Brontekst bekijken van Volunteer Force

{{Short description|Former citizen army of the British Empire}}
{{Other uses|Volunteer force (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2022}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=July 2011}}
[[File:Exeter_&_South_Devon_Volunteer_Rifle_Corps,_1852.jpg|thumb|right|Officer of the Exeter & South Devon Volunteers in 1852]]

The '''Volunteer Force''' was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a [[Social movement|popular movement]] throughout the [[British Empire]] in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the [[British Army]] after the [[Childers Reforms]] in 1881, before forming part of the [[Territorial Force]] in 1908. Most of the regiments of the present [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Army Reserves ]] [[Infantry of the British Army|Infantry]], [[Royal Artillery|Artillery]], [[Royal Engineers|Engineers]] and [[Royal Corps of Signals|Signals]] units are directly descended from Volunteer Force units.

==The British Army following the Crimean War==
Prior to the [[Crimean War]], the British military (i.e., ''land forces'') was made up of multiple separate forces, with a basic division into the ''Regular Forces'' (including the [[British Army]], composed primarily of cavalry and infantry, and the ''Ordnance Military Corps'' of the [[Board of Ordnance]], made up of the [[Royal Artillery]], [[Royal Engineers]], and the [[Royal Sappers and Miners]] though not including the originally civilian [[Commissariat#19th century|Commissariat Department]], stores and supply departments, all of which, with barracks and other departments, were absorbed into the British Army when the Board of Ordnance was abolished in 1855).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/units/3224/department-of-the-master-general-of-the-ordnance|title=Department of the Master-General of the Ordnance – Regiment History, War & Military Records & Archives|website=forces-war-records.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.navalhistoryarchive.org/index.php/Board_of_Ordnance|title=Board of Ordnance – Naval History Archive|website=navalhistoryarchive.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44220102|title=THE HONORABLE THE BOARD OF ORDNANCE. 1299—1855|author=Leslie, J. H.|year=1925|journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research|volume=4|issue=17|pages=100–104|jstor=44220102|via=JSTOR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1917/feb/12/naval-and-military-pensions-and-grants|date=12 February 1917|title=NAVAL AND MILITARY PENSIONS AND GRANTS.  |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]}}</ref> and the ''Reserve Forces''. After the 1855 consolidation of the Regular Forces (ignoring minor forces such as the [[Yeomen Warders]] and the [[Yeomen of the Guard]]) into the ''Regular Force'' (i.e., the ''British Army''), there still remained a number of British military (not to be confused with ''naval'') forces that were not part of the British Army; specifically the part-time ''Reserve Forces'', which had at various times included the [[Honourable Artillery Company]], [[Militia (Great Britain)|Militia Force]] (also referred to as the ''Constitutional Force'', and originally an infantry force),<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1852/apr/23/militia-bill MILITIA BILL. (Hansard, 23 April 1852)] ''MILITIA BILL. House of Commons Debate 23 April 1852. Volume 120 cc1035-109. British Parliament website]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1855/may/04/the-militia|date=4 May 1855|title=THE MILITIA.  |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1856/jul/11/the-militia-question|date=11 July 1856|title=THE MILITIA—QUESTION.  |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1878/jun/13/army-auxiliary-forces-the-militia|date=13 June 1878|title=ARMY—AUXILIARY FORCES—THE MILITIA.—OBSERVATIONS.  |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]}}</ref> the [[Yeomanry]] Force (made up of mounted units, organised similarly to the Volunteer Force),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/civilian-soldiers |title=Civilian soldiers |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=National Army Museum |access-date=9 September 2021 |quote=The yeomanry, a mounted force drawn from the upper classes, was created at the peak of the fear of French invasion and used extensively in support of the civil authority to put down riots and disturbances.}}</ref> ''Volunteer Force'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/civilian-soldiers |title=Civilian soldiers |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=National Army Museum |access-date=9 September 2021 |quote=Troop shortages and patriotic zest during the imperial crises and expansion of the British Empire in the second half of the 19th century prompted the creation of other volunteer and yeomanry units, such as the Volunteer Force, with a far less distinct role, as well as the permanent embodiment of the militia in vulnerable British towns.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The British Volunteer System |journal=The North American Review|author=Rt. Hon Earl Brownlow|author-link=Adelbert Brownlow-Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow|page=745 |date=1 May 1900}}</ref> and [[Fencibles]]. Equivalents were also raised in the [[Crown Dependencies]] and many colonies.  Known collectively as the ''Reserve Forces'', most of these had been allowed to lapse after the Napoleonic Wars, although the Yeomanry was maintained to potentially support the civil authorities against civil unrest, as at the 1819 [[Peterloo massacre]], the Militia remained as a [[paper tiger]], and rifle clubs were encouraged as the backbone against which the Volunteer force might be re-raised. The Militia and Volunteer Force were both re-organised in the 1850s. These forces were originally local-service, embodied during wartime or emergency, and placed under the control of [[Lord-Lieutenant|Lords-Lieutenant]] of counties, and, in [[British Overseas Territories|British colonies]], under the [[Governor#United Kingdom overseas territories|colonial governors]]. After the British Army's [[Regular Reserve (United Kingdom)|Regular Reserve]] was created in 1859, by [[Secretary of State for War]] [[Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea|Sidney Herbert]], and re-organised under the [[Reserve Force Act 1867]], the Reserve forces, to avoid confusion, were generally known as the ''Auxiliary Forces'' or ''Local Forces''. The [[Regulation of the Forces Act 1871]]<ref>Regulation of the Forces Act 1871 (1871 c.86) section 6</ref> removed the Lord-Lieutenant as head of the county reserve forces and they were increasingly integrated with the British Army.<ref>{{cite news |title=Barry Dodd – Obituary |editor-last=Witherow|editor-first=John|work=The Times |issue=72556 |date=8 June 2018 |page=54|issn=0140-0460}}</ref>

