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A Recruiting Party

Image credit: National Army Museum

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As the British Government did not introduce conscription during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), the Army struggled to fill its ranks. Apart from the risk of injury or death inherent in a military career, disparity in pay was a major factor in turning potential recruits towards civilian occupations instead. Where a private could earn seven shillings per week in 1806, a dockworker could expect to earn 28 shillings. Although the Army recruited extensively from the militia, recruitment parties had to resort to all sorts of questionable methods in order to ‘persuade’ men to enlist when they visited taverns and markets.

National Army Museum

London

Title

A Recruiting Party

Date

1805

Medium

oil on panel

Measurements

H 46.7 x W 31.8 cm

Accession number

NAM. 1986-03-8

Acquisition method

purchased at Christie’s, 1986

Work type

Painting

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National Army Museum

Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London, Greater London SW3 4HT England

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