Napoleonic ‘Dad’s Army’: The British Volunteer Movement, 1794-1814

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Paul L Dawson

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (296 p.) ill

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, LLC 2024

Summary:

During the crisis year of 1792 when war against France was at its closest, a variety of societies and associations of 'Loyal Britons' were set up throughout Britain. Their aim was to organise patriotic, anti-French forces in defense of king and country, and to help maintain the established order.The need to provide an internal defense force resulted in the Volunteer Act of 1794. It witnessed the formation of hundreds of volunteer regiments on the upswell in loyalist sentiment following the disorder and instability witnessed across the Channel in Revolutionary France.By 1798, there were 118,000 volunteers but, faced with the possibility of a French invasion of Southern England, William Pitt's government aimed to expand this number substantially. By 1804 there were an astonishing 380,000 volunteers under arms and the various Corps made up half to one third of all the home service forces. When we add in those volunteers who agreed to serve overseas, as garrison troops in India for example, the number grows to approximately 800,000 - meaning that around one in every five adult males participated in military activities. This amazing groundswell of patriotic fervour has seldom been investigated before.Using diaries and archive sources, this book seeks to explore the 'Dad's Army' of the Napoleonic Wars. These men were far more than local bands of volunteers, they represented a militarisation of society not previously seen and which was repeated again when the world was thrown into war in the twentieth century.

Contents:

COVER

BOOK TITLE

COPYRIGHT

CONTENTS

LIST OF PLATES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

Chapter 1 DEFENDING THE NATION

Chapter 2 THE VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

Chapter 3 THE COUNTY YEOMANRY

Chapter 4 THE PROVISIONAL CAVALRY

Chapter 5 INVASION SCARE

Chapter 6 1798 ARMED ASSOCIATIONS

Chapter 7 ASSOCIATION CAVALRY

Chapter 8 1803: NEW FORMATIONS

Chapter 9 MEN, UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT

Chapter 10 OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN

Plates

Chapter 11 THE LOCAL MILITIA

Chapter 12 DEFENDING HEARTH AND HOME?

Chapter 13 CIVIC PRIDE

Chapter 14 VOLUNTEERS AND THE 'MORAL ECONOMY'

Chapter 15 CHURCH AND STATE

Chapter 16 LOYALISM AND DISSENT

Chapter 17 A PUBLIC NUISANCE?

Chapter 18 DEMOCRATIC SOLDIERS?

Chapter 19 CONCLUSION

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

BACK COVER.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781399037747

1399037749

OCLC:

1456764729