Here, we are interested in the sixty years between the British Empire’s loss of its American colonies in 1780s, to the Chartist Movement in the 1830s-1840s.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which ruled over the rest of this polity, was a constitutional monarchy. Governors, Proconsuls, and Viceroys were tasked with translating directives from London into forms that were suited conditions in the colonies.
[1]
No population estimates for the entire empire could be found specifically for this period, but according to contemporary sources it reached a population of 284,110,693 in the 1870s.
[2]
[1]: (Burroughs 1999) Peter Burroughs. Imperial institutions and the Government of Empire. Andrew Porter. ed. 1999. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume III: The Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Bartholomew 1877, v) John Bartholomew. 1877. Atlas of the British empire throughout the world. George Philip and Son. London.
none |
Anglosphere |
British Empire - Victorian Period |
continuity |
UNCLEAR: [continuity] |
loose | |
confederated state |
900,000 people | 1800 CE |
3,250,000 people | 1877 CE |
[4,500,000 to 6,500,000] people | 1900 CE |
22,700,000 km2 | 1800 CE |
30,800,000 km2 | 1900 CE |
107,500,000 people | 1814 CE |
400,000,000 people | 1900 CE |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
unknown |
present |
unknown |
present |
unknown |
present |
unknown |
unknown |
unknown |
present |
present |
inferred present |
unknown |
present |
present |
inferred present |
present |
absent |
inferred present |
present |
present |
inferred present |
inferred present |
unknown |
present |
unknown |
absent |
absent |
present |
present |
absent |
present |
absent |
unknown |
Year Range | British Empire II (gb_british_emp_2) was in: |
---|---|
(1780 CE 1840 CE) | Deccan |
Following defeat of Napoleonic France. "What materially enhanced the security of Britain’s scattered possessions after 1815 ... was the relative peacefulness which afflicted international relations and the absence of any European nation strong enough to challenge the global superiority of the Royal Navy. This exceptional interlude faded in the 1870s with the rise of Continental powers harbouring colonial ambitions."
[1]
[1]: (Burroughs 1999) Peter Burroughs. Imperial institutions and the Government of Empire. Andrew Porter. ed. 1999. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume III: The Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
From the loss of American colonies to the instability of the 1830s - 1840s (the Chartist Movement)
"Unlike the Spanish and the French, the British never attempted to rule colonies directly from the metropole ... At the core of Imperial administration .... a series of essentially bilateral relationships which entailed constant negotiation rather than the imposition of rule and the acceptance of subjection."
[1]
"Rather than constituting one empire, this conglomeration of large land masses and territorial fragments comprised several empires ... as a political entity it was loosely held together".
[1]
Imperial agents in the colonies "exercised considerable latitude of authority and were notoriously difficult to control ... Far from being subordinates, many masterful individuals had their own agendas and ambitions; often they acted independently, disregarding directives or exceeding instructions with cavalier exuberance and frequently with impunity."
[1]
[1]: (Burroughs 1999) Peter Burroughs. Imperial institutions and the Government of Empire. Andrew Porter. ed. 1999. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume III: The Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
"Unlike the Spanish and the French, the British never attempted to rule colonies directly from the metropole ... At the core of Imperial administration .... a series of essentially bilateral relationships which entailed constant negotiation rather than the imposition of rule and the acceptance of subjection."
[1]
"Rather than constituting one empire, this conglomeration of large land masses and territorial fragments comprised several empires ... as a political entity it was loosely held together".
[1]
Imperial agents in the colonies "exercised considerable latitude of authority and were notoriously difficult to control ... Far from being subordinates, many masterful individuals had their own agendas and ambitions; often they acted independently, disregarding directives or exceeding instructions with cavalier exuberance and frequently with impunity."
[1]
[1]: (Burroughs 1999) Peter Burroughs. Imperial institutions and the Government of Empire. Andrew Porter. ed. 1999. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume III: The Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Inhabitants.
"Table of the Towns of the British Isles, above 100,000 inhabitants, in 1871." London: 3,254,260
[1]
Colquhoun says 900,000 in 1801.
