government of India, led to important changes. The East India Company's
white troops were amalgamated with the Queen's army, and the whole
reorganized (see _Indian Army_ below).
The fact that such difficulties as those of 1854 and 1857, not to speak
of the disorders of 1848, had been surmounted by the weak army which
remained over from the reductions of forty years, coupled with the
instantaneous and effective rejoinder to the threats of the French
colonels in 1859--the creation of the Volunteer Force--certainly lulled
the nation and its representatives into a false sense of security. Thus
the two obvious lessons of the German successes of 1866 and 1870--the
power of a national army for offensive invasion, and the rapidity with
which such an army when thoroughly organized could be moved--created the
greatest sensation in England. The year 1870 is, therefore, of prime
importance in the history of the regular forces of the crown. The
strength of the home forces at different times between 1815 and 1870 is
given as follows (Biddulph, _Lord Cardwell at the War Office_):--
+------+-----------------+--------------+-------------+
| | Regulars. | Auxiliaries. | Field Guns. |
+------+-----------------+--------------+-------------+
| 1820 | 64,426 | 60,740 | 22 |
| 1830 | 50,876 | 34,614 | 30 |
| 1840 | 53,379 | 20,791 | 30 |
| 1850 | 68,538 | 29,868 | 70 |
| 1860 | 100,701 | 229,301 | 180 |
| 1870 | 89,051 | 281,692 | 180 |
| | (later 109,000) | | |
+------+-----------------+--------------+-------------+