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27-767: Following the Yeomanry killing of unarmed men and women in St Peter's Field ( Peterloo ), a wave of protest meetings swept the North of England, spilling over into the Midlands and the Lowlands, and involving in all some seventeen counties. Local magistrates appealed in the face of the protests for central support; and in response the Parliament of the United Kingdom was reconvened on 23 November and

54-568: A blurring of these distinctions in the British army, tradition remained strong in the cavalry arm of some other nations. As an example, the Imperial German army maintained a marked difference between the sizes and weights of the men and horses allocated to the hussar regiments that made up its light cavalry and those of the other two categories. The early weeks of World War I saw light cavalry attempting to continue its long established function of being

81-499: A key role in mounted scouting, escorting, and skirmishing during the Napoleonic era. Light horse also served a function in major set-piece battles. While lacking the sheer offensive power of heavy cavalry, light cavalry were still extremely effective against unprepared infantry, cavalry, and artillery. All infantry commanders were forced to respect the danger any cavalry presented to their forces, and light cavalry were effective at changing

108-553: A newly established School of Instruction and the Secretary of State for War took over responsibility for the force, from individual Lords Lieutenant of counties. While these reforms improved the professionalism of the Yeomanry Force, numbers remained low (only 10,617 in 1881). In 1876, the role of the Yeomanry Force was fixed as that of light cavalry . During the previous decades, horse artillery troops had been raised to be attached to

135-587: A number of yeomanry regiments and dismounted detachments appeared where horses were not available in sufficient numbers. These supernumerary units were now abolished. During the Second Boer War , companies of Imperial Yeomanry were formed to serve overseas from volunteers from the Yeomanry. In 1901, all yeomanry regiments were redesignated as "Imperial Yeomanry", and reorganised. In 1908, the Imperial Yeomanry

162-495: A sub-unit of a larger unit: In 1907 the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry was established as an all female volunteer organisation to provide a link between field hospitals and the front line, with their primary role being to rescue the wounded, rather than provide nursing care. Because the organisation as initially formed was mounted it adopted the yeomanry name. The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry is an independent charity that

189-552: Is not part of the Armed Forces, today it provides teams to aid civil agencies. Other uses of yeoman : Light cavalry Light cavalry comprised lightly armed and armored cavalry troops mounted on fast horses , as opposed to heavy cavalry , where the mounted riders (and sometimes the warhorses ) were heavily armored. The purpose of light cavalry was primarily raiding , reconnaissance , screening , skirmishing , patrolling , and tactical communications . Prior to

216-577: The "eyes and ears" of the respective main armies. However, despite some early success, the advent of trench warfare and aircraft observation quickly rendered this role obsolete, except to an extent in the Middle East in 1917, and in Eastern Europe where light cavalry mounted actions on a diminishing scale continued to occur until the revolution of 1917 took Russia out of the war. During the Vietnam War ,

243-640: The 17th century they were usually armed with swords , spears , javelins , or bows , and later on with sabres , pistols , shotguns , or carbines . Light cavalry was used infrequently by Ancient Greeks (who used hippeis such as prodromoi or sarissophoroi ) and Ancient Romans (who used auxiliaries such as equites Numidarum or equites Maurorum ), but were more common among the armies of Eastern Europe , North Africa , West Asia , Central Asia , and East Asia . The Arabs , Cossacks , Hungarians , Huns , Kalmycks , Mongols , Turks , Parthians , and Persians were all proficient horse archers . With

270-508: The 1830s, the number of yeomanry units fluctuated, reflecting the level of civil unrest in any particular region at any particular time. The Irish Yeomanry, which had played a major role in suppressing the rebellion of 1798, was completely disbanded in 1838. For the next thirty years, the Yeomanry Force was retained as a second line of support for the regular cavalry within Britain. Recruiting difficulties led to serious consideration being given to

297-773: The Territorial Army was doubled in size, with duplicate units formed; this led to some regiments being de-amalgamated. The last mounted regiment of yeomanry was the Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons , who were converted to an armoured role in March 1942, and later converted into an infantry battalion of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry —KOYLI. Volunteers from the Yeomanry served in the Long Range Desert Group from 1940 through to 1943, incorporated into "Y Patrol". There were reductions in

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324-502: The US Army converted parts of the 1st Cavalry Division for heliborne tactics with a concept known as air cavalry . Helicopters were used to insert troops and support them. They were also used for suppression fire, search and rescue, medical evacuation, scouting and resupply. This concept was first tested at the Battle of Ia Drang Valley . Modern tactics call for the use of gunships to dominate

351-438: The Yeomanry concentrated on local defence. In 1827, it was decided for financial reasons to reduce the number of yeomanry regiments, disbanding those that had not been required to assist the civil power over the previous decade. A number of independent troops were also dissolved. Following these reductions, the yeomanry establishment was fixed at 22 corps (regiments) receiving allowances and a further 16 serving without pay. During