[2]
4.5 million in 1901 CE
[3]
[1]: (Bartholomew 1877, vii) John Bartholomew. 1877. Atlas of the British empire throughout the world. George Philip and Son. London.
[2]: Page 27. Patrick Colquhoun, A Treatise on the Wealth, Power and Resources of the British Empire (London: Joseph Mawman), 1814.
[3]: Census of the British Empire, 1901: Report with Summary and Detailed Tables for the Several Colonies, &c. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1906.
Inhabitants.
"Table of the Towns of the British Isles, above 100,000 inhabitants, in 1871." London: 3,254,260
[1]
Colquhoun says 900,000 in 1801.
[2]
4.5 million in 1901 CE
[3]
[1]: (Bartholomew 1877, vii) John Bartholomew. 1877. Atlas of the British empire throughout the world. George Philip and Son. London.
[2]: Page 27. Patrick Colquhoun, A Treatise on the Wealth, Power and Resources of the British Empire (London: Joseph Mawman), 1814.
[3]: Census of the British Empire, 1901: Report with Summary and Detailed Tables for the Several Colonies, &c. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1906.
Inhabitants.
"Table of the Towns of the British Isles, above 100,000 inhabitants, in 1871." London: 3,254,260
[1]
Colquhoun says 900,000 in 1801.
[2]
4.5 million in 1901 CE
[3]
[1]: (Bartholomew 1877, vii) John Bartholomew. 1877. Atlas of the British empire throughout the world. George Philip and Son. London.
[2]: Page 27. Patrick Colquhoun, A Treatise on the Wealth, Power and Resources of the British Empire (London: Joseph Mawman), 1814.
[3]: Census of the British Empire, 1901: Report with Summary and Detailed Tables for the Several Colonies, &c. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1906.
in squared kilometers
1800 CE: Parliament approves legislation uniting Great Britain and Ireland as a single state."
[1]
1900 CE: 30.8 million km2 in 1901
[2]
In 1877? CE according to contemporary literature: Area: 8,754,793 square miles. Population: 284,110,693.
[3]
22,674,810 km2.
"Table of the British Possessions throughout the World, with their Population and Area in English Square Miles." Table has data for all of these locations: Europe (British Islands, Gibraltar, Heligoland, Malta and Gozo); Asia (India, including Depedent States, Celon, Andaman Islands, Straits Settlements, Aden, Hong Kong, Labuan Island, Perim Island); Africa (Gambia River, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Lagos, Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, Mauritius and Depedencies, Socotra, Ascension Island, St. Helena Island, Tristan d’Acunha); North America (Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, British Honduras or Belize, West India Islands, Bermuda Islands); South America (British Guiana, Falkland Islands); Oceania (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and Chatham Islands, Fiji Islands).
[4]
[1]: Kenneth J Panton. 2015. Historical Dictionary of the British Empire. Rowman & Littlefield. Lanham.
[2]: Census of the British Empire, 1901: Report with Summary and Detailed Tables for the Several Colonies, &c. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1906.
[3]: (Bartholomew 1877, v) John Bartholomew. 1877. Atlas of the British empire throughout the world. George Philip and Son. London.
[4]: (Bartholomew 1877, vi) John Bartholomew. 1877. Atlas of the British empire throughout the world. George Philip and Son. London.
in squared kilometers
1800 CE: Parliament approves legislation uniting Great Britain and Ireland as a single state."
[1]
1900 CE: 30.8 million km2 in 1901
[2]
In 1877? CE according to contemporary literature: Area: 8,754,793 square miles. Population: 284,110,693.
[3]
22,674,810 km2.
"Table of the British Possessions throughout the World, with their Population and Area in English Square Miles." Table has data for all of these locations: Europe (British Islands, Gibraltar, Heligoland, Malta and Gozo); Asia (India, including Depedent States, Celon, Andaman Islands, Straits Settlements, Aden, Hong Kong, Labuan Island, Perim Island); Africa (Gambia River, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Lagos, Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, Mauritius and Depedencies, Socotra, Ascension Island, St. Helena Island, Tristan d’Acunha); North America (Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, British Honduras or Belize, West India Islands, Bermuda Islands); South America (British Guiana, Falkland Islands); Oceania (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and Chatham Islands, Fiji Islands).
