Volunteer Force, 1859-1908

During the late 1850's there was growing apprehension as to the prospects of French invasion of Great Britain. Indeed, following the attempt on Napoleon III's life by Felice Orsini on 14 January 1858, some French officers actually called for an invasion when it was discovered that Orsini manufactured his bomb in England. Newspapers, particularly The Times, continued to fuel the debate as to the formation of a Volunteer Force for home defence.

On 12 May 1859 the Government issued a circular sanctioning the formation of Volunteer Corps. The date on which the first company of Volunteers was formed within a county determined the county precedence. In 1881 the British Army was reorganised into territorial regiments with regular, militia and volunteer battalions.

The initial immediate rush of Volunteering was not expected to last. However, measures to secure the long-term prospects for the Volunteers were put in place late in 1859 with the formation of the National Rifle Association (NRA), its aims including "the encouragement of Volunteer Rifle Corps and the promotion of rifle shooting throughout Great Britain." The NRA held their first rifle meeting on Wimbledon common in 1860 and with royal patronage and the daily papers and weekly-illustrated journals reporting widely on events, the 'Wimbledon fortnight' was marked for success. Local and regional rifle matches become commonplace and by the end of the decade of the 1860's Great Britain, with no prior tradition for rifle marksmanship, had thousands of trained riflemen.

Great Volunteer reviews before large crowds of spectators, and sometimes royalty, were held throughout the country where the men demonstrated their skill at drill and skirmishing.

The original arm of the Volunteers was the muzzle loading Enfield rifle. In September 1870 this was replaced by the Snider, a breech loading conversion of the Enfield. The adoption of the Martini-Henry breech loading rifle by the Volunteers was commenced in 1879 but not completed until 1885. The issue of the Lee-Metford magazine rifle was authorised in 1895.

In 1908 the Volunteer Force, which included rifle, artillery and engineer corps, merged with the Yeomanry to form the Territorial Force.

Rifle Volunteers

• The British Volunteer System - Written by Rt. Hon. Earl Brownlow, this article gives a brief history of the Volunteer Movement from its establishment to 1900.
• War Office, Pall Mall, May 12, 1859 - On 12 May 1859 the Government issued a circular sanctioning the formation of Volunteer Corps.
• County Precedence - Following the sanctioning by the Government of the formation of Volunteer Corps, on 12 May 1859, there was an immediate rush of volunteering. The date on which the first company in a county was formed determined County precedence.
• Territorial Regiments - In 1881 the British Army was reorganised into territorial regiments with regular, militia and volunteer battalions.

The Literature of The Volunteers of 1859

• A 4 part series.

The Volunteer Rifle and Marksmanship

• Arming The Volunteers - War Office Circulars, and later Volunteer Regulations, offset the cost of Volunteering by the Government issue of arms to the Volunteer Force.
• The Volunteer Rifle Dilemma - The dilemma of selecting a suitable rifle for a Volunteer Rifle Corps.
• Wimbledon & the Volunteers - From 1860 until 1889 the NRA held their annual rifle meeting on Wimbledon Common, with attendance in the thousands… and that was just the riflemen! So who were these riflemen and what were they doing at Wimbledon?
• Enfield Rifle Team Shooting: Bristol vs Staffordshire - Team shooting competitions in 1865 & 1866. Bristol gunmaker George Gibbs competed.