Introduction

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The idea of this project is to eventually cover all of the early British military buttons, including those of the Dragoons, Hussars and regular units that are either not covered elsewhere or which through recent and constant finds many more have been added. The categories can often be hard to tell apart but can generally be split down into one of the following.

 

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Infantry Militia 1757-1881

​It was towards the end of George II's reign on June 28, 1757 that the act was passed allowing reforms to the Militia in England and Wales. This meant that quotas for each county were set for the number of men they were to provide. Exact formation dates are virtually impossible to ascertain and equally troublesome are the units' names. The Militia Lists often don't concern themselves with such things as 'Royal' titles whilst other units clearly decided to use the honour without official authority all adding to making identifying new discoveries today even more difficult.

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In November 1796 with the threat of invasion the raising of a Supplementary Militia was sanctioned. In some counties these extra men were absorbed into existing units whilst in others new units were formed. By January 1800, some 23 of these Supplementary units had been disembodied. A further raising of Supplementary Militia took place in the summer of 1803 but these seven units were later disembodied in 1805.

 

The 1757 Act did not apply to Scotland and it was only in 1798 that the 1st to 10th Regiments of North British Militia were raised.  In 1802 the number of regiments increased to fifteen and country titles were adopted.  A Militia Act was passed in 1793 in Ireland to meet the threat of unrest in Ireland and the fear of invasion by French forces.  It resulted in the raising of the Irish militia which consisted of thirty eight infantry regiments.  The Channel Islands had a long history of maintaining a Militia.  At the time of the Napoleonic Wars, artillery and infantry Militia units were in existence.

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With the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 most units were quickly disembodied, although a 'permanent staff' was maintained by each regiment. In 1853 at the outbreak of the Crimean War 17 additional battalions were formed mainly in heavily populated areas which included some artillery units as well as the conversion of some existing infantry regiments to artillery. It was though the Stanley Committee recommendations, that were enacted in 1881, that spelled the end of the Militia as a separate force and the surviving units became numbered battalions of the regular line infantry.  

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​The Volunteers

​In March 1794 an Act was passed in response to the threat of invasion from France which called for the establishment of volunteer military formations. By the end of that year there were already 104 infantry corps.  Terms of service varied so, as well as volunteer infantry, there were volunteer artillery corps and armed associations.  These units were stood down following the Peace of Amiens in 1802.  The peace was short lived and the number of Volunteer Infantry units that erupted so dramatically in 1803 compared with those of 1794-1801.

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​The Local Militia of 1808

​The passing of the Local Militia Act (48 Geo III) was an attractive package for the rank and file with better pay and training but involving a four year commitment, which is why so many volunteer corps accepted the terms. It was not an enforcement; those units 'judged efficient' could continue as before, but without the better terms. Other units judged not to be efficient could either disband or continue serving 'without Government allowances'. The City of London, Middlesex and Westminster (the latter listed as a county in the 1804 and 1807 War Office Lists) chose to stay outside the Local Militia Act, and additionally there were no Local Militia regiments in Ireland.

The overall object was to ensure that the male population of this country would, on a rolling basis, be trained in the use of arms. This objective back-fired somewhat when in 1812 the out-going 'four year men' promptly opted to re-enlist!

When Napoleon abdicated in 1814 Parliament very quickly 'suspended training for the Local Militia'. This had to be issued again every year until 1836. As a result, activities certainly continued in some regiments and officers' coatees as late as the 1829 pattern are known. Hence 'closed back' pattern buttons of some local militias exist.

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The Yeomanry 1794 onwards​

Whilst the word 'Yeoman' hailed to a small farmer who owned his land, Yeomanry officers were drawn from the nobility or the landed gentry, and many of the men were the officers' tenants or had obligations or loyalties to the serving officers. These regiments, formed with the threat of invasion as a backdrop became known collectively as the Yeomanry, members of these units were not obliged to serve overseas without their consent. Some units chose to call themselves 'Volunteer Cavalry' but were nonetheless part of the Yeomanry movement.