[4]
[1]: Kenneth J Panton. 2015. Historical Dictionary of the British Empire. Rowman & Littlefield. Lanham.
[2]: Census of the British Empire, 1901: Report with Summary and Detailed Tables for the Several Colonies, &c. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1906.
[3]: (Bartholomew 1877, v) John Bartholomew. 1877. Atlas of the British empire throughout the world. George Philip and Son. London.
[4]: (Bartholomew 1877, vi) John Bartholomew. 1877. Atlas of the British empire throughout the world. George Philip and Son. London.
People. Maddison Project Estimates
[1]
Alternate estimates: In 1877 CE? according to contemporary literature: Area: 8,754,793 square miles. Population: 284,110,693.
[2]
According to statistician Patrick Colquhoun, the total population of the Empire in 1814 was 61.15 Million. A Treatise on the Wealth, Power and Resources of the British Empire
398.4 million in 1901
[3]
[1]: https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2018
[2]: (Bartholomew 1877, v) John Bartholomew. 1877. Atlas of the British empire throughout the world. George Philip and Son. London.
[3]: Census of the British Empire, 1901: Report with Summary and Detailed Tables for the Several Colonies, &c. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1906.
People. Maddison Project Estimates
[1]
Alternate estimates: In 1877 CE? according to contemporary literature: Area: 8,754,793 square miles. Population: 284,110,693.
[2]
According to statistician Patrick Colquhoun, the total population of the Empire in 1814 was 61.15 Million. A Treatise on the Wealth, Power and Resources of the British Empire
398.4 million in 1901
[3]
[1]: https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2018
[2]: (Bartholomew 1877, v) John Bartholomew. 1877. Atlas of the British empire throughout the world. George Philip and Son. London.
[3]: Census of the British Empire, 1901: Report with Summary and Detailed Tables for the Several Colonies, &c. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1906.
levels.
1. Capital (London)
2. Large Cities (ie. Delhi)
3. Cities
4. Large Towns
5. Towns
6. Villages
7. Hamlets
"England, it is to be observed from a civil point of view, is divided int counties or shires, hundreds, or as they are termed in some of the northern counties, wapentakes...cities, tithings, towns or vills, (the last three of which, in a legal sense are synonymous, boroughs, and parishes."
[1]
[1]: (McCulloch 2011 [1837]: 263. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BCM2JGGW)
levels.
1. Commander-in-Chief (revived 1793)
[1]
2. Secretary at War (combined with Secretary of State for War in 1855, abolished in 1863)
[1]
2. Secretary of State for War. ("In 1870 the Commander in Chief became a subordinate officer."
[1]
)
3. Heads of specialist functions (inferred to be at similar levels)
4. High-ranking members of specialist functions (inferred to be at similar levels)
[1]: (National Archives of the UK 2007. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BW7Q7AXM)
[2]: (MacArthur 2009: 154. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/3NY37PHG)
[3]: (MacArthur 2009: 165. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/3NY37PHG)
[4]: (MacArthur 2009: 169. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/3NY37PHG)
[5]: (Rodger 2005: 622-627. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CIJFYY9I)
levels.