A large number of [[British Volunteer Corps|Volunteer Corps]] were formed during the [[French Revolutionary War]] but were stood down afterwards. Following the [[Crimean War]], it was painfully clear to the [[War Office]] that, with half of the British Army dispositioned around the Empire on garrison duty, it had insufficient forces available to quickly compose and despatch an effective expeditionary force to a new area of conflict, unless it was to reduce the British Isles' own defences. During the [[Crimean War]], the War Office had been forced to send [[Militia (United Kingdom)|militia]] and [[yeomanry]] to make up the shortfall of soldiers in the [[Standing army|Regular Army]]. The situation had been complicated by the fact that both auxiliary forces were under the control of the [[Home Office]] until 1855.<ref name=brownlow>{{cite web|title=The British Volunteer System|url=http://www.researchpress.co.uk/volunteers/volsystem190005nar.htm|work=North American Review|access-date=6 December 2012|author=Rt. Hon Earl Brownlow|author-link=Adelbert Brownlow-Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow|date=May 1900}}</ref>

Tensions rose between the United Kingdom and France following the [[Orsini affair]], an assassination attempt on [[Napoleon III of France|Emperor Napoleon III]] on 14 January 1858. It emerged that the would-be assassin, [[Felice Orsini]] had travelled to England to have the [[Orsini bomb|bombs]] used in the attack manufactured in [[Birmingham]].<ref name=brownlow /> The perceived threat of invasion by the much larger [[French Army]] was such that, even without sending a third of the army to another Crimea, Britain's military defences had already been stretched invitingly thin. On 29 April 1859 [[Austro-Sardinian War|war]] broke out between France and the [[Austrian Empire]] (the [[Second Italian War of Independence]]), and there were fears that Britain might be caught up in a wider European conflict.<ref name=Grierson>{{cite book|last=Grierson|first=James Moncrieff|title=Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859–1908|year=1909|publisher=W Blackwood|location=[[Edinburgh]]|pages=3–11|url=https://archive.org/stream/recordsofscottis00grieuoft#page/2/mode/2up|author-link=James Grierson (British Army officer)}}</ref>

