Volunteers. The volunteer movement of Great Britain is unique in the history of nations. In 1859, on the occurrence of a menace to Great Britain, which for the first time for a long period seemed to indicate a possibility of invasion, the volunteer spirit spontaneously rose up. General Peel, who was then war minister, realised its importance, and by his advice it was resolved to accept the services of those who might offer themselves. No promise of pecuniary aid to meet necessary expenses, far less of pay or of reward, was held out. If volunteers would equip themselves with uniform, accoutrements, and arms, and supply themselves with military instructors, all at their own expense, the state would accept their services. These were the conditions. The volunteers were to find everything, and then the state would consent to use them. The response was an astonishment to the world, and not least to Great Britain herself. An armed force rose up as if by magic. Men of all professions and trades thronged to enrol themselves, devoting much of their leisure time to their volunteer work, submitting to the discipline of drill in a hearty and vigorous manner, and paying at something like the rate of £8 per man for arms, uniform, and accoutrements, in addition to instructors' salaries, rent of rooms and ground, and other necessary expenses. In a very few months the numbers swelled above 100,000, artillery and riflemen, and daily offers of service came from new companies, notwithstanding the fact that the alarm which first awakened this martial spirit had died away, and there was no longer any immediate prospect of hostilities to stimulate and keep alive the enthusiasm that had been evoked. It became apparent that the spirit was one inherent in the national character, and had not been created but only aroused by the event which has always been directly associated with its origin. It demonstrated, what observant men had known before, that the British, although they are not a military nation—indeed hate militarism—are yet at bottom a warlike race. Within little more than a year of the first enrolments the Queen was able to see assembled two great bodies in Hyde Park and in Queen's Park, Edinburgh, numbering in all about 80,000 soldiers, who had been taught the elements of military drill, and were able to move in large bodies without confusion. The expectation at first had been limited to some thousands of sharp-shooters, who might be useful for hanging on to and harassing an enemy, and thus giving a certain amount of external aid to the efforts of the army. So restricted was the idea of the capabilities of the force that a special drill-book, known as the Green Book, was issued for volunteers, in which the company was taken as the largest unit. There was no idea of volunteer battalions taking their part as integral portions of brigades. They were only to be administratively in battalions, but in training the companies were to be the units. Their role was to be that of irregulars, not of soldiers who would take their places in the British line, and fight side by side with the enlisted forces of the crown. But the numbers, the drill, and the capacity for organisation shown by the new force made its consolidation into the larger unit of the battalion a thing of course, and its conformity to the drill of the army a necessity. Indeed this had worked itself out even before the Green Book was ready for issue. When it was issued it was already utterly unsuitable to the existing state of things. In all the large towns battalions were already organised and in active training; and the administrative organisation was in a very short time confined to the country districts. Even in their case, after the lapse of a few years, consolidation took place, and for many years the volunteer force has been administered, exercised, and dealt with from headquarters in battalions, just as are the regiments of the regular army and the militia. It has now found its place—and that no mean one—as part of the organised defences of the country, and in 1888 a further step was taken in its organisation in district brigades, each under a brigadier-general, who would command it as a separate unit in the event of its being mobilised for service.
