The Volunteer Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army


The Volunteers from 1859 to 1880

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In the years 1859-1861 the volunteer movement created many Rifle and Artillery Volunteers Corps all over Britain. Some of the Rifle Corps were raised as Mounted Rifle Corps. Later also, more cavalry like, Light Horse Corps. As the latter had more prestige some of the Mounted Rifle units converted to Light Horse.

Counties got a precedence and a number in the sequence of the date of acceptance of the first corps in a county. Thus there were different numberings for Mounted Rifles and Light Horse. The corps were numbered inside each county in the sequence they were accepted. Below are two tables, one for each of the categories, but many units are represented in both.

Interest waned and by 1881 most corps had gone. Only the Fife and the Forfar Light Horse made it into a new area as Imperial Yeomanry.

Contents
- Mounted Rifle Volunteer Corps -
- Light Horse Volunteer Corps -
 

- Mounted Rifle Volunteer Corps -
 
Alphabtic index of counties
Cambridgesghire Elgin Hampshire Norfolk Wiltshire
Derbyshire Essex Huntingdonshire Northamptonshire
Devonshire Fifeshire Lancashire Roxburgshire
Dumfriesshire Glamorganshire Lincolnshire Surrey
 
1. Huntingdonshire
1860: 1st Huntingdonshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 1st Huntingdonshire Light Horse VC (see below)
 
2. Devonshire
1860: 1st Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps→ → 1878: disbanded
1860: 2nd Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps→ 1861: disbanded
1860: 3rd Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps→ → 1873: absorbed by 1st Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps
1860: 4th Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps→ 1865: 3rd Devonshire Light Horse (see below)
1860: 5th Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps→ 1861: 1st Devonshire Light Horse (see below)
1860: 6th Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps→ → 1875: disbanded
1860: 7th Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps→ 1865: 2nd Devonshire Light Horse (see below)
 
3. Wiltshire
1860: 1st Wiltshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: absorbed by 6th Wiltshire RVC
 
4. Lancashire
1860: 1st Lancashire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 1st Lancashire Light Horse VC (see below)
 
5. Surrey
1860: 1st Surrey Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 1st Surrey Light Horse VC (see below)
 
6. Northamptonshire
1860: 1st Northamptonshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1869: disbanded
 
7. Cambridgeshire
1860: 1st Cambridgeshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1865: disbanded
1860: 2nd Cambridgeshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1863: disbanded
 
8. Hampshire
1860: 1st Hampshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 1st Hampshire Light Horse VC (see below)
from 1st Hampshire Light Horse VC→ 1863: 1st Hampshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1877: disbanded
1861: 2nd Hampshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 2nd Hampshire Light Horse VC (see below)
 
9. Fifeshire
1860: 1st Fifeshire Mounted Rifle VC→ → 1870: 1st Fifeshire Light Horse VC (see below)
 
10. Lincolnshire
1860: 1st Lincolnshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: disbanded
 
11. Derbyshire
1860: 1st Derbyshire Mounted Rifle VC→ → 1871: disbanded
 
12. Glamorganshire
1861: 1st Glamorgan Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 1st Glamorgan Light Horse VC (see below)
 
13. Essex
1860: 1st Essex Mounted Rifle VC→ 1862: disbanded
 
14. Norfolk
1861: 1st Norfolk Mounted Rifle VC→ 1862: 1st Norfolk Light Horse VC (see below)
 
14. Elgin
1868: 1st Elgin Mounted Rifle VC→ 1871: disbanded
 
15. Roxburghshire
1872: 1st Roxburgh Mounted Rifle VC→ 1880: 1st Border Mounted Rifle VC→ 1890: disbanded
 
16. Dumfriesshire
1874: 1st Dumfriesshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1880: disbanded
 

- Light Horse Volunteer Corps -
 
Alphabtic index of counties
Devonshire Gloucestershire Lancashire Oxfordshire
Fifeshire Hampshire Lincolnshire Surrey
Forfarshire Hertfordshire Middlesex Sussex
Glamorganshire Huntingdonshire Norfolk
 
1. Huntingdonshire
from 1st Huntingdonshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 1st Huntingdonshire Light Horse VC→ 1882: disbanded
 
2. Devonshire
from 5th Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps→ 1861: 1st Devonshire Light Horse→ 1876: disbanded
from 7th Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps→ 1865: 2nd Devonshire Light Horse→ 1875: disbanded
from 4th Devonshire Mounted Rifle Corps→ 1865: 3rd Devonshire Light Horse→ 1875: disbanded
 
3. Lancashire
from 1st Lancashire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 1st Lancashire Light Horse VC→ 1873: disbanded
1860: 2nd Lancashire Light Horse VC→ 1874: disbanded
 
4. Surrey
from 1st Surrey Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 1st Surrey Light Horse VC→ 1868: disbanded
 
5. Hampshire
from 1st Hampshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1860: 1st Hampshire Light Horse VC→ 1863: 1st Hampshire Mounted Rifle VC (see above)
from 2nd Hampshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 2nd Hampshire Light Horse VC→ 1865: disbanded
 
6. Glamorganshire
from 1st Glamorgan Mounted Rifle VC→ 1861: 1st Glamorgan Light Horse VC→ 1873: disbanded
 
7. Middlesex
1861: 1st Middlesex Light Horse VC→ 1866: disbanded
1861: 2nd Middlesex Light Horse VC→ 1861: absorbed by 1st Middlesex Light Horse VC
 
8. Norfolk
from 1st Norfolk Mounted Rifle VC→ 1862: 1st Norfolk Light Horse VC→ 1867: disbanded
 
9. Hertfordshire
1862: 1st Hertfordshire Light Horse VC→ 1879: disbanded
 
10. Oxfordshire
1864: 1st Oxfordshire Light Horse VC→ 1870: disbanded
 
11. Gloucestershire
1864: 1st Gloucestershire Light Horse VC→ 1867: disbanded
 
12. Lincolnshire
1867: 1st Lincolnshire Light Horse VC→ 1887: disbanded
 
13. Fifeshire
from 1st Fifeshire Mounted Rifle VC→ 1870: 1st Fifeshire Light Horse VC→ 1901: merged into
The Fifeshire and Forfarshire Imperial Yeomanry
 
14. Sussex
1871: 1st Sussex Light Horse VC→ 1875: disbanded
 
15. Forfarshire
1876: 1st Forfarshire Light Horse VC→ 1901: merged into
The Fifeshire and Forfarshire Imperial Yeomanry
 

The Yeomanry Cavalry and Light Horse Volunteers in 1895 - 1900

The Companies of the Imperial Yeomanry during the Second Boer War

The Regiments of the Imperial Yeomanry 1903

The Territorial Force Mounted Brigades 1910-14

The Yeomanry Regiments of the Territorial Force (TF) and the Special Reserve in 1914

The Creation of the Territorial Army (TA) from 1920 to 1922

The Regiments of the Territorial Army (TA) in 1939

The Recreation of the Territorial Army (TA) in 1947

The Reductions from 1947 and 1961

The Regiments of the Territorial Army (TA) in 1961

The Regiments of the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) in 1967

The Royal Armoured Corps Regiments of the Territorial Army in 2010

The Royal Armoured Corps Regiments of the Army Reserve in 2023

Alphabetical List of the Regiments

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The Volunteer Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army
The Regiments and Corps of the British army
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