 

Following the end of hostilities with France in 1816 the Yeomanry Regiments were used extensively in support of the civil authority to quell riots and civil disturbances. In 1828 the Whig government withdrew financial support for all but a few units leading to mass disbandments.

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The decision was reversed in 1830 with a backdrop of unrest in many agricultural communities and no rural police forces in existence. Gradually with the establishment of police forces the role for Yeomanry diminished and whilst some units continued many others disbanded. Of those that did survive they became Imperial Yeomanry by way of an Army Order in 1901 and 1908 they would be merged with the Volunteer Force to form the Territorial Force. It was through these amalgamations and development of the Territorial Forces into the Territorial Army, that many of the famous names of Yeomanry units still survive today particularly in the Royal Artillery and Territorial Army units.

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A separate force known as the Provisional Cavalry was formed in 1796 to augment the existing yeomanry corps. Totally independent of the yeomanry, it was raised on a county basis by a compulsory levy on horse owners. To escape the levy, the number of Yeomanry corps increased so that by 1798 there was sufficient for the Provisional Cavalry to be disbanded.

  

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The Rifle Volunteers 1859-1881

Fears of war with France once again raised the question of having volunteer units but this was not acted upon until 1859 when Lord Lieutenants were granted the right to raise units of volunteer rifles and artillery corps in maritime towns. There would be however no central financial support and all corps would need to provide their own equipment and arms.

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With great enthusiasm in these early days some 800 units were set up by 1860, often purchasing their equipment before official recognition had been given. In 1881 under the Stanley Committee recommendations, Rifle Volunteer units became numbered volunteer battalions of the regular infantry.

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The process was largely completed in the 1880's but some units did continue to keep their individual identities right up until the formation of the Territorial Force in 1908.

 

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Regular Regiments of Cavalry, Infantry and Corps​

​​The numbering of buttons for the Infantry and Cavalry regiments was promulgated in 1767 but only received the Royal Warrant in 1768. This was a new Regulation - there were no numbered buttons prior to this date. The King's, Queen's and Prince of Wales's Regiments of Dragoon Guards were the only regiments to successfully appeal against this Regulation. Many of the early styles replicated the French design with a broken circle with or without a dot at the opening, still known as a 'French circle and dot'.​​

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The general trend was for the earlier large, plain buttons to gradually reduce in size and by around 1800 makers start adding their names to the backs of buttons. Equally there was a tendency for buttons to become more convex as the flat one piece style fell out of favour. Pewter, used by the other ranks for many years was finally abolished in 1855 and Regimental designs in brass took over. In 1871 all infantry regiments replaced their personalised buttons with Royal Coat of Arms of the General Service button for the rank and file, whilst officers and NCO's continued to wear numbered buttons until 1881, the rule did not apply to Cavalry units which continued to wear unit specific buttons.

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This subject is well covered in many other places and it will be the intention here to add only early buttons from 1767 to c1830 for the Regular units as many of these are not recorded and new examples are always adding to our knowledge.

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The manpower demands of the Napoleonic Wars saw the raising of different types of troops which formed part of the Regular Army:-

Fencibles
Regiment of Fencible Cavalry and Infantry were recruited in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland from 1793.  These were regular regiments  for service in Great Britain and Ireland only. In 1799, it was decided to disband all the regiments except those which had volunteered for service in Europe.

Garrison, Reserve, and Veteran Battalions
Corps of Invalids serving in forts and garrisons were into new Royal Garrison Battalions in 1802.  From 1804, they were titled Royal Veteran Battalions.  Eventually numbering 13 battalions, they were all disbanded or renumbered in 1814-15.  16 Battalions of Reserve were raised in 1803-04. In late 1804, they were restyled Garrison Battalions and they were all disbanded in February 1805. In the same month, new Garrison Battalions were formed and these eventually numbered nine.  There were further raisings of Garrison and Veteran Battalions, the last being three Royal Veteran Battalions in December 1821.

 

Foreign Corps
As the British Army waged war against France, it recruited troops from across Europe.  The most famous of these were the Hanoverians who formed the King’s German Legion. There were also several Swiss regiments, plus Royal French, Italians, Dutch, Greek, Sardinians, and Maltese, amongst other.

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