378-631: The Yeomanry were linked to specific counties or regions, identified in the regimental title. Some of the units still in existence in 1914 dated back to those created in the 1790s, while others had been created during a period of expansion following on the Boer War. After the First World War, the Territorial Force was disbanded and later reformed and redesignated as the Territorial Army . Following

405-502: The ban on outside meetings was to be limited in time; transportation of Press offenders was made more difficult; and the curtailment of legal delays was extended to include prosecution as well as defendant. Nevertheless, the Six Acts were eventually passed by prime minister Lord Liverpool and his colleagues, as part of their repressive approach focused on preventing a British revolution. The six acts were: Different time-scales applied to

432-566: The decline of feudalism and knighthood in Europe, light cavalry became more prominent in the armies of the continent. Many were equipped with early firearms, as their predecessors had been with bows or javelins . European examples of light cavalry included stradiots , hobelars , hussars , chasseurs à cheval , cossacks , chevau-légers , uhlans , and dragoons . Armies of the ancient Roman-Germanic wars made use of light cavalry as patrolling squads, or armed scouts , and often had them in

459-593: The different acts. The Six Acts went down in folk history, alongside Peterloo, as symbols of the repressive nature of the Pittite regime. Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units and sub-units in the British Army Reserve which are descended from volunteer cavalry regiments that now serve in a variety of different roles. In the 1790s, following the French Revolution and

486-414: The disbandment of the entire force in 1870, but instead measures were taken the following year to improve its effectiveness. These included requirements that individual yeomanry troopers attend a minimum number of drills per year in return for a "permanent duty" allowance, and that units be maintained at a specific strength. Yeomanry officers and permanent drill instructors were required to undergo training at

513-487: The experience of the war, only the fourteen senior yeomanry regiments retained their horses, with the rest being re-designated as armoured car companies , artillery , engineers , or signals . Two regiments were disbanded. The converted units retained their yeomanry traditions, with some artillery regiments having individual batteries representing different yeomanry units. On the eve of the Second World War in 1939,

540-589: The front lines during regional battles. During the Punic Wars, one of Carthage's main advantages over Roman armies was its extensive use of Numidian light cavalry . Partly because of this, the Roman general Scipio Africanus recruited his own cavalry from Sicily before his invasion of Tunisia during the Second Punic War . Several types of light cavalry were developed and used in medieval armies. Light cavalry played

567-520: The movement of enemy forces simply through their presence. In the aftermath of battles, light cavalry were used to press a victor's advantage or to screen retreating forces from further attack. As late as the early 1900s, most European armies still retained a nominal division of mounted troops according to the size and weight of the men, into light cavalry (raiding, reconnaissance, and screening), medium cavalry (offense or defense), and heavy cavalry (direct shock). While colonial warfare had led to

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594-554: The new acts were introduced by the Home Secretary, Henry Addington . By 30 December the legislation was passed, despite the opposition of the Whigs to both their principles and many of their details. The acts were aimed at gagging radical newspapers , preventing large meetings, and reducing what the government saw as the possibility of armed insurrection. During the Commons debates, each of

621-553: The officers. At its formation, the force was referred to as the Yeomanry Cavalry . Members of the yeomanry were not obliged to serve overseas without their individual consent. During the first half of the nineteenth century, Yeomanry Regiments were used extensively in support of the civil authority to quell riots and civil disturbances, including the Peterloo Massacre ; as police forces were created and took over this role,

648-551: The parties appealed to the example of the French Revolution to make their case. The Tories pointed to the weakness of the French forces of law and order; the Whigs, conversely, to the need for the safety valve of free speech and a free press. Strengthened by their success at the 1818 elections, the Whigs were able to make three significant amendments to the bills as originally proposed: public meetings were to be allowed behind closed doors, and

675-493: The rise of Napoleon Bonaparte , the perceived threat of invasion of the Kingdom of Great Britain was high. To improve the country's defences, Volunteer regiments were raised in many counties from yeomen . While the word "yeoman" in normal use meant 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 other forms of obligation to

702-589: The size of the TA in both 1957 and 1961, which led to the amalgamation of some pairs of yeomanry regiments. There was a major reduction in reserve forces in 1967 with the formation of the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve; all existing yeomanry regiments were reduced to squadron, company or battery sub-units. A number of further reorganisations have taken place since then. In the current Army Reserve , several remnants of former Yeomanry regiments are still serving, usually as

729-672: Was merged with the Volunteer Force to form the Territorial Force , of which it became the cavalry arm. The "Imperial" title was dropped at the same time. On the eve of World War I in 1914, there were 55 Yeomanry regiments (with two more formed in August 1914), each of four squadrons instead of the three of the regular cavalry. Upon embodiment, these regiments were either brought together to form mounted brigades or allocated as divisional cavalry. For purposes of recruitment and administration,

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