Devon Militia
The universal obligation to military service in the Shire levy or Posse comitatus was long established in England and its legal basis was updated by two acts of 1557 covering musters (4 & 5 Ph.
The men from the Hundreds of Devonshire were organised in four groups for the defence of the harbours on the north and south coasts of the county, each with a nominated officer in command, supported by 'Assistants' and 'Petty Captains'.
[11] Although control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between King Charles I and Parliament that led to the First English Civil War, most of the county Trained Bands played little part in the fighting.
An attempt by the Royalists to call out the posse comitatus of Devonshire in 1642 was a failure (compared with their success in raising the Trained Bands in neighbouring Cornwall) and it was quickly dispersed by Parliamentarian forces.
Under the Commonwealth and Protectorate the militia received pay when called out, and operated alongside the New Model Army to control the country.
[14][15][16] After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the militia of Devon were called out on a number of occasions when the appearance of hostile fleets caused alarm.
Macaulay asserted that the Devonshire men were ready to go over to Monmouth, and this caused Albemarle to retreat, which turned into a rout, the countryside strewn with abandoned weapons and uniforms.
[19] Macaulay has been followed uncritically by many authors, but modern historians find no evidence of this rout (although the Somerset Militia were also present at Axminster and performed poorly; some may even have deserted and joined the rebel duke).
He fell back to secure the west and his force's presence prevented Monmouth from accessing recruits and supplies from that direction.
The Devon