==Creation of the Volunteer Force==
On 12 May 1859, the [[Secretary of State for War]], [[Jonathan Peel]] issued a circular letter to [[Lord-lieutenant|lieutenants of counties]] in England, Wales and Scotland, authorising the formation of volunteer rifle corps (VRC, a.k.a. corps of rifle volunteers and rifle volunteer corps), and of artillery corps in defended coastal towns.<ref>War Office Circular, 12 May 1859, published in ''The Times'', 13 May.</ref> Volunteer corps were to be raised under the provisions of the [[Volunteer Act 1804]] ([[44 Geo. 3]]. c. 54),<ref>{{cite book|last=Fortescue|first=John|author-link=John Fortescue (military historian)|title=The county lieutenancies and the army, 1803–1814|url=https://archive.org/stream/countylieutenanc00fortiala#page/134/mode/2up|year=1909|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|MacMillan and Co.]]|location=London|page=135}}</ref> which had been used to form local defence forces during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref name=Grierson /> [[Alfred Tennyson]] captured the spirit of the time by publishing his poem ''Riflemen Form'' in ''[[The Times]]'' on 9 May 1859.<ref name=Grierson /> As a basis for the units, many communities had [[National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom|rifle clubs]] for the enjoyment of the sport of shooting.
* Corps were only to be formed on the recommendation of the county's lord-lieutenant.
* Officers were to hold their commissions from the lord-lieutenant
* Members of the corps were to swear an oath of allegiance before a [[justice of the peace]], deputy lieutenant or commissioned officer of the corps.
* The force was liable to be called out "in case of actual invasion, or of appearance of an enemy in force on the coast, or in case of rebellion arising in either of these emergencies."
* While under arms volunteers were subject to military law and were entitled to be billeted and to receive regular army pay.
* Members were not permitted to quit the force during actual military service, and at other times had to give fourteen days notice before being permitted to leave the corps.
* Members were to be returned as "effective" if they had attended eight days drill and exercise in four months, or 24 days within a year.
* The members of the corps were to provide their own arms and equipment, and were to defray all costs except when assembled for actual service.
* Volunteers were also permitted to choose the design of their uniforms, subject to the lord-lieutenant's approval.
* Although volunteers were to pay for their own firearms, they were to be provided under the superintendence of the War Office, so as to ensure uniformity of gauge.
* The number of officers and private men in each county and corps was to be settled by the War Office, based on the lord-lieutenant's recommendation.

Originally corps were to consist of approximately 100 all ranks under the command of a captain, with some localities having subdivisions of thirty men under a lieutenant. The purpose of the rifle corps was to harass the invading enemy's flanks, while artillery corps were to man coastal guns and forts.<ref name=Grierson /> Although not mentioned in the circular letter, engineer corps were also formed, principally to place [[Naval mine|underwater mines]] for port defence.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part11.htm |title=Militia, Volunteers and Territorials (Royal Engineers Museum) |access-date=10 June 2007 |archive-date=30 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030000532/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part11.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Stretcher-bearers attached to the rifle corps subsequently formed volunteer medical detachments affiliated to the [[Royal Army Medical Corps|Army Medical Corps]]. In a handful of counties, units of [[light cavalry|light horse]] or [[mounted rifles]] were formed.

Two volunteer units whose services had been accepted by [[Queen Victoria]] during the early 1850s became the two senior rifle corps of the new force. These were the [[Exeter and South Devon Volunteers]], formed in 1852, who became the 1st Devonshire Rifle Volunteers (and were often referred to as the 1st Rifle Volunteer Corps), and the [[Queen Victoria's Rifles|Victoria Rifles]] (descended from the [[Duke of Cumberland's Sharpshooters]], formed in 1803) who became the 1st Middlesex Rifle Volunteers. An order of precedence was established for ninety-two other counties, depending upon the date of establishment of the first corps in the county.

The most senior artillery corps was the 1st Northumberland formed at Tynemouth on 2 August 1859.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.tvaa.org.uk/history.htm |title=Tynemouth Volunteer Artillery History (Tynemouth Volunteer Artillery Association) |publisher=tvaa.org.uk}}</ref>

Initially, there were attempts at class distinction with the middle class seeing the formation of rifle units as a contrast with the strict class divide between the officers of the [[gentry]] and the other ranks of the working class and farm labourers of the [[Militia (United Kingdom)|militia]] and the standing army. Some also compared the initiative, small unit tactics and [[marksmanship]] principles of [[rifleman#United Kingdom|rifle regiments]] of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] compared with the linear tactics of the standing army.  Many units initially favoured green and grey (colours until then used by British and German rifle units in the army) rifleman uniforms as opposed to the [[Red coat (British army)|red coats]] of the infantry and engineers of the army and militia. In turn, the army was glad not to have amateur volunteers wear the scarlet of the [[Standing army|regulars]].<ref>Wyatt (1974) pp.39–46</ref> The provisions of the volunteers having to purchase their own rifles and uniforms was felt by some to exclude the lower classes.<ref name=cunningham>{{cite book|last=Cunningham|first=Hugh|title=The Volunteer Force: A Social and Political History, 1859–1908|year=1975|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780856642579|pages=22–25}}</ref>

