The Napoleonic ‘Dad’s Army’  
The British Volunteer Movement, 1794-1814
Author(s): Paul L Dawson
Published by Pen and Sword
Publication Date:  Available in all formats
ISBN: 9781399037747
Pages: 0

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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.
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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.
Table of contents
  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • Contents
  • Dedication
  • 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
    • 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
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