At times of national crisis volunteers were regularly called upon to defend the vulnerable harbours on the coast of East Yorkshire.

[1] During the French Revolutionary Wars, a mixed unit of infantry and artillery manned the fort at Bridlington harbour from 1794 until the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, and reformed when the peace broke down in 1803.

By 1872 it had assumed the following organisation:[5][6][7][8][9] The commanding officer (CO) of the brigade, Major Haworth (who changed his name to Haworth-Booth in 1869) was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 3 July 1861.

[10][12] The Adjutant, appointed on 15 January 1862, was Captain George Symons, who had won a Victoria Cross as a sergeant in the Royal Artillery during the Crimean War.

[10] Henry Willoughby, 8th Baron Middleton, was appointed honorary colonel of the 1st Administrative Brigade on 17 December 1862, and his son the Hon.

In the original plan, the 1st East Riding Artillery Volunteers would have formed two RGA units:[9][20] However, these plans were revised in 1910, so that the North and East Yorkshire portion of the proposed Durham and Yorkshire RGA instead joined the 2nd Northumbrian Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, providing the 3rd North Riding Battery at Scarborough and part of the brigade ammunition column.

[23] Around 1859–60 the 1st East Riding AVC wore an embroidered forage cap badge consisting of crossed cannons surmounted by a crown and with a scroll underneath bearing the word 'BURLINGTON'.