Amateur Armies : Militias and Volunteers in War and Peace, 1797–1961

Covers amateur armies during the French Revolutionary Wars, the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War, the Boer War, the pre-1914 conflict in Ireland, the Spanish Civil War and the Bay of Pigs. Amateur Armies examines the military and social history of volunteer armies around the western world from the failed French invasion of South Wales in 1797 to the disastrous anti-Communist invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba in 1961. It brings together some fascinating military actions across more than a century and a half of history and explores the social and political context in the countries involved. Stephen Cullen’s absorbing and original book is the first general survey of the role of amateur armies during the period. Included are chapters on a series of wars in which militias played critical parts. In each case, their actions and effectiveness are described as is the background from which they came, and the social and political circumstances in which they operated. This pioneering study offers a valuable insight into each of the amateur armies covered and opens up an important and hitherto neglected aspect of military history. A history of volunteer armies spanning from the French Revolutionary Wars and the War of 1812 to pre-1914 Ireland and the Bay of Pigs.Amateur Armies examines the military and social history of volunteer armies around the western world from the failed French invasion of South Wales in 1797 to the disastrous anti-Communist invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba in 1961.It brings together some fascinating military actions across more than a century and a half of history and explores the social and political context in the countries involved. Stephen Cullen's absorbing and original book is the first general survey of the role of amateur armies during the period.Included are chapters on a series of wars in which militias played critical parts. In each case, their actions and effectiveness are described as is the background from which they came, and the social and political circumstances in which they operated. This pioneering study offers a valuable insight into each of the amateur armies covered and opens up an important and hitherto neglected aspect of military history. Cover Book title Copyright Table of contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements 1. From Wales to Cuba, 1797–1961 2. Fishguard, 1797: Militia, Fencibles, and Volunteers 3. The War of 1812: War, Society and Politics – Militias in the United States and Canada, 1812–15 4. The Rifle Volunteers: The ‘Wonder of the Age’, the Victorian Amateur Soldier Plate section 5. The Spanish-American War, Cuba 1898 6. Spain, 1936–39: Ideological War and Murder; Militias in the Spanish Civil War 7. Cuba 1960–61: Defending the Revolution – From the Escambray Mountains to the Bay of Pigs 8. Amateurs in the Age of the Professional Notes Bibliography Index Back cover Pioneering study of amateur armies from the late eighteenth century to the Bay of Pigs in 1961. Insight into the military, social and political circumstances that gave rise to amateur armies