A set of three Additional Forces Acts of July 1803 created an Army of Reserve for the defence of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...
against the imminent threat of sea-borne invasion by
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's
French Revolutionary Army
The French Revolutionary Army (french: Armée révolutionnaire française) was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment ...
. A total of 15,780 men were added to the country's armed forces by these compulsory measures, creating an "Army of Reserve".
The acts – one each for England (43 Geo. 3 c. 82), Scotland (c. 83) and Ireland (c. 85) – were passed by
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
despite strong political opposition.
See also
*
List of British fencible regiments
This is a list of British fencible regiments. The ''fencibles'' (from the word ') were British Army regiments raised in Great Britain and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the Seven Years' War, the American War of ...
References
Napoleonic Wars
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1803
19th-century military history of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom military law
British defence policymaking
{{UK-statute-stub