Central Government
1. Monarch
1. Prime Minister
2. High Ranking Members of Parliament: Chancellor, Treasurer, President of the King’s Council, Chief Justice, Chief Baron
[1]
3. Members of the House of Lords
[2]
[3]
3. Members of the House of Commons
[2]
[3]
4-7. Masters, Secretaries, Clerks, other Minor Officials
[4]
Colonial Office
2. Colonial Secretary (Colonial Office at Whitehall from 1811)
[5]
3. Officials in the Colonial Office
[5]
4-7. Masters, Secretaries, Clerks, other Minor Officials
[4]
Judicial
[6]
2. Lord High Chancellor (chief judge of the Court of Chancery, member of the House of Lords)
3. High-level judges
4. Local judges
5. Sheriff
6. Clerk of the Peace
7. Coroner
8. Magistrate
9. High Constable
10. Minor officers: Petty Constable, Gaoler, Bailiff, Executioner
Local Government (UK)
3. UK regional administrative units
4. High ranking local officials (inferred)
5. Minor Officials, Clerks, etc. (inferred)
Colonial Government
3. Governor (Proconsuls, and Viceroys)
3. East India Company
[5]
3. Protectorates
4. Colonial bureaucracies (e.g. Indian Civil Service)
4. Colonial executive and Legislative Councils
4. Indigenous rulers
5-9. Masters, Secretaries, Clerks, other Minor Officials (inferred)
5-9. Internal/Indigenous ruling sub-divisions (in India likely to be fairly extensive to village level: seven levels inferred in the preceding Mughal Empire, nine levels inferred in the Delhi Sultanate.)
[1]: (McCulloch 2011 [1837]: 264. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BCM2JGGW)
[2]: (Burroughs 1999) Peter Burroughs. Imperial institutions and the Government of Empire. Andrew Porter. ed. 1999. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume III: The Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[3]: (McCulloch 2011 [1837]: 219. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BCM2JGGW)
[4]: (McCulloch 2011 [1837]: 249. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BCM2JGGW)
[5]: (Marshall 2001: 24. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IT2S8JJ3)
[6]: (McCulloch 2011 [1837]: 263-70. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BCM2JGGW)
[7]: Kenneth J Panton. 2015. Historical Dictionary of the British Empire. Rowman & Littlefield. Lanham.
[8]: (Marshall 1996, 24) P J Marshall. 1783-1870: An Expanding Empire. P J Marshall. ed. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[9]: (Marshall 1996, 22) P J Marshall. The British Empire at the End of the Eighteenth Century. P J Marshall. ed. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
British Civil Service, colonial bureaucracies e.g. Indian Civil Service. In Britain, expanding system of full-time salaried bureaucrats; in India, a system of (mostly non-native) salaried officials known as the Indian Civil Service, introduced in 1858.
Official regulations covered "private property rights, the rule of law, trial by jury". [1] "In the case of Britain and the states that obtained independence from it, the two important components are Parliament as supreme law-maker and the nature and jurisdiction of courts." [2] . English common and statutory law, amended with colonial statutes wherever deemed necessary.
[1]: (Burroughs 1999) Peter Burroughs. Imperial institutions and the Government of Empire. Andrew Porter. ed. 1999. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume III: The Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Taucar 2014) Christopher Edward Taucar. 2014. The British System of Government and Its Historical Development. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Official regulations covered "private property rights, the rule of law, trial by jury". [1] "In the case of Britain and the states that obtained independence from it, the two important components are Parliament as supreme law-maker and the nature and jurisdiction of courts." [2]
[1]: (Burroughs 1999) Peter Burroughs. Imperial institutions and the Government of Empire. Andrew Porter. ed. 1999. The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume III: The Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Taucar 2014) Christopher Edward Taucar. 2014. The British System of Government and Its Historical Development. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
“As a revolution in urban governance swept Britain from the 1840s onward, a revolution in water supply and drainage infrastructure followed. The apogee of that movement was a water supply system called the gravitation scheme that reforming municipalities aspired to build. It entailed drastically reshaping landscapes in the hinterlands of cities by damming rivers, raising lakes, or flooding valleys and then piping water under pressure to sometimes distant cities; it also, promoters hoped, would reform urban environments and societies at the same time. Between 1840 and the end of the century, engineers in Britain executed it approximately one hundred times, but the gravitation scheme had a life beyond the bounds of Britain. In the second half of the nineteenth century, engineers—usually the very same individuals who had carried them out in Britain— introduced the scheme to cities such as Bombay, Colombo, Hong Kong, and Singapore. There, the gravitation scheme also had a transformative influence; it was a project of environmental and technical change that helped to solidify the modernizing colonial state.” [1]
[1]: Broich, Joseph. 2007. “Engineering the Empire: British Water Supply Systems and Colonial Societies, 1850-1900” Journal of British Studies 46: 347-365.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel engineered many bridges.
