Oops, sorry to double post.

Aussie Giant,

Yeah, I'm mostly talking about regiment numbers with the British and may be getting that mixed up with numbers of men. To be fair to you, the size of the regiments themselves tended to reduce during extended peace time, so the size of the army would be somewhat smaller. It is hard to give exact numbers but I know there are some in this redcoat book. It's at home and I'm at work (shouldn't be doing this!) so I'll have a look when I get home and post what numbers I can find.

The Brits tended to raise 2nd battalions during wars and leave the regiments with one battalion during peace.

I think what we'll find is that most countries tended to leave their armies at small sizes during long periods of peace but rapidly expand them when wars broke out.