As might have been expected, the volunteers, who gave their services and provided at their own expense all that was required for equipment and drill, could not be expected thus to tax themselves in perpetuity while giving their actual time and labour without pay or reward. Accordingly the question soon arose, Is this force worth the expense to the country of providing the necessary armament, clothing, and equipment? The question was made the more urgent by its becoming apparent that the moneyed and well-to-do classes, who at first formed the great bulk of the volunteer force, were not so patriotic in time of peace as to continue to enrol themselves, and sacrifice comfort and time in drilling and practising at the target for the country's defence. It is unpleasant to be compelled to record that year after year the numbers of the leisured, the professional, and the middle-class volunteers diminished, that it became impossible to keep up companies recruited from these ranks, that many of them ceased to exist as such and were replaced by companies of artisans, and that many which maintained their existence did so only by taking into their ranks their employees in the lower grades of their profession. Merchant companies enlisted their shopmen, solicitors' companies enrolled their clerks, barristers' companies dissolved, and gradually the whole character of the force was changed. It became, as regards the rank and file, a workingmen's force. The great mass of those now enrolled are men dependent upon weekly wages or small salaries for their subsistence, to whom the expense of providing uniform and accoutrements would be altogether prohibitive. Further, those who in the early days of the movement had contributed liberally to the funds of the corps in their district ceased to do so. The novelty of the movement was gone, and those whose enthusiasm was not strong enough to induce them to serve ceased to yield to appeals to their purses. The volunteer force had during its earlier years been too much petted and praised, and its rapid development into a great force had raised among a certain class of military men some degree of jealousy and a not altogether unjustifiable feeling of distrust. There could have been nothing worse for the volunteers than that they should be told that they were as good as the soldiers of the army, and that economists—falsely so called—should laud them to the skies in order to urge that their existence justified a reduction in the regular forces. The evils which followed this period of foolish flattery were those which might have been expected. The flatterers got a little tired of their toy, and cold indifference followed too warm attentions. The force itself did not develop with that vigour which follows good discipline and judicious correction. It was a critical time, and was seen to be so. Fortunately it was met with wisdom. Those responsible for the maintenance of the defences of the country saw that it was an institution worth preserving and capable of high development. Accordingly it was resolved, with the universal approbation of the nation, to relieve the volunteer of outlay, and to supply that which should be necessary to clothe him, and pay the expenses of organisation and management of the corps, while at the same time bringing the force into closer association with the military authorities, and exacting a distinct standard of efficiency as a condition of the payment of the grant. The good effect of this alteration was at once apparent. Efficiency rose in a marked degree, and the officer element in the force steadily improved. The demand for higher efficiency necessarily led to many of the older officers retiring, and giving place to younger men, better suited for training and manoeuvre, and who were in a true military sense the commanders of the volunteers under them.
The occurrence of the Franco-German war gave a new stimulus to the volunteer spirit, and it began to be the custom to place volunteer battalions in brigade with the regular troops at manoeuvres on a large scale. This was first done in 1872, when a very large force was assembled on Salisbury Plain, on which occasion many provisional battalions, made up of volunteers from different corps, took their full part in the work, and earned the en- comiums of all who saw them for their plucky marching, adaptability to camp-life, and general excellence in discipline. This was followed up in the following year by extensive manoeuvres on Dartmoor and at Cannock Chase; and from that time onwards in every year a very large number of volunteers have been under canvas, until in the year 1892 every district of the country saw volunteers camping out either in battalion or brigade, no fewer than 13,000 being assembled at once at the camp of Aldershot.
A great change has also come over the character of the work done by volunteers. In the first decade of the force's existence its work was for the most part confined to mere elementary drill of the barrack-square type, and its equipment limited to what was necessary for mere show parade; but a very great change has taken place in these particulars. The prolonged existence of the force, and the fact that at the end of twenty years it was found in full vigour, and increased in numbers practically to a quarter of a million in strength, made its impression on the governing minds of the country and army. The Queen in 1881 again gave the volunteers an opportunity of appearing before her in strength. The English review in Windsor Park was a magnificent display, but the Scottish review in Queen's Park, Edinburgh, was the most remarkable event in the history of the force. It was held in such a deluge of rain that all present were for many hours soaked to the skin, and the greater number had to be entrained and conveyed to distant places in that state. The discipline of the force stood the test well, and this event, which was at the time regarded as a great misfortune, was indeed a most fortunate occurrence. It was well that the qualities of the volunteers when assembled in very large bodies should be put to the test, and in no other way could it have been so effectually done. From that day forward the military mind has had a much higher appreciation of the moral of the volunteers, and their capabilities for disciplined action, than it ever had before. Of course, it is only the capacity for high discipline that is spoken of, for discipline is not merely a matter of character, it must be developed by training.
