My knowledge of the organizational history of the British Army has been gleaned by diligent study of movies, Upstairs Downstairs, and bagpipe album jackets…so help me clear up some fuzziness.
It seems like there’s a strong regional component to how army units are named: like Welsh Fusiliers, or Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.
And I also get the impression that, in times past, officers all came from the landed gentry class, while commoners & poor folk in general were stuck as enlisted men.
And, while there’s a Royal Navy, a Royal Air Force, and Royal Marines…I don’t believe the army is designated the “Royal” Army. Correct?
If there’s any grain of truth in this, I also have a theory to explain it: that it comes from England’s feudal past. That when an army was needed, the local barons and dukes rounded up their serfs and went to war on behalf of the king.
So if this is true, when did it change? (assuming it did) Was there a single act of parliament that created a unified, national and merit-based army?
The first professional army was the New Model Army, but, with a few exceptions, that was disbanded with the Restoration. Then in 1661, Charles II attempted to create his own professional army, founding, among other regiments, the Royal Scots (which existed until 2006, when it merged with the King’s Own Scottish Borderers).
The sale of commissions was outlawed in 1868, with the Army Reform Bill. This was part of the “Cardwell reforms”, so if you want to pick that as the event that created the modern army, you can do that too. Or, you can give that credit to the Childers reform, which reformed army structure and the regimental system. Or, the Haldane reforms, which created the BEF and created an air batallion that would eventually become the RAF.
Thanks, Captain. I did a quick Wiki search, and it’s interesting that one of the Cardwell reforms was to move in the opposite direction that I envisioned: it put in place the regiment-county link.
Not entirely true: commissions were purchased. Anyone with the money could buy a commission. But those of the landed classes tended to be those who could afford it. Or rather, their families. Because the first son inherited the estate and it was the second son who went into the military or the church: the family purchased the initial commission, and maybe further ones (q.v. Wellington), but it was generally up to the man to make the most of his start. Look at Lieutenants Chard and Bromhead, both stuck at a lowly rank for many years.