British Army Infantry Drill Handbook (1833)
FIELD EXERCISE AND EVOLUTIONS
OF THE ARMY
As Revised in 1833
W. CLOWES AND SONS, London, 1833
Field Exercise and Evolutions of the Army is an original Georgian era British Army handbook published in 1833. It is a detailed guide to the revisions made in 1833 to the rules and regulations surrounding the systems of field exercise and manoeuvres for infantry in the British Army. Illustrated with diagrams, the book covers the standard drills of the British Army in the 1830’s. With sections on exercises without arms, single rank and close order, exercises with arms, Company drill, marching, Battalion drill, columns, movement, Brigade drill, infantry formations, etc.
The book is signed on the front endpapers (dated 1852) by Captain R. Pudsey Dawson of Hornby Castle, who served as an officer with the 1st Regiment Royal Lancashire Militia. The Pudsey Dawson family had lived at Hornby since 1840, and Richard Pudsey Dawson inherited the castle in 1859. He later sold it to John Foster, a Bradford mill owner.
The Royal Lancashire Militia: based in Lancashire, England, was one of a number of county-based irregular military units. During times of international tension, it was intended to provide relief of regular troops from routine garrison duties, and be a source of trained officers and men for the regular Army. The Lancashire Militia was formed when King William III ordered the Earl of Derby, then the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, to assemble and train the Militia as required under Charles II’s Act of 1662. After training on Fulwood Moor near Preston, the Militia embarked in 1690 for Ireland, where they fought at the Battle of the Boyne and the sieges of Carrickfergus and Athlone. The Militia was again called upon to help suppress the Jacobite rising of 1715. They took part in the Battle of Preston on 12 November where they suffered heavy losses (11 officers and 105 men) attacking the rebel barricades in Church Street. They were again 'embodied' (called up) during the Jacobite rising of 1745 when the Young Pretender marched through Lancashire. During the Seven Years' War (1754–63), when the Regular Army was fighting in Europe and there was a risk of French invasion, the Militia were reorganised under the Militia Act of 1757. From this date, proper uniforms and better weapons were provided, and the force was embodied from time to time for training sessions. The Lancashire Militia was disembodied (broken up) in January 1746 and then re-raised in 1759, becoming the Royal Regiment of Lancashire Militia in 1761. War with Revolutionary France in 1793 brought about an increase in the national strength of the Militia to 105,000 men. The Lancashire Militia was re-organised into three regiments, which provided a supply of trained officers and men for the Regular Army throughout the subsequent Napoleonic Wars of 1803–15. After the war the regiments were disembodied, although the 3rd Regiment, which had volunteered to stay on in Ireland, was renamed the Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster’s Own) in 1831. The Crimean War (1853–56) required the regiments to be brought up to strength and new regiments to be raised. In 1833 the 4th Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster’s Own Light Infantry) was raised at Warrington and the 5th Royal Lancashire Militia at Burnley. In June 1855 the Preston-based 3rd Regiment sailed to Gibraltar where they carried out garrison duties for 12 months whilst the 4th Regiment served at Berwick, Dublin and Newry until May 1856. The same year two further regiments, the 6th and 7th, were raised.
Condition:
In very good condition. The book has been professionally rebound in quarter leather and marbled boards. The binding and hinges are very good and secure. The text and illustrations are in good condition with some marks and occasional foxing. Signed on the front endpapers by 'Capt. R Pudsey Dawson, Hornby Castle’, and with his pencil annotations to the rear endpapers and occasionally in the text. A fragment of the original cover, inscribed by Richard Pudsey Dawson and dated 1852, has been laid in on the front endpaper.
Published: 1833
Quarter leather binding and marbled boards, with gilt spine titling
Illustrated with diagrams
Dimensions: 135mm x 190mm
Pages: 335
