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

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...