History of the British Army which led to the Cardwell and Childers Reforms of the late 19th century. These gave the British Army its modern shape, and defined its regimental system. The Esher Report in 1904, recommended radical reform of the British Army, such as the creation of an Army Council, a General Staff and the abolition of the office of Commander in Chief of the Forces and the creation of a Chief of the General Staff. The Haldane Reforms in 1907, created an expeditionary force of seven divisions, it also reorganized the volunteers into a new Territorial Force of fourteen cavalry brigades and fourteen
Recruitment in the British Army soldiers were usually recruited into indigenous regiments, such as the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, to garrison their own land, thus ensuring that the Army did not have to allocate its own units to garrison the territories. One of the oldest regiments raised from the empire was the West India Regiment, which was raised in 1795, and was formed as an integral part of the regular British Army. The recruits of the West India Regiment were originally raised from freed slaves from North America and by the purchase of slaves in the West Indies; the regiment was disbanded in 1927.