Although Britain was at war for much of the eighteenth century, the nature of the relationship between military activity and British society was defined by circumstances which dictated that very little armed conflict actually took place on home soil. Britons were fortunate that their geographical position helped to protect them from some of the most damaging effects of war. The Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745, together with a few failed invasion attempts, represented only brief and short-lived experiences of war at first hand. Moreover, Britain did not suffer demographic loss, devastation and destruction on anything like the scale of those European states whose territories provided the arenas where large armies manoeuvred and fought (Anderson, 1989: 136–8).

These circumstances ensured that the wartime experiences of British civilians, especially those in England and Wales, were quite different from many of their continental counterparts who found that the structures and rhythms of their everyday life were repeatedly disrupted by the prosecution and consequences of war. Richard Price, the Dissenting minister and moral philosopher, paid particular attention to this when he preached a sermon on the Day of General Thanksgiving that followed the great victories of 1759, and his comments bear testimony to Britain's general good fortune in war during the eighteenth century. Observing that the nation was secure behind its ocean wall, he declared that ‘We live in the quiet and full possession of all our properties and blessings, without being in any danger from the inroads of enemies.’