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Enlistment Act 1794

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Enlistment Act 1794
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn act to enable subjects of France to enlist as soldiers in regiments to serve on the continent of Europe, and in certain other places; and to enable his Majesty to grant commissions to subjects of France, to serve and receive pay as officers in such regiments, or as engineers under certain conditions
Citation34 Geo. 3 c. 43
Introduced byWilliam Pitt the Younger
Territorial extent Great Britain
Dates
Royal assent9 May 1794
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Enlistment Act 1794 (also known as the Emigrant Corps Bill or Act) allowed the British government to create regiments of émigrés from France. This specific legislation was needed to enlist men who were not British subjects in the British Army and to allow George III to commission foreigners as officers. The Act was a major break from the military conventions about enlisting soldiers from other states in the Eighteenth Century.[1] The Act expired with the Peace of Amiens.

Background and Need for the Act

For broader coverage of this topic, see French emigration (1789–1815) and French émigrés.

Many of those who fled France in the wake of the French Revolution were soldiers and officers of the French Royal Army. With the outbreak of French Revolutionary Wars in 1792 émigré nobles set up units and formed Armée des émigrés. Soon after the France declaration of war on Britain in February 1793, émigré officers also offered to raise units for the British Army. The British government welcomed the additional manpower.[2]

The first unit to be raised was the Loyal Emigrant Regiment [fr] by Louis, duc de La Chastre.[3] To avoid political problems, the officers were commissioned by George III as Elector of Hanover and then they were transferred to British pay.[4] This arrangement was not practical for further offers, so new legislation was introduced to allow émigré units to be raised and maintained directly by Britain.

As the French officers of these units were Catholic, they needed exemptions from British laws against Catholics. Also, throughout the Eighteenth Century, many British MPs has been hostile to employing foreign troops within the British Army.[5]

Debates in Parliament

The were significant debates in the House of Commons about the "Bill to enable subjects of France to enlist as Soldiers". The political arguments focused on two areas. Firstly, there were concerns over the government using foreign troops within the British isles, which was seen as a threat to British political liberty. Secondly, that by recruiting Frenchmen Britain was changing the nature of the war with France, and showing that it wanted to overturn the French Revolutionary government. Charles James Fox, one of the MPs who said most on this, thought the war would be longer and more violent as a result, and negotiating a peace much harder. Despite these concerns being raised in Parliament, the government had enough of a majority for the bill to pass, although votes where held at each stage.[6]

Passage through Parliament

  • Ordered: 7 April 1794[7]
  • Presented and read; ordered to be printed: 8 April 1794[8]
  • Committed: 11 April 1794[9]
  • Considered: 14 April 1794[10]
  • Reported; to be ingrossed; day appointed for Third Reading: 16 April 1794[11]
  • Passed: 17 April 1794[12]
  • Agreed to in the House of Lords: 6 May 1794[13]
  • Received Royal Assent: 9 May 1794[14]

Summary of the Act

Sources about the Act

Parliamentary debates: The Parliamentary history of England from the earliest period to the year 1803. Vol. 31. London: T. C. Hansard. 1818. pp. 373–432.

Notes

  1. ^ Linch, Kevin (2012). "The Politics of Foreign Recruitment in Britain during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars". In Arielli, Nir; Collins, Bruce (eds.). Transnational Soldiers: Foreign Military Enlistment in the Modern Era. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 59–60. doi:10.1057/9781137296634_4. ISBN 9780230319684.
  2. ^ Linch, Kevin (2012). "The Politics of Foreign Recruitment in Britain during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars". In Arielli, Nir; Collins, Bruce (eds.). Transnational Soldiers: Foreign Military Enlistment in the Modern Era. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 57. doi:10.1057/9781137296634_4. ISBN 9780230319684.
  3. ^ Atkinson, C. T. (1943). "Foreign Regiments in The British Army, 1793-1802: Part II—The Continent, 1793-1802". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 22 (85): 3. ISSN 0037-9700. JSTOR 44219955. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  4. ^ Atkinson, C. T. (1944). "Foreign Regiments in The British Army, 1793-1802: Part VI—Notes on Each Corps or Regiment, Section II—Du Dressnay's to Maclean's Chasseurs". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 22 (90): 244. ISSN 0037-9700. JSTOR 44228347. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  5. ^ Clode, Charles Mathew (1869). The military forces of the crown: their administration and government. Vol. 2. London: J. Murray. pp. 432–436. OCLC 7601126.
  6. ^ Linch, Kevin (2012). "The Politics of Foreign Recruitment in Britain during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars". In Arielli, Nir; Collins, Bruce (eds.). Transnational Soldiers: Foreign Military Enlistment in the Modern Era. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 59–60. doi:10.1057/9781137296634_4. ISBN 9780230319684.
  7. ^ The Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 49. Re-printed by Order of The House of Commons. 1803. p. 429.
  8. ^ The Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 49. Re-printed by Order of The House of Commons. 1803. p. 441.
  9. ^ The Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 49. Re-printed by Order of The House of Commons. 1803. p. 458.
  10. ^ The Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 49. Re-printed by Order of The House of Commons. 1803. p. 464.
  11. ^ The Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 49. Re-printed by Order of The House of Commons. 1803. pp. 478–479.
  12. ^ The Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 49. Re-printed by Order of The House of Commons. 1803. p. 487.
  13. ^ The Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 49. Re-printed by Order of The House of Commons. 1803. p. 558.
  14. ^ The Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 49. Re-printed by Order of The House of Commons. 1803. p. 568.
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