# Recruiting Act 1778 > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Recruiting_Act_1778 > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Recruiting_Act_1778.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recruiting_Act_1778 > Source revision: 1338193198 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Act of the Parliament of Great Britain Recruiting Act 1778 Act of Parliament Parliament of Great Britain Long title An Act for the more easy and better recruiting of his Majesty's land forces and marines. Citation 18 Geo. 3. c. 53 Territorial extent Great Britain Dates Royal assent 28 May 1778 Commencement 20 November 1777[a] Repealed 26 November 1778 Other legislation Repealed by Recruiting Act 1779 Relates to Recruiting Act 1703 Status: Repealed Text of statute as originally enacted The **Recruiting Act 1778** ([18 Geo. 3](/source/18_Geo._3). c. 53) was an [act](/source/Act_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) of the [Parliament of Great Britain](/source/Parliament_of_Great_Britain), which created a bounty system for [volunteers](/source/Volunteers) and instituted [impressment](/source/Impressment) to recruit more soldiers for the [Army](/source/British_Army) and [Royal Marines](/source/Royal_Marines). The act received royal assent on 28 May 1778. ## Background After the losses at the [Battle of Saratoga](/source/Battle_of_Saratoga) in the [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) and the apprehended hostilities with [France](/source/Kingdom_of_France), the existing voluntary enlistment measures were judged to be insufficient. ## The act It provided that each volunteer receive a bounty of £3, and that he should be entitled to discharge after three years unless the nation were at war. It also empowered the [justices of the peace](/source/Justices_of_the_peace) to levy and deliver to the recruiting officers "all able-bodied idle, and disorderly persons, who could not upon examination prove themselves to exercise and industrially follow some lawful trade or employment, or to have some substance sufficient for their support and maintenance". A reward of 10s. was offered to the discoverer of any person liable within the provisions of the Act. Impressed men could demand discharge after five years, unless the nation were at war. Geographically its operation was confined, by the direction of the [Secretary for War](/source/Secretary_for_War), to [Scotland](/source/Scotland) and to "the [City of London](/source/City_of_London), the city and liberties of [Westminster](/source/Westminster), and such parts of the County of [Middlesex](/source/Middlesex) as are within the Bills of Mortality". The chief advantage of this Act was in the number of volunteers brought in under the apprehension of [impressment](/source/Impressment). ## Repeal The whole act was repealed by section 1 of the [Recruiting Act 1779](/source/Recruiting_Act_1779) ([19 Geo. 3](/source/19_Geo._3). c. 10), which replaced that act. ## See also - [Recruiting Act 1703](/source/Recruiting_Act_1703) ## Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Start of session. ## References ## Bibliography - Curtis, Edward (1972). *The Organization of the British Army in the American Revolution*. EP. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0854099069](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0854099069). v t e Legislation of the Parliament of Great Britain Acts by year 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 Acts by parliament and session 1 (1) 2 (1, 2) 3 (1, 2, 3) 4 (1, 2) 5 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) 6 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) 7 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) 8 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) 9 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) 10 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) 11 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) 12 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) 13 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) 14 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) 15 (1, 2, 3, 4) 16 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) 17 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) 18 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Acts by regnal year Anne 6 Ann. 7 Ann. 8 Ann. 9 Ann. 10 Ann. 12 Ann. 13 Ann. George I 1 Geo. 1. St. 1 1 Geo. 1. St. 2 3 Geo. 1 4 Geo. 1 5 Geo. 1 6 Geo. 1 7 Geo. 1. St. 1 7 Geo. 1. St. 2 8 Geo. 1 9 Geo. 1 10 Geo. 1 11 Geo. 1 12 Geo. 1 13 Geo. 1 George II 1 Geo. 2. St. 1 1 Geo. 2. St. 2 2 Geo. 2 3 Geo. 2 4 Geo. 2 5 Geo. 2 6 Geo. 2 7 Geo. 2 8 Geo. 2 9 Geo. 2 10 Geo. 2 11 Geo. 2 12 Geo. 2 13 Geo. 2 14 Geo. 2 15 Geo. 2 16 Geo. 2 17 Geo. 2 18 Geo. 2 19 Geo. 2 20 Geo. 2 21 Geo. 2 22 Geo. 2 23 Geo. 2 24 Geo. 2 25 Geo. 2 26 Geo. 2 27 Geo. 2 27 & 28 Geo. 2 28 Geo. 2 29 Geo. 2 30 Geo. 2 31 Geo. 2 32 Geo. 2 33 Geo. 2 George III 1 Geo. 3 2 Geo. 3 3 Geo. 3 4 Geo. 3 5 Geo. 3 6 Geo. 3 7 Geo. 3 8 Geo. 3 8 Geo. 3. Sess. 2 9 Geo. 3 10 Geo. 3 11 Geo. 3 12 Geo. 3 13 Geo. 3 14 Geo. 3 15 Geo. 3 16 Geo. 3 17 Geo. 3 18 Geo. 3 19 Geo. 3 20 Geo. 3 21 Geo. 3 22 Geo. 3 23 Geo. 3 24 Geo. 3. Sess. 1 24 Geo. 3. Sess. 2 25 Geo. 3 26 Geo. 3 27 Geo. 3 28 Geo. 3 29 Geo. 3 30 Geo. 3 31 Geo. 3 32 Geo. 3 33 Geo. 3 34 Geo. 3 35 Geo. 3 36 Geo. 3 37 Geo. 3 38 Geo. 3 39 Geo. 3 39 & 40 Geo. 3 41 Geo. 3. (G.B.) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Recruiting Act 1778](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recruiting_Act_1778) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recruiting_Act_1778?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.