yeomanry

n. independent farmers; landowners; horsemen of the national guard (England)

The Yeomanry were units of mounted volunteers, first raised in Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, to defend against invasion from abroad or revolution at home.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, 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.
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Noun
1. class of small freeholders who cultivated their own land
(hypernym) class, social class, socio-economic class
2. a British volunteer cavalry force organized in 1761 for home defense later incorporated into the Territorial Army
(hypernym) guard, bodyguard
(part-holonym) Territorial Army

n. yeomanry, independent farmers; horsemen of the national guard (England)

(n.)
The yeomanry cavalry.
  

(n.)
The position or rank of a yeoman.
  

(n.)
The collective body of yeomen, or freeholders.