Friday, June 13, 2008

Somerset Military Museum

Somerset Military Museum - Research, Regimental Histories, Reading List and Museum Shop: "The modern County Regiment
An explanation of how the former Yeomanry Regiments of Somerset combined with the Somerset Light Infantry territorials to form an important element of the former County Regiment, The Light Infantry, which on 1st February 2007 amalgamated with three other Regiments to form Today's County Regiment, The Rifles. See also Regular Army and Territorial Army charts covering the period from 1951 until 31st January 2007."

Somerset Military Museum - North Somerset Yeomanry: "The History of the North Somerset Yeomanry started in 1798, when a Cavalry Troop was raised by James A Wickham at Frome and was known as the Frome and Selwood Volunteers. It numbered about 60 strong and as one of a great many units raised that year all over England it had the job of protecting local towns and villages in the event of invasion by the Napoleonic forces. Over the next few years it was sometimes stood down for a few months at a time, but remained in being as a Unit. This Troop of Volunteers was amalgamated with the East Mendip Cavalry in 1804 in order to make up a Unit of Squadron strength and was renamed the Frome and East Mendip Regiment of Volunteer Cavalry.

Further Troops were added, all based in the North and East of the County, and kept constantly under training. In 1817 it was renamed the North Somerset Yeomanry Cavalry. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, there was considerable unrest in the woollen mills and in 1822 the Frome Squadron was called out in aid of the Civil Power.

In 1831 the Bedminster Troop was called out to help quell the Bristol Riots and succeeded in dispersing the crowds. It continued training regularly and took part in large scale exercises with both Regular Troops and other local Regiments of Yeomanry. In 1900 this culminated in the first call to the Yeomanry for service overseas to go to South Africa. The Regiment provided a Company (48th North Somerset) of Mounted Infantry as part of a Battalion of Mounted Infantry known as the 7th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry. This Company was involved in several skirmishes before acting as bodyguard to the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Roberts."

Yeomanry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "In the 1790s, the threat of invasion of the Kingdom of Great Britain was high, after the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. In order to improve the country's defences, volunteer regiments were raised in many counties from yeomen. The word 'yeoman' refers to small farmers who owned the land they cultivated, but the officers were drawn from the nobility and many of the men were their tenants. These regiments became known collectively as the Yeomanry. 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), but as police forces took over this role, the Yeomanry concentrated on local defence.

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 was merged with the Volunteer Force to form the Territorial Force"

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