Unlike regular rifle regiments, the volunteer units had [[Colours, standards and guidons|colours]] often made and presented by the women of the community.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sumner|first=Ian|title=British Colours & Standards 1747–1881 (2) Infantry|year=2001|publisher=Osprey Publishing|location=[[Oxford]]|isbn=1841762016|page=63}}</ref> These were unauthorised, however, with the ''Volunteer Regulations'' stating "Neither Standards nor Colours are to be carried by Corps on parade, as the Volunteer Force is composed of Arms to which their use is not appropriate".<ref>{{cite book|last=Edwards|first=T J|title=Standards, colours and Guidons of the Commonwealth Forces|year=1953|publisher=[[Gale & Polden]]|pages=133–134}}</ref>

==Consolidation==
[[File:Ranelagh.jpg|thumb|[[Thomas Heron Jones, 7th Viscount Ranelagh]] leading the Volunteer gathering in Brighton, 1863, depicted in the [[Illustrated London News]]]]The large number of small independent corps proved difficult to administer, and, by 1861, most had been formed into battalion-sized units, either by "consolidation": increasing an existing corps to battalion size (usually in large urban areas), or by forming administrative battalions or brigades by the grouping of smaller corps (in rural areas). An official book of drill and rifle instructions for the Corps of Rifle Volunteers and volunteer regulations were published in 1859 and 1861 respectively.<ref name=brownlow /><ref name=Grierson />

==Cadet Corps==

From 1860 Cadet Corps were also formed, consisting of school-age boys, which were the forerunners of the [[Army Cadet Force]] and [[Combined Cadet Force]]. Like the adult volunteers, the boys were supplied with arms by the War Office, for which they had to pay a fee, which reduced the longer they remained members. Cadet Corps were usually associated with private schools. They paraded regularly in public.<ref>Giles Hudson, "Shots of Shots: Photographs of the Oxford Volunteer Rifle Corps", ''Matters Photographical'' (1 Dec 2012)[http://mattersphotographical.wordpress.com]</ref>

==Royal Commission of 1862==
In 1862, a [[royal commission]] chaired by [[Charles Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Viscount Eversley|Viscount Eversley]] was appointed "to inquire into the condition of the volunteer force in Great Britain and into the probability of its continuance at its existing strength".

According to the report, as of 1 April 1862, the Volunteer Force had a strength of 162,681 consisting of:
* 662 light horse
* 24,363 artillery
* 2,904 engineers
* 656 mounted rifles
* 134,096 rifle volunteers, of whom 48,796 were in 86 consolidated battalions and 75,535 in 134 administrative battalions

Their report made a number of recommendations and observations on funding and training:
* The costs of setting up the volunteer corps had largely been met by public subscription and assistance from honorary members. However the uniforms and equipment were reaching the end of their lives, and the cost of replacement would have to be met by the volunteers themselves, which was likely to lead to many members leaving the force.
* In order to rectify this problem the commission proposed a government grant of 20 shillings per man (30 shillings in the case of artillery), but only on production of a certificate that he had satisfactorily attended a prescribed number of drills in the previous twelve months, had gone through a course of musketry or gunnery instruction, and was present at the annual inspection by a general officer. Grants were not to be made where, on inspection, the volunteer was clearly inefficient, or where his rifle had not been properly maintained.
* Corps that received the grant were to be entitled to spend it on headquarters, drill grounds and halls, transport, maintenance of arms, uniforms and accoutrements. Where the money was to be spent on uniforms, the material used was to be of sealed pattern, and the lord-lieutenant could compel all units of the same arm within the county to adopt a common uniform.
* The commission found that many of the drill instructors employed by the volunteer corps were of poor quality, and recommended the establishment of school of drill instructors. They also suggested that wherever possible volunteers should be united with troops of the line for exercise and instruction <ref>Report of the Royal Commission upon the Volunteer Force  ([3053] HC (1862) xxvii, 89)</ref>

==Volunteer Act 1863==
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Volunteer Act 1863
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An act to consolidate and amend the Acts relating to the Volunteer Force in Great Britain.
| year                  = 1863
| citation              = [[26 & 27 Vict.]] c. 65
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = {{ubli|England and Wales|Scotland}}
| royal_assent          = 21 July 1863
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://archive.org/details/statutesunitedk37britgoog/page/255/mode/1up?view=theater
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = 
}}

