The Recruiting Act 1779 (19 Geo.3 c.10) was an Act of the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...

. It was a press Act for the recruiting of his Majesty's Land Forces. After the losses in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and the apprehended hostilities with France, the existing voluntary enlistment measures were judged to be insufficient. It served as a revision of the

Recruiting Act 1778 The Recruiting Act 1778 (18 Geo.3 c.53) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, which created a bounty system for volunteers and instituted impressment to recruit more soldiers for the Army and Royal Marines. The Act received royal asse ...

. It raised the bounty £3, 3s. After the expiration of their service, volunteers were exempt from the performance of statue (highway) duty, for service as parish officers, and from service in the army, navy, or militia. They were allowed to set up and exercise any trade in any place in Great Britain. It enlarged those subject to impressment beyond smugglers and "all able-bodied and disorderly persons" to include those "convicted of running away from and leaving their families chargeable upon the parish". The chief advantage of this Act was in the number of volunteers brought in under the apprehension of

impressment Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...

. The Act received royal assent on 9 February 1779. On 26 May 1780 it was repealed with the exception of the parts relating to volunteers. It was wholly repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1871 The Statute Law Revision Act 1871 (34 & 35 Vict c 116) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of the revised edition of the statutes then in progress. This Act was partl ...

References

* Curtis, Edward, ''The Organization of the British Army in the American Revolution''. 1972,

External links

Recruiting Act 1779
text {{UK legislation Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1779 British laws relating to the American Revolution American Revolutionary War Repealed Great Britain Acts of Parliament