BRITISH OTHER RANKS IN THE FRENCH REVOLOUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC WARS - PART TWO
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KING GEORGE’S OTHER RANKS – PART TWO One of the problems in the early days of the war with France was that the regular army was in direct competition for recruits with the Army of Reserve and its various types of units – the Militia, the Fencibles, the Volunteers and the Yeomanry. There were two types of militia. The Regular Militia, established by various Militia Acts of 1802, 1803 and 1808, was a conscript force based on counties composed of eligible males (aged eighteen to thirty and, theoretically at least, Protestant) selected by ballot. On payment of a fine ranging from £20 to £30, a man could find a substitute to do his service for him. The Regular Militia were full-time, could serve only in the United Kingdom and were intended to be a home defence force to allow regular troops to be sent abroad. Men served for five years, after which they were exempt until their turn came round again. The finding of substitutes was widespread and of the 26,085 men embodied in 1810, only 3,129 were those who had been drawn at the ballot; all the rest were substitutes. The Local Militia, originally founded in 1808 when there was an (unrealistic) fear of invasion, was a voluntary part-time force restricted to service within its own county, and whose members were required to carry out twenty-eight days’ military training a year. The Fencibles were part of the regular army, composed of full-time volunteers who tended to be either over age, recovering from wounds or otherwise ineligible for general service, but whose regiments were required to serve only within the United Kingdom. The Volunteers were exactly that: a part-time force established in 1808 and whose members were exempt from conscription into the Regular Militia. Although increasingly absorbed into the Local Militia, the Volunteers lingered on and eventually became the Territorial Force, the Territorial Army and, from 2013, the Army Reserve. The Yeomanry were part-time local cavalry, first raised during the invasion scare of the 1790s, and in most regiments of which members provided their own horses. It was generally officered by the landed gentry of the area and frequently used to restore law and order in an age when there was no properly organised police force.
BRITISH OTHER RANKS IN THE FRENCH REVOLOUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC WARS - PART TWO
BRITISH OTHER RANKS IN THE FRENCH…
BRITISH OTHER RANKS IN THE FRENCH REVOLOUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC WARS - PART TWO
KING GEORGE’S OTHER RANKS – PART TWO One of the problems in the early days of the war with France was that the regular army was in direct competition for recruits with the Army of Reserve and its various types of units – the Militia, the Fencibles, the Volunteers and the Yeomanry. There were two types of militia. The Regular Militia, established by various Militia Acts of 1802, 1803 and 1808, was a conscript force based on counties composed of eligible males (aged eighteen to thirty and, theoretically at least, Protestant) selected by ballot. On payment of a fine ranging from £20 to £30, a man could find a substitute to do his service for him. The Regular Militia were full-time, could serve only in the United Kingdom and were intended to be a home defence force to allow regular troops to be sent abroad. Men served for five years, after which they were exempt until their turn came round again. The finding of substitutes was widespread and of the 26,085 men embodied in 1810, only 3,129 were those who had been drawn at the ballot; all the rest were substitutes. The Local Militia, originally founded in 1808 when there was an (unrealistic) fear of invasion, was a voluntary part-time force restricted to service within its own county, and whose members were required to carry out twenty-eight days’ military training a year. The Fencibles were part of the regular army, composed of full-time volunteers who tended to be either over age, recovering from wounds or otherwise ineligible for general service, but whose regiments were required to serve only within the United Kingdom. The Volunteers were exactly that: a part-time force established in 1808 and whose members were exempt from conscription into the Regular Militia. Although increasingly absorbed into the Local Militia, the Volunteers lingered on and eventually became the Territorial Force, the Territorial Army and, from 2013, the Army Reserve. The Yeomanry were part-time local cavalry, first raised during the invasion scare of the 1790s, and in most regiments of which members provided their own horses. It was generally officered by the landed gentry of the area and frequently used to restore law and order in an age when there was no properly organised police force.