To carry into effect the recommendations of the commission, and to replace the 1804 legislation, the '''Volunteer Act 1863''' ([[26 & 27 Vict.]] c. 65) was passed.<ref>Volunteer Act 1863 ([[26 & 27 Vict.]] c. 65)</ref>

Part I of the Act dealt with the organisation of the Volunteer Force. It became lawful for "Her Majesty to accept the services of persons desiring to be formed under the Act into a Volunteer Corps, and offering their services to Her Majesty through the Lieutenant of a County". On acceptance, the corps would be deemed lawfully formed. Existing corps were to continue under the new Act, although the power was given to the Crown to disband any corps. The constitution of a permanent staff consisting of an adjutant and serjeant instructors was permitted for each corps. The grouping of two or more corps into administrative regiments was recognised, and a permanent staff could be provided for the grouping. However the individual corps were to continue to exist. As in the earlier legislation, a volunteer could resign with fourteen days notice, with the addition that if a commanding officer refused to remove a volunteer from the roll of the corps, then he could appeal to two justices of the peace of the county. An annual inspection by an officer of the regular army was instituted, and efficiency standards were to be set by [[Order in Council]], as were regulations for governing the Force. The lord-lieutenant of a county, or the commanding officer of a corps or administrative regiment was empowered to appoint a court of inquiry into any corps, officer, non-commissioned officer or volunteer.

Part II of the Act dealt with "Actual Military Service". The terms for calling out of the force were altered: this would now happen in "the case of actual or apprehended invasion of any part of the United Kingdom (the occasion being first communicated to both Houses of Parliament if parliament is sitting, or declared in council and notified by proclamation if parliament is not sitting.)" As well as being entitled to pay and billets, relief was also to be given to the wives and families of volunteers. A bounty of one guinea was to be paid to volunteers on release from actual military service, such release being notified in order by writing by the lord-lieutenant. If disabled on service, officers and volunteers were to receive a pension.

Part III dealt with discipline and part IV with the rules and property of the corps.

Part V dealt with the process of acquiring land for shooting ranges. Apart from the corps taking ownership of the land, a municipal corporation or private company could grant a licence to the volunteers to use their land for the purpose. Justices of the peace were given the power to close rights of way adjacent to ranges.

The Act concluded by defining the counties to which the corps were to belong: for the purposes of the Act the [[Isle of Wight]], the [[Tower division|Tower Hamlets]] and the [[Cinque Ports]] were separate counties, with the Governor of the Isle of Wight, the Constable of the Tower of London and the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports commissioning officers in place of the lord-lieutenant. The [[Isle of Man]] was also to dealt with as if it were a county of England, with the [[Governor of the Isle of Man|Lieutenant-Governor]] performing the same role as a county lord-lieutenant.

==Integration==
In 1872, under the provisions of the [[Regulation of the Forces Act 1871]], jurisdiction over the volunteers was removed from the county lord-lieutenants and placed under the [[Secretary of State for War]]. Volunteer units became increasingly integrated with the Regular Army. This culminated in the [[Childers Reforms]] of 1881 which nominated rifle volunteer corps as volunteer battalions of the new "county" infantry regiments, which also consisted of regular and militia battalions within a defined regimental district. Over the next few years many of the rifle volunteer corps adopted the "volunteer battalion" designation and the uniform of their parent regiment. This was far from universal, however, with some corps retaining their original names and distinctive dress until 1908.<ref>Wyatt (1974) pp.45–49</ref>

The artillery volunteers were similarly remodelled as reserve formations of the [[Royal Artillery]], eventually being redesignated as Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers) in 1902, while the Engineer Volunteers became Royal Engineers (Volunteers).

==Second Boer War==
The volunteers finally saw active service during the [[Second Boer War]], when the prolonged campaign necessitated an increase in the size of British forces in South Africa. Volunteer Battalions formed Volunteer Active Service Companies that joined the regular battalions of their county regiments. Following the war, the [[battle honour]] "South Africa 1900–02" was awarded to the volunteer units that provided detachments for the campaign.

