the officers from a lower one. The common levies of the first parliamentary armies were no match for the gentle men who gathered round the royal standard, till Cromwell leavened them with a different stamp of men, mainly drawn from "the yeomen and middle class, earnest resolute men, whose stern fanaticism was able to turn the scale against the headstrong valour of the Royalists. This class served largely in Cromwell s army, and gave a tone to the whole, while the pay was sufficiently high to make it a desirable profession for others besides the poorest. But with the officers it was otherwise. The noble and gentle families who commanded the king s armies remained faith ful to his cause, and Cromwell had to draw his officers from a class little above the men. Few will be found now to dis pute Cromwell s capacity as a general and ruler, nor the high qualities of the army by which he maintained his power at home, and spread England s prestige abroad. But such an army could not be maintained without great cost and hard ship to the people at large, and before Cromwell s death it
had produced deeper discontent than even Charles s exactions.
On the Restoration this army was disbanded. The king feared and distrusted it, for it was formed of his enemies, and officered by men who had approved his father s execution, and it had made itself hateful to the nation. The permanent forces of the Crown were reduced to the " garrisons and guards " maintained by the king from the revenue allotted to him for carrying on the government of the country. The " garrisons " were commissioned to special fortresses, the Tower of London, Portsmouth, &c. The "guards" comprised the sovereign s body guards (the "yeomen of the guard" and " gentlemen-at-arms," who had existed since the times of Henry VII. and VIII. ) ; Monk s regiment of foot (now the Coldstream Guards), alone retained of the disbanded army ; and two regiments of life guards and one of foot guards, raised principally from the cavaliers who had followed the king s fortunes. Even this small force, at first not exceeding 3000 men, was looked on with jealousy by Parliament, and every attempt to increase it was opposed. The acquisition of Tangiers and Bombay, as part of the dower of the Infanta of Portugal, led to the formation of a troop of horse (now the 1st Royal Dragoons) and a regiment of infantry (now the 2d or Queen s regiment), for the protection of the former ; and a regiment of infantry (afterwards transferred to the East India Company, and now the 103d, or Bombay Fusiliers), to hold the latter. These troops, not being stationed in the kingdom, created no distrust ; but when in 1670, on occa sion of the" Dutch war, 12,000 men were raised for the protection of the coasts, Parliament immediately petitioned that they should be disbanded as soon as peace was made. On several occasions during Charles s reign considerable armies were raised, but were mostly disbanded again when the occasion ceased. Several regiments, however, were added to the permanent force, including Dumbarton s regiment (the 1st or Royal Scots)[1] and the 3d Buffs ; and on Charles s death in 1685 the total force of "guards and garrisons" had risen to 16,500, of whom about one-half formed what we should now call the standing army.
James II. was more obstinate than his predecessor in his efforts to increase the army, and Monmouth s rebel lion afforded him the pretext. A force of about 20,000 men was maintained in England, and a large camp formed at Hounslow. Eight cavalry and twelve infantry regiments were raised, and given the numbers which, with few exceptions, they still bear. James even proposed to Parliament to disband the militia and further augment the standing army; and although the proposal was instantly rejected by the Commons, he continued to add to the army, and to billet, them on the country, in defiance of the remonstrances of Parliament, till the Revolution deprived him of his throne and put an end to the contest. The army which he had raised was to a great extent disbanded, the Irish soldiers especially, whom he had introduced in large num bers on account of their religion, being all sent home.
The condition of the army immediately engaged the attention of Parliament. The Bill of Rights had definitely established that " the raising or keeping of a standing army within the kingdom, unless it be by the consent of Par liament, is against the law," and past experience made them very jealous of such a force. But James was making efforts to recover his throne, and seeking aid from France ; Ireland and Scotland were disaffected, civil war was imminent, foreign war certain ; and William had only a few Dutch troops, and the remains of James s army, with which to meet the storm. Parliament therefore sanctioned a standing army, trusting to the checks established on the power of the Crown by the Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement, and by placing the pay of the army under the control of the Commons. An event soon showed the altered position of the army. A regiment which was favourably inclined to James, and had therefore been ordered abroad, mutinied, and marched north, declaring for James. It was surnninded and compelled to lay down its arms ; but William found himself without legal power to deal with the mutineers. He therefore applied to Parliament, .and iu 1689 was passed the first Mutiny Act, which, after repeat ing the provisions regarding the army inserted in the Bill of Rights, and declaring the illegality of martial law, gave power to the Crown to deal with the offences of mutiny and desertion by courts-martial. From this epoch dates the history of the standing army as a constitutional force. Under William the army was considerably augmented. The old" regiments of James s army were reorganised, re taining, however, their original numbers, and three of cavalry and eleven of infantry (numbered to the 28th) were added. In 1690 Parliament sanctioned a force of 62,000 men, further increased to 65,000 in 1691 ; but on peace being made in 1697 the Commons immediately passed resolutions to the effect that the land forces be reduced to 7000 men in England and 12,000 in Ireland. The war that quickly succeeded obliged Great Britain again to raise a large army, at one time exceeding 200,000 men ; but of these the greater number were foreign troops engaged for the Continental war. On the peace of Utrecht the force was again reduced to 8000 men in Great Britain and 1 1,000 in the plantations (i.e., colonies) and abroad. From that time to the present the strength of the army has been determined by the annual votes of Parliament, and though frequently the subject of warm debates in both houses, it has ceased to be a matter of dispute between the Crown and Parliament. The following table shows the fluctuations between that time and the present the peace years show ing the average peace strength, the war years the maximum to which the forces were raised:—
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PEACE. Year. Number. 1750 ... 18,857 1793 17,013 1822 71,790 1845 100,011 1857 156,995 1866 203,404 Year. WAR. Number. 1745 74,187 1761 67,776 1777 90,734 1812 245,996 1856 275,079 1858 222,874 Note. Prior to 1S56 the British forces serving in India are included.
- ↑ This regiment has the oldest history of any in the world. Originally the " Scottish Guard" of the kings of France, it was formed in the 9th century, and constantly recruited from Scotland. In 1625 it was sent to England to attend the coronation of Charles I., and revisited it later to fight against the parliamentary army. On the Restoration it came permanently to England, and was named the 1st Royal Regiment.