"The fact is, that the paper currency of the country cannot be on a perfectly sound footing until the issue of notes, whether by joint stock banks or private individuals, be suppressed. ... A paper currency is not in a sound or wholesome state, unless, 1st, means be taken to insure that each particular note or parcel of such currency be paid immediately on demand; and unless, 2nd, the whole currency vary in amount and value exactly as a metallic currency would do were the paper currency withdrawn and coins substituted in its stead. The last condition is quite as indispensable to the existence of a well-established currency as the former; and it is one that cannot be fuilly realized otherwise than by confining the issue of paper to a single source. It is easy to see that were paper issued only by the Bank of England, or some one source in London, and then only in exchange for bullion, the currency would be in its most perfect state, and would fluctuate exactly as it would do were it wholly metallic. But at present the currency is supplied by hundreds of individuals and associations, all actuated by diferent and frequently conflicting views and interests." [1]
[1]: (McCulloch 1847, 37) J R McCulloch. 1847. A Descriptive and Statistical Account of the British Empire. Third Edition. Volume II. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. London.
"The Coinage of the British Empire from the Earliest Period to the Present Time" Henry Noel Humphreys (1861). "Before the early nineteenth century the Royal Mint’s role was largely domestic. Britain’s North American colonies had gained the right to issue their own coinage ... while in South Asia the East India Company had been allowed since the late seventeeth century to ’purchase’ permission from local Indian rulers to reproduce coins that followed India as opposed to English conventions. For the Mint itself the eighteenth century was a period of relative stagnation: British silver and copper coinage was in a poor condition and was in short supply. ... The end of the Napoleonic wars, however, was followed by currency reform and in 1816-17 recoinage in Britain. In 1818 private coins were made illegal. ... The installation of Boulton’s steam-powered machinery, coupled with a French invention, the ’reducing machine’, which reproduced original coin designs by machine rather than by hand engraving, enabled for the first time the mass production of high-quality and homogenous copper coins and transformed the Mint itself into an ’industrial concern’. These changes coincided with the growth of a ’second’ British Empire and the Mint began producing more coins for overseas dependenies." [1]
[1]: (Stockwell 2018, 45-46) Sarah Stockwell. 2018. The British End of the British Empire. Cambridge University PRess. Cambridge.
"Before the early nineteenth century the Royal Mint’s role was largely domestic. Britain’s North American colonies had gained the right to issue their own coinage ... while in South Asia the East India Company had been allowed since the late seventeeth century to ’purchase’ permission from local Indian rulers to reproduce coins that followed India as opposed to English conventions." [1] "domestic British coin became increasingly an ’imperial currency’, circulating throughout much of the Empire. ... in the course of the nineteeth century, the Mint began producing a variety of dedicated colonial as well as other foreign coinages, designated ’private’ by the Mint, and paid for by the overseas customers. From 1883 the Treasury encouraged all colonies to obtain their local currencies from the Mint." [2]
[1]: (Stockwell 2018, 45-46) Sarah Stockwell. 2018. The British End of the British Empire. Cambridge University PRess. Cambridge.
[2]: (Stockwell 2018, 46) Sarah Stockwell. 2018. The British End of the British Empire. Cambridge University PRess. Cambridge.
