1 January 1805

1 June 1805

Expeditionary Forces

Bibliography

State of the British Army in 1805

By Ron McGuigan & Robert Burnham, FINS

The British Army in 1805, had approximately 161,000 Regulars, which were backed by a 90,000 man militia force. On 1 January 1805, these forces included:

Cavalry	20,316
Artillery and Engineers	17,109
Infantry	124,531
Militia	89,809

Although on paper, this appears to be a fairly strong force, over one third of the regulars were deployed in garrisons in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, and the West Indies. Furthermore, at any given time, 10 - 12,000 men were in transit between their home garrisons in the British Isles and their new posts or vice versa.

1 January 1805

Location		Strength
Mediterranean	Gibraltar	4,586 (512 Artillery & 4,074 Infantry)
	Malta	6,490 (456 Artillery & 6,034 Infantry)
West Indies	Leeward Islands & On Passage	11,240 (726 Artillery 10,514 Infantry)
	Jamaica	4,175 (340 Artillery & 3,835 Infantry
	Bahamas	473 (39 Artillery & 434 Infantry)
North America	Canada	4,194 (412 Artillery & 3,782 Infantry)
	Honduras	927 Infantry
East Indies	East Indies	15,818 (2,296 Cavalry & 13,522 Infantry)
	Ceylon	6,724 (260 Artillery & 6,464 Infantry)
Australia	New South Wales	490 Infantry
Africa	Goree	344 Infantry
United Kingdom	Great Britain	57,678 (14,857 Cavalry, 4,708 Artillery, & 38,113 Infantry)
	Channel Islands	8,408 (112 Artillery & 7,296 Infantry)
	Militia in Great Britain	70,386
	Ireland	34,087 (4,070 Cavalry, 968 Artillery, 29,049 Infantry)
	Militia in Ireland	19,423

By the beginning of June there was a further increase in the number of troops deployed overseas, with another 6,000 soldiers going to various garrisons. This trend would continue for the rest of the Napoleonic wars, where eventually there would be more troops deployed overseas than at home.

1 June 1805

Location		Strength
Mediterranean	Gibraltar	3,318
	Malta	6,680
West Indies	Leeward Islands	11,904
	Jamaica	3,591
	Bahamas	589
North America	Canada	1,519
	Nova Scotia, etc.	2,367
East Indies	East Indies	11,998
	Ceylon	6,870
United Kingdom	Great Britain	64,614
	Ireland	29,236
	Militia in Great Britain & Ireland	76,724
On Passage		12,442

Between 1 January and 1 July the total forces abroad increased from 51,034 to 61,485 men, exclusive of the artillerymen (3,248) and military artificers (259).

Expeditionary Forces

In July, Prime Minister Castlereagh instructed the Commander-in-Chief to form a disposable force of 30,000-50,000 infantry and 8,000-10,000 cavalry. They were to be stationed near Cork, Portsmouth, and East Kent. A fleet would always be available to move about 10,000 men in one lift.

Four expeditions were planned or sent out from England in 1805, one under Eyre Coote to the West Indies; a second under James Craig to Malta and Sicily; a third under David Baird to the Mediterranean and then subsequently to the Cape of Good Hope; and the fourth under Lord Cathcart to Hanover. The year 1806 saw numerous small actions by these forces: in January the British captured the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch and then occupied Buenos Aires, Argentina five months later. In the Mediterranean, British forces from Sicily, attacked the Italian mainland and defeated the French forces under General Reynier at Maida, while another force landed in northern Germany.

Bibliography

British Sessional Papers House of Commons; 1805; Volume VIII.

Fortescue, John. The County Lieutenancies and the Army: 1803-1814 London : MacMillan; 1909.

Haythornthwaite, Philip J. The Napoleonic Sourcebook New York : Facts on File; 1990. 

Placed on the Napoleon Series: June 2000