mid victorian british infantry

durham light infantry
The British Army during the Victorian era served through a period of great technological and social change. Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, and died in 1901. Her long reign was marked by the steady expansion and consolidation of the British Empire, andindustrialisation and the enactment of liberal reforms (by both Liberal and Conservative governments) within Britain.

conditions  were not likely to attract many volunteers beyond the desperate, the disillusioned or the deceived (by recruiting sergeants), even in  mid-Victorian Britain.

  line infantry private soldiers in the Crimea were mostly Irish, victims of the famine disasters of the 1840s, recruits had to sign on for 21 years with an  option to leave after 10, early discharge carried no pension.

 Promotion demanded minimum literacy;  

 A gulf separated officers from other ranks. A very few outstanding senior NCOs were promoted to junior officer rank, but they were persona non molto grata with the 0other officers.

Regimental officers were often absent from their commands for long periods in peacetime - there was no useful function that they could serve in barracks, other than Duty Officer chores. The men's expectations of their officers were simple and direct. They had to be obvious 'Gentlemen', to lead from the front, and show unflinching bravery and disregard for personal safety in battle. This they achieved to perfection. But no self respecting NCO wanted an officer hanging around during daily routine. And of course NCOs were far more capable at organising and supervising what passed for training.

Such training consisted of endless drilling to move into and in the standard battle formations. Infantry battalions varied in strength between 700-900, divided into 8 companies. The standard formation on the march, for manoeuvring and for advancing to contact was the column. For the assault, the battalion deployed into line, two deep on a 200 yard front. For the defence, against cavalry charges or lightly armed hordes, the battalion formed square, each face four deep, with the NCOs and Officers in the middle. It was a matter of honour that a square should never be broken.

royal malta fencibles 1855

There were typically three 2 hour drill periods per day to exercise these formations, six days a week.

Personal training consisted of bayonet drill and musket drill, which was quite complex with muzzle loading weapons. The one highly significant modern development had been the almost general upgrade from the 1842 percussion musket to the 1851 pattern Minié rifle which fired an elongated bullet reasonably accurately to beyond 400yds. Its vastly increased muzzle velocity could allow a single bullet to pass clean through several bodies in close order column. But there was scant opportunity for live firing, due to the lack of rifle ranges. Even the Guards prior to 1852 fired only 30 rounds every three years. After 1852 the situation improved when alarm grew at the emergence of France's Second Empire, and an all arms training area was established at Chobham in Surrey, capable of accommodating 8-10 thousand troops at a time. However the few attempts at major exercises were shambolic tactically and useless administratively - the men slept in camp, transport was hired by the day, and supplies delivered to the training area by contractors from London. Only the Royal Artillery gained real benefit from the opportunity for regular field firing practice at the Chobham facility.

The British Army began the period with few differences from the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars which fought at the Battle of Waterloo. There were three main periods of the Army's development during the era. From the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the mid-1850s, the Duke of Wellington and his successors attempted to maintain its organisation and tactics as they had been in 1815, with only detail changes. In 1854, theCrimean War, and the Indian Rebellion of 1857 highlighted the shortcomings of the Army, but entrenched interests prevented major reforms from taking place. From 1868 to 1881, sweeping changes were made by Liberal governments, giving it the broad structure which it retained until 1914.

On Victoria's death, the Army was still engaged in the Second Anglo-Boer War, but other than expedients adopted for that war, it was recognisably the army which would enter the First World War. The Industrial Revolution had changed its weapons, transport and equipment, and social changes such as better education had prompted changes to the terms of service and outlook of many soldiers. Nevertheless, it retained many features inherited from the Duke of Wellington's army, and since its prime function was to maintain the expanding British Empire, it differed in many ways from the conscripted armies of continental Europe.

2nd regiment of foot 1855