==The Territorial Force==
By 1907, when its civilian administration teetered on the brink of insolvency, the Volunteer Force had become indispensable to British defence planning, as well as an enabler of the Regular Army's drawing its own forces away from home defence stations. Consequently, the government passed the [[Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907]], which merged the Volunteer Force with the [[Yeomanry]] to form the [[Territorial Force]] in 1908 (while the [[Militia (United Kingdom)|Militia]] was re-organised as the Special Reserve, which provided a body of trained men available for drafting to regular battalions as required during wartime).  The total cost of the TF was to be met in future by central government. In addition to the introduction of terms of service for volunteers, most of the units lost their unique identities, becoming numbered territorial battalions of the local army regiment, albeit with distinctive badges or dress distinctions.

The 1907 act did not extend to the [[Isle of Man]], and consequently the [[Isle of Man Volunteers|7th (Isle of Man) Volunteer Battalion]] of [[The King's Regiment (Liverpool)|The King's (Liverpool Regiment)]] continued to serve as the only remaining unit of the Volunteer Force until disbandment in 1922. (1868–1922)

==Strength==
According to the ''Territorial Year Book 1909'', the Volunteer Force had the following strength over its existence:<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Volunteers |volume= 28 | pages = 208–209 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Establishment
! Strength
! Classed as efficient
|-
| 1861
|| 211,961
||161,239
||140,100
|-
|1870
||244,966
||193,893
||170,671
|-
|1880
||243,546
||206,537
||196,938
|-
|1885
||250,967
||224,012
||218,207
|-
|1890
||260,310
||212,048
||212,293
|-
|1895
||260,968
||231,704
||224,962
|-
|1899
||263,416
||229,854
||223,921
|-
|1900
||339,511
||277,628
||270,369
|-
|1901
|342,003
|288,476
|281,062
|-
|1902
||345,547
||268,550
||256,451
|-
|1903
||346,171
||253,281
||242,104
|-
|1904
||343,246
||253,909
||244,537
|-
|1905
||341,283
||249,611
||241,549
|-
|1906
||338,452
||255,854
||246,654
|-
|1907
||335,849
||252,791
||244,212
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|United Kingdom}}
* [[:Category:Units and formations of the Volunteer Force (Great Britain)]]
* [[:Category:Rifle Volunteer Corps of the British Army]]
* [[:Category:Artillery Volunteer Corps of the British Army]]
* [[:Category:Engineer Volunteer Corps of the British Army]]
* [[:Category:Mounted Rifle Volunteers of the British Army]]
* [[:Category:Volunteer Infantry Brigades of the British Army]]
* [[:Category:Volunteer Force officers]]
* [[British Volunteer Corps]] – ''1794–1803''
* [[1st Middlesex Volunteers]]
* [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)]]
* [[Militia (United Kingdom)]]
* [[Volunteer Training Corps (World War I)]]
* [[Home Service Force]]
* [[Honourable Artillery Company]]
* [[Post Office Rifles]]
* [[The Robin Hood Battalion|1st Nottinghamshire (Robin Hood) Volunteer Rifle Corps (VRC)]]
* [[Artists' Rifles]]
* [[The Liverpool Scottish]]
* [[Halifax Volunteer Battalion]], Nova Scotia
* [[Victoria Rifles (Nova Scotia)]]
* [[The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers)]]
* [[Cambridgeshire Regiment]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Beckett, I F W, 2007.  ''Riflemen Form:  A Study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement, 1859–1908'', Pen & Sword.  {{ISBN|1844156125}}
* Grierson, James Moncrieff, Lt Gen Gen, 1909.  ''Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force'', William Blackwood and Sons.
* {{cite book|last=Wyatt|first=Robert J|title=Collecting Volunteer Militaria|year=1974|publisher=[[David & Charles]]|location=[[Newton Abbot]]|isbn=0715362968}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060616071958/http://researchpress.co.uk/volunteers/index.htm Research Press: The Volunteer Force 1859-1908. Rifle Corps Histories.]
* [http://www.coghlan.co.uk/territorials.htm History, esp Inspector-General of Auxiliary Forces]
* [http://mattersphotographical.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/shots-of-shots-photographs-of-the-oxford-volunteer-rifle-corps/ Giles Hudson, "Shots of Shots: Photographs of the Oxford Volunteer Rifle Corps", ''Matters Photographical'']

[[Category:Military units and formations of the British Army| ]]
[[Category:History of the British Army]]
[[Category:1859 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1859]]
[[Category:Volunteer military formations of the United Kingdom]]