Volunteers
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
citizens who of their own accord offer the state their services in a military capacity without the stipulation of a substantial reward, and without being attached to the regular army. The oldest volunteer force in Great Britain is the Honorable Artillery Company of the city of London, which received its charter of incorporation from Henry VIII. In 1794, and again in 1803, when the ambition and threats of France agitated England, the government reckoned on having nearly 500,000 ha efficient volunteers in arms. The number soon declined, and in 1815 the force almost ceased to exist. About 1857 a feeling of insecurity began to manifest itself in consequence of the alleged insufficiency of the national defense, and the Victoria Rifles and one or two other corps were formed. In the course of two or three years many thousands of volunteer riflemen were enrolled throughout the kingdom. Acts of Parliament relating to the force were passed in 1863, and 1869, and these with the Regulation ation of the Forces Act of 1871, the Volunteer Act of 1896, and orders in issued from time to time, coniss council stitute the law relating to volunteers. There are now also corps of artillerymen, engineers, light horse, and mounted rifles as part of the volunteer force. In connection with the volunteer movement a National Rifle Association was formed in 1860, which inaugurated those great annual meetings held till 1889 at Wimbleton (since removed to Bisley, near Woking), where many thousands annually compete for prizes. This was followed by a National Artillery Association, whose annual meetings are held at Shoeburyness. Vol. X In the case of a war of magnitude the United States has always relied on its volunteer soldiery. During the Civil War, including re-enlistments, there were 2,656,533 men in the field-the great body of of whom were volunteers. They were paid by the National Government, but the States appointed field and line officers. For an account of the volunteers in the United States in the World War, see UNITED STATES, section United States in the War.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's described in 1921 a standing British "volunteer force" of riflemen, artillery and light horse governed by the Volunteer Act of 1896 — but that force had already been swept into the Territorial Force by Haldane's Army reforms of 1908, renamed the Territorial Army in the 1920s and today the Army Reserve. The American half of the entry is equally dated: the Civil War pattern of state-raised volunteer regiments with state-appointed officers gave way to the National Guard under the National Defense Act of 1916, and the World War manpower Collier's points the reader to was raised chiefly by the draft under the Selective Service Act of 1917, not by volunteering. Conscription ended in the United States in 1973, so "volunteer" now describes the entire regular force rather than a separate citizen corps beside it. Two things survive intact: the Honourable Artillery Company still exists as a reserve unit, and the National Rifle Association still shoots at Bisley, where its meeting moved from Wimbledon in 1890.
Written for this edition, 2026.