In connection with the army reforms of 1872-81 the volunteers were incorporated formally with the territorial regiments of their districts, so that the corps in each district are now the volunteer battalions of its regiment. But the greatest compliment ever paid to the volunteers was not, however, to be found in the praises of generals or the plaudits of the public. It was in a new demand made upon it, a demand which never could have been made had those at the head of the army not considered the force to be one capable of high usefulness. In 1886 it was officially intimated that the volunteers must pass a certain standard of efficiency in musketry, take steps to provide themselves with accoutrements and equipment, not merely to enable them to appear upon parade or at a sham-fight with a few blank cartridges, but to be ready to march at once, and that upon the fulfilment of these conditions their certificate of efficiency must depend. To these demands the volunteers had no objection, except this, that they thought it hard that, giving their services gratuitously in time of peace, they should be called upon to provide, at their own expense, the equipment of which the state would have the use in time of war. And although in some places money was raised by private subscription, it was felt both by the volunteers and the public that this was not a seemly mode of raising money for what was essentially a national purpose. Accordingly, after one government had been narrowly saved from an adverse vote, and another had a vote carried against it in the House of Commons, it was resolved to devote a sufficient sum from the public funds to furnish the volunteers with an efficient war equipment. Therefore to-day every volunteer rifleman is provided with greatcoat, water-bottle, haversack, and means of carrying a full supply of ammunition, so that in the event of mobilisation every man can be turned out ready to march.
In the case of the artillery also a great step has been taken. Until 1888 they had no field-guns, and were exercised only at fort-guns. But now a large number of mobile guns have been issued to them, and they are exercised so as to move with the other troops. A new development has also taken place in the organisation of submarine mining corps, which with the existing engineer corps would be of great value.
Further, for many years the officers of the volunteer force have been examined in drill to pass as lieutenants and for promotion to the higher ranks, and have had the opportunity of attending school and receiving special certificates on passing out. They have also had the opportunity of entering for examination in tactics, and many of them have gained the higher certificates. Among the rank and file mounted contingents have been encouraged, signallers and stretcher-bearers and military cyclists are regularly trained, and in 1892 the issue of machine guns was sanctioned. Tactical societies have been established in many cities throughout the country, both for officers and non-commissioned officers, in which Kriegspiel (q.v.) is played, and lectures on tactics, military history, and other kindred subjects are delivered. It is only further necessary to mention the National Artillery and Rifle Associations, and their kindred local gatherings. Queen Victoria opened to the force in 1881 a certain number of decorations of the Order of the Bath, and also by sanctioning, in 1892, a special decoration (V.D.) for officers, and a medal for non-commissioned officers and privates, of twenty years' service. Volunteers bore a distinguished part with the regular forces in the Transvaal war of 1899-1901.
The force, which now numbers about a quarter of a million, is in full vigour, and, as more than one-fifth of the whole on an average is changed every year, it is obvious that besides the existing force there must be at least a million and a quarter more who have had the training and are still of suitable age for service, who, should the occasion ever arise, can be more quickly trained than raw recruits for the country's defence. Thus there is a great reserve. The weak point at present is that in many places it is difficult to obtain suitable officers. This is the result of the apathy of the upper classes already spoken of. Indeed it is to be feared that as regards both the commissioned rank and the rank and file there is often not only apathy but veiled or open discouragement to young men to become volunteers. This is cause for deep regret on the part both of parents and employers, and it is earnestly to be hoped that it may be overcome. If the volunteer force is to continue to flourish it can only be in the warmth of the nation's fostering regard. Men cannot volunteer when their services are not wanted or valued, and no mere official recognition will prevent the life going out of a national movement. The blood to keep it warm must come from the nation's heart.
In the United States the place of the volunteers is filled by the state militia (see ARMY, p. 437). In Germany 'volunteers' has quite a different meaning (see ARMY, p. 436; and GERMANY, p. 177). For the relation to the regular army, see ARMY, MILITIA, YEOMANRY. There are histories of the movement by Stephen (1881) and Woodburne (1881); and see Spencer Wilkinson, The Volunteers and the National Defence (1896).