in the late 1790s and early 1800s due to the increased fear of invasion. [10] Indeed, there was at least one case of de facto conscription, in which a factory-owner decreed that all his workers must join the corps or else be sacked. [11]
The Volunteer Corps were occasionally used to keep the peace in Britain but proved unreliable. One unit in Wolverhampton refused to act against food rioters and several volunteers in Devon actually led riots directed at farmers and millers in the winter of 1800–01. [12]
The infantry volunteers (but not the Yeomanry or artillery) were disbanded at the Peace of Amiens in 1802, but reformed the following year when Napoleon's planned invasion became a serious threat. [13] By the end of 1803, more than 340,000 had enrolled, far more than Henry Addington's government had planned for, and there were initially insufficient weapons and equipment for them. William Pitt, then in opposition, became the colonel of the Volunteer Corps at Walmer despite his frail health. [14] The Volunteer Act and Provisional Cavalry Act were allowed to lapse by the government in 1806. [15] They were disbanded again during 1813, except for the Yeomanry who were retained in case of civil insurrection. [4]
The Leicestershire Yeomanry (Prince Albert's Own) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the Second Boer War and the First World War and provided two field artillery regiments of the Royal Artillery in the Second World War, before being amalgamated with the Derbyshire Yeomanry to form the Leicestershire and Derbyshire (Prince Albert's Own) Yeomanry in 1957. The regiment's lineage is currently perpetuated by E (Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry) Squadron of the Royal Yeomanry.
The Berkshire Yeomanry was a part time regiment of the British Army formed in 1794 to counter the threat of invasion during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was the Royal County of Berkshire's senior volunteer unit with over 200 years of voluntary military service. After taking part in the Second Boer War, it saw action as mounted troops in the First World War and as artillery in the Second World War. Its lineage is maintained by 94 Signal Squadron, part of 39 (Skinners) Signal Regiment. The Headquarters of the Squadron is based in Windsor, Berkshire. The Berkshire Yeomanry had a number of battle honours won from Europe to the Far East and Private Frederick Potts was awarded a Victoria Cross for service during the Gallipoli Campaign.
The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry (FFY) was an Armoured Yeomanry Regiment of the British Army formed in 1793. It saw action in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. It amalgamated with the Scottish Horse to form the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse in 1956. The lineage is maintained by "C" Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse Squadron of The Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry based in Cupar in Fife.
The North Somerset Yeomanry was a part-time cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1798 to 1967. It maintained order in Somerset in the days before organised police forces, and supplied volunteers to fight in the Second Boer War. It served on the Western Front in the First World War. At the outbreak of the Second World War, it continued to operate in the mounted role and then as a specialist signals unit. Postwar it joined the Royal Armoured Corps and later became infantry. Its lineage today is maintained by 93 Squadron 39 (Skinners) Signal Regiment.
The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1794, it participated in the Second Boer War and World War I as horsed cavalry before being converted to an anti-tank regiment of the Royal Artillery for service in World War II. In 1956 it was amalgamated with the Warwickshire Yeomanry to form the Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry. The lineage is maintained by B Squadron, part of The Royal Yeomanry.
The Duke of York's Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. Originally formed as a volunteer cavalry force in 1793, it fought in the Second Boer war as part of the Imperial Yeomanry. In the World War I the regiment fought at Gallipoli, in Palestine and on the Western Front. The unit was subsequently converted into a Royal Artillery unit, serving in the anti-tank role North Africa, Italy and France during World War II. The lineage is maintained by No. 677 Squadron AAC.
The Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1794 to 1956. It was formed as a volunteer cavalry force in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Its volunteer companies played an active role with the Imperial Yeomanry in the Second Boer War, but opportunities for mounted action were much more restricted during the First World War and it was temporarily converted into a cycle unit. It remained a cavalry regiment throughout the interwar years, and was the last horsed unit of the British Army to see action, in the Syria–Lebanon Campaign of 1941, finally mechanising the following year. It served as motorised infantry in the North African and Italian campaigns of the Second World War. In 1956, it merged with the Yorkshire Hussars and the East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry to form the Queen's Own Yorkshire Yeomanry. Its lineage is continued today by A Squadron, the Queen's Own Yeomanry.
The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army formed in 1902. Units of Yeomanry Cavalry were raised in the East Riding of Yorkshire in the 18th and early 19th centuries at times of national emergency: the Jacobite Rising of 1745, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. These were stood down once each emergency was over. The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry, was established in 1902, and this saw action during the First World War both in the mounted role and as machine gunners.
The Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry is an Operational Hygiene Squadron of the Royal Logistic Corps, originally formed as cavalry in 1794, and has also served in artillery and signals roles. The lineage is continued by 710 Operational Hygiene Squadron, Royal Logistic Corps.
The Lincolnshire Yeomanry was a volunteer cavalry unit of the British Army formed in 1794. It saw action in the Second Boer War and the First World War before being disbanded in 1920.
The Hampshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry cavalry regiment formed by amalgamating older units raised between 1794 and 1803 during the French Revolutionary Wars. It served in a mounted role in the Second Boer War and World War I, and in the air defence role during and after World War II. The lineage is continued by 295 Battery and 457 Battery, batteries of 106 (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery, part of the Army Reserve.
The Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry was a British Army regiment formed in 1794. It served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. It amalgamated with the Royal East Kent Yeomanry to form the Kent Yeomanry in 1920.
The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1794 as volunteer cavalry. It served in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War before being reduced to squadron level in 1956. It ceased to have a separate existence in 1971.
The Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army that can trace their formation back to 1796. It saw action in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. It amalgamated with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry and the 1st/2nd Lothians and Border Horse to form the Queen's Own Lowland Yeomanry in 1956. Its lineage was revived by B Squadron, the Scottish Yeomanry in 1992 until that unit was disbanded in 1999.
The British Militia was the principal military reserve force of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Militia units were repeatedly raised in Great Britain during the Georgian era for internal security duties and to defend against external invasions. The Militia Act 1757, passed by the Parliament of Great Britain after the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, led to the rapid expansion of the British Militia in order to defend from potential French invasions. In the Kingdom of Ireland, a client state of Great Britain, the equivalent force was the Irish Militia, which saw heavy service in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 alongside British militia units. The existence of militia units in Great Britain and Ireland played an important role in freeing regular troops from the British and Irish establishments for overseas service.
The Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1794, it participated in the Second Boer War and the First World War before being amalgamated with the Royal North Devon Yeomanry in 1920 to form the Royal Devon Yeomanry.
The Militia and Volunteers of County Durham are those military units raised in the County independent of the regular Army. The "modern" militia dates from legislation enacted during the Seven Years' War. The volunteers had several forms and separate periods of existence until made a permanent body in 1859.
The Provisional Cavalry was a force levied in Great Britain from 1796 for home defence and organised at the county level. The unit was raised by an Act of Parliament instigated by the Secretary of State for War Henry Dundas who thought light cavalry would be particularly effective against any invading force. It was filled by means of an obligation from Britain's horse owners, who had to provide one trooper for every ten horses owned – a method which drew comparisons to the feudal system. Each county had a quota of cavalrymen that it was expected to provide. The act was unpopular and the number and quality of recruits was low.
The Windsor Foresters, or more formally the Berkshire Fencible Cavalry, was a British regiment of cavalry raised for home defence in 1794. It served in Lincolnshire and Scotland on coastal defence and anti-smuggling duties until 1800. A second regiment, the Berkshire Provisional Cavalry was converted into fencible cavalry in 1799. Both regiments were disbanded in 1800, when a number of members transferred to a new Yeomanry Cavalry Troop at Wargrave.