This reference concerns possessions in South Africa: "...by horses and, in the ’twenties, by postcarts: a weekly postal service was set up in 1834. In 1852 there was a daily service from Cape Town to Paarl and Stellenbosh, thrice weekly to Grahamstown and twice weekly to the Karoo. The postcart also conveyed passengers. Following the issue of the famous three-cornered Capes in 1853, a penny post was established in limited areas in 1860 and four years later it was possible to extend it to the whole Colony. But, despite better roads, the ox-waggon remained the commercial vehicle and was still in use a century later." [1]
[1]: (? 1963, 795) ? in Eric A Walker. ed. 1963. The Cambridge History of the British Empire. Volume III. South Africa, Rhodesia and The High Commission Territories. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
This reference concerns possessions in South Africa: "...by horses and, in the ’twenties, by postcarts: a weekly postal service was set up in 1834. In 1852 there was a daily service from Cape Town to Paarl and Stellenbosh, thrice weekly to Grahamstown and twice weekly to the Karoo. The postcart also conveyed passengers. Following the issue of the famous three-cornered Capes in 1853, a penny post was established in limited areas in 1860 and four years later it was possible to extend it to the whole Colony. But, despite better roads, the ox-waggon remained the commercial vehicle and was still in use a century later." [1]
[1]: (? 1963, 795) ? in Eric A Walker. ed. 1963. The Cambridge History of the British Empire. Volume III. South Africa, Rhodesia and The High Commission Territories. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
This reference concerns possessions in South Africa: "...by horses and, in the ’twenties, by postcarts: a weekly postal service was set up in 1834. In 1852 there was a daily service from Cape Town to Paarl and Stellenbosh, thrice weekly to Grahamstown and twice weekly to the Karoo. The postcart also conveyed passengers. Following the issue of the famous three-cornered Capes in 1853, a penny post was established in limited areas in 1860 and four years later it was possible to extend it to the whole Colony. But, despite better roads, the ox-waggon remained the commercial vehicle and was still in use a century later." [1]
[1]: (? 1963, 795) ? in Eric A Walker. ed. 1963. The Cambridge History of the British Empire. Volume III. South Africa, Rhodesia and The High Commission Territories. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
"Engineers not only cut paths through forests, built fortified stations, and erected bridges, but they also provided telegraphic communications, aerial reconnaissance from balloons, and rail transportation in some operations." [1] 1856-1881 CE: Trenches used in warfare at this time. [2] Were more successful fighting Zulus standing behind barricades. [3]
[1]: (Spiers 1996, 197) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Barthorp 1988, 8) Michael Barthorp. 1988. The British Army on Campaign. 1856-1881. Osprey Publishing Ltd.
[3]: (Barthorp 1988, 14) Michael Barthorp. 1988. The British Army on Campaign. 1856-1881. Osprey Publishing Ltd.
Coded present as they were used by indigenous forces under British command? Why would the British use tension siege engines when they have cannon? Ed.
Coded present as they were used by indigenous forces under British command? Ed.
Used by indigenous forces under British command?
"The army profited, too, from an extensive rearmament during the last three decades of the nineteenth century. The introduction of breech-loading rifters (the snider and Martini-Henry) increased the rates of fire and enabled soldiers to fire from a prone position." Also introduced: "bolt mechanism and magazine, smaller calibre ammunition, and smokeless propellants (in the Lee-Enfield rifle)". "Finally, the army experimented with different machine-guns before adopting the relatively light and geniunely automatic Maxim machine-gun." [1] Illustration shows pistol. [2] 1860s, smoothbore muskets. 1880s, breach-loading rifles. Artillery: Muzzle-loading cannon; rifled & breach-loading artillery 1850s onwards; machine guns 1870s onwards [3]
[1]: (Spiers 1996, 196) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Barthorp 1988, Plate G) Michael Barthorp. 1988. The British Army on Campaign. 1856-1881. Osprey Publishing Ltd.
[3]: M.L. Wilkinson. "A Hundred Years of the British Army: Weapons and Equipment." Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Vol. 76, 1931. 300-310.
The Royal Artillery. [1] The Indian Mutiny "was the last major campaign fought with smoothbore guns, with limited range and accuracy largely unchanged since the Napoleonic Wars. The field batteries sent to China in 1860 were equipped with Armstrong 12-pdr. rifled breech-loaders ... the same gun and a 6-pdr. version was also used against the Maoris. Firing elongated, instead of spherical projectiles of shell, shrapnel and case with greatly enhanced accuracy and range - more accurate at two miles than a smoothbore equivalent." [2] "From 1871 the 9-pdr. and 16-pdr. [rifled muzzle-loader] became the standard field guns for horse and field batteries; their ranges respectively were 2000-3,300 yards and 1,800-4,000, depending on elevation." [2]
[1]: (Spiers 1996, 196) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Barthorp 1988, 12) Michael Barthorp. 1988. The British Army on Campaign. 1856-1881. Osprey Publishing Ltd.
Used by indigenous forces under British command?
Coded inferred present as they could be used by indigenous forces under British command? Ed.
Coded inferred present as they could be used by indigenous forces under British command? Ed.
Coded inferred present as they could be used by indigenous forces under British command? Ed.
Horses. [1] At the Battle of Omdurman of the Second Sudan War 1898 CE General Kitchener had "2,469 horses, 896 mules, 3,524 camels, and 229 donkeys." [2]
[1]: (Spiers 1996, 194) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Spiers 1996, 206) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
"As these campaigns placed a premium upon careful logistical preparations, Victorian commanders and their staffs became adept at calculating their supply, transport, and support arrangements. They repeatedly had to cope with difficulties of transportation, especially the variable quality of animals procured and the poor standards of animal husbandry in the field. They often had to procure vast numbers of animals (in Zululand, Lord Chelmsford ultimately employed 27,000 oxen and 5,000 mules to haul over 2,5000 vehicles), and had to adapt their transport to local circumstances. They employed bullock carts, elephants, and camels in India, waggons drawn by oxen and mules in southern Africa, bearers in west Africa, boats in Perak, and pack-animals in mountains and across roadless country." [1] Rifled-breech loaders "were soon transferred to elephants ... to form an improvised, and the first RA mountain battery". [2]
[1]: (Spiers 1996, 198) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Barthorp 1988, 12) Michael Barthorp. 1988. The British Army on Campaign. 1856-1881. Osprey Publishing Ltd.
"As these campaigns placed a premium upon careful logistical preparations, Victorian commanders and their staffs became adept at calculating their supply, transport, and support arrangements. They repeatedly had to cope with difficulties of transportation, especially the variable quality of animals procured and the poor standards of animal husbandry in the field. They often had to procure vast numbers of animals (in Zululand, Lord Chelmsford ultimately employed 27,000 oxen and 5,000 mules to haul over 2,5000 vehicles), and had to adapt their transport to local circumstances. They employed bullock carts, elephants, and camels in India, waggons drawn by oxen and mules in southern Africa, bearers in west Africa, boats in Perak, and pack-animals in mountains and across roadless country." [1] At the Battle of Omdurman of the Second Sudan War 1898 CE General Kitchener had "2,469 horses, 896 mules, 3,524 camels, and 229 donkeys." [2]
[1]: (Spiers 1996, 198) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Spiers 1996, 206) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
"As these campaigns placed a premium upon careful logistical preparations, Victorian commanders and their staffs became adept at calculating their supply, transport, and support arrangements. They repeatedly had to cope with difficulties of transportation, especially the variable quality of animals procured and the poor standards of animal husbandry in the field. They often had to procure vast numbers of animals (in Zululand, Lord Chelmsford ultimately employed 27,000 oxen and 5,000 mules to haul over 2,5000 vehicles), and had to adapt their transport to local circumstances. They employed bullock carts, elephants, and camels in India, waggons drawn by oxen and mules in southern Africa, bearers in west Africa, boats in Perak, and pack-animals in mountains and across roadless country." [1] At the Battle of Omdurman of the Second Sudan War 1898 CE General Kitchener had "2,469 horses, 896 mules, 3,524 camels, and 229 donkeys." [2]
[1]: (Spiers 1996, 198) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Spiers 1996, 206) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
"The foreign service helmet was introduced in 1877. Made of cork covered in khaki cloth, it was usually worn with the curtain or neck protector. The tunic was also of khaki cloth ... Trousers were of the same material and were worn with puttees." [1]
[1]: Christopher Wilkinson-Latham. 1977. The Boar War. Osprey Publishing.
Illustration "Officer, Bengal Horse Artillery" shows knee-high (leather?) boots. [1] "Whereas the 8th had worn their trousers loose, the 67th adopted puttees (from a Hindi word meaning bandages) to support and protect the leg, as worn by Indian troops and soon widespread among the British. Pictorial evidence suggests, however, that puttees were not necessarily worn at all times." [2] Steel cuirasses worn mainly for ceremonial purposes/use. [3]
[1]: (Barthorp 1988, Plate B) Michael Barthorp. 1988. The British Army on Campaign. 1856-1881. Osprey Publishing Ltd.
[2]: (Barthorp 1988, 37) Michael Barthorp. 1988. The British Army on Campaign. 1856-1881. Osprey Publishing Ltd.
[3]: Richard Knotel, Herbert Knotel, Jr., & Herbert Sieg. Uniforms of the World: A Compendium of Army, Navy and Air Force Uniforms, 1700-1937. New York: Scribner’s, 1980.
"Practical considerations, however, prevailed during the South African campaigns and fighting men in the Boer War needed the large shady hat of soft felt with brim that could be lowered to shield eyes or nape ... The soft khaki felt hat of the Boer War proved acceptable and comfortable and its shape was retained for the the Civil Imperial Volunteers. ... At the outbreak of the First World War the peaked cap proved a light and practical form of headwear for all ranks, but under shellfire the metal helmet (or ’tin hat’) protected the head against shrapnel." [1] "The foreign service helmet was introduced in 1877. Made of cork covered in khaki cloth, it was usually worn with the curtain or neck protector. The tunic was also of khaki cloth ... Trousers were of the same material and were worn with puttees." [2]
[1]: Hilda Amphlett.1974 (2003). Hats: A History of Fashion in Headwear. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola.
[2]: Christopher Wilkinson-Latham. 1977. The Boar War. Osprey Publishing.
"Practical considerations, however, prevailed during the South African campaigns and fighting men in the Boer War needed the large shady hat of soft felt with brim that could be lowered to shield eyes or nape ... The soft khaki felt hat of the Boer War proved acceptable and comfortable and its shape was retained for the the Civil Imperial Volunteers. ... At the outbreak of the First World War the peaked cap proved a light and practical form of headwear for all ranks, but under shellfire the metal helmet (or ’tin hat’) protected the head against shrapnel." [1] "The Home Service pattern helmet, generally known as the ’Blue Cloth’ helmet, was introduced by General Order 40 of May 1878, and replaced the shako that had been worn since 1869. The fittings, spike, plate, rosettes and chinchain were all in brass." [2] "The foreign service helmet was introduced in 1877. Made of cork covered in khaki cloth, it was usually worn with the curtain or neck protector. The tunic was also of khaki cloth ... Trousers were of the same material and were worn with puttees." [2] "Crealock’s sketches confirm this dress for the infantry and show the King’s Dragoon Guards in brass, plume-less helmets with turbans, or probably later in the campaign, airpipe helmets, tunics and booted overalls or, for officers, long boots pulled on over their trousers." [3]
[1]: Hilda Amphlett.1974 (2003). Hats: A History of Fashion in Headwear. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola.
[2]: Christopher Wilkinson-Latham. 1977. The Boar War. Osprey Publishing.
[3]: (Barthorp 1988, 24, 33) Michael Barthorp. 1988. The British Army on Campaign. 1856-1881. Osprey Publishing Ltd.
At the Battle of Omdurman of the Second Sudan War 1898 CE General Kitchener "had at his disposal 44 guns and 20 machine-guns on land, and another 36 guns and 24 machine-guns on gunboats". [1]
[1]: (Spiers 1996, 206) Edward Spiers. The Late Victorian Army 1868-1914. David G Chandler. Ian Beckett. eds. 1996. The Oxford History of the British Army. Oxford University Press. Oxford.