Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub - units of the British Territorial Army , descended from volunteer cavalry regiments . Today Yeomanry units may serve in a variety of different military roles . History . In the 1790s , the threat of invasion of the Kingdom of Great Britain was high , after the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte . In order to improve the country ' s defences , volunteer regiments were raised in many counties from yeomen . The word " yeoman " refers to small farmers who owned the land they cultivated as opposed to peasants , but the officers were drawn from the nobility and many of the men were their tenants . These regiments became known collectively as the Yeomanry . Members of the yeomanry were not obliged to serve overseas without their individual consent . During the first half of the nineteenth century , Yeomanry Regiments were used extensively in support of the civil authority to quell riots and civil disturbances ( including the Peterloo Massacre ) , but as police forces took over this role , the Yeomanry concentrated on local defence . During the Second Boer War , companies of Imperial Yeomanry were formed to serve overseas from volunteers from the Yeomanry . In 1901 all yeomanry regiments were redesignated as " Imperial Yeomanry " , and reorganised . In 1908 , the Imperial Yeomanry was merged with the Volunteer Force to form the Territorial Force , of which it became the cavalry arm . The " Imperial " title was dropped at the same time . Following the First World War the Territorial Force was redesignated as the Territorial Army . Following the experience of the war , only the fourteen senior yeomanry regiments retained their horses , with the rest being reroled as armoured car companies , artillery , engineers or signals . Two regiments were disbanded . The converted units retained their yeomanry traditions , with some artillery regiments having individual batteries representing different yeomanry units . On the eve of the Second World War the Territorial Army was doubled in size , with duplicate units formed , this led to some regiments being de - amalgamated . The last mounted regiment of yeomanry was the Queen ' s Own Yorkshire Dragoons , who were converted to an armoured role in March 1942 . Volunteers from the Yeomanry served in the Long Range Desert Group from 1940 through to 1943 , incorporated into " Y Patrol " . There were reductions in the size of the TA in 1957 and 1961 and this led to amalgamation of some pairs of yeomanry regiments . There was a major reduction in reserve forces in 1967 with the formation of the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve , and all existing yeomanry regiments were reduced to squadron , company or battery sub - units . A number of further reorganisations have taken place in the intervening years . Current Yeomanry Regiments . Today , in the modern Territorial Army , there are many former Yeomanry regiments serving in one form or another , usually as a squadron / battery that is part of a larger unit : Yeomanry Regiments with more than one unit . Most of the old yeomanry regiments are perpetuated through a single unit , be it an armoured , engineers or signal squadron , or an artillery battery . However , there are seven yeomanry regiments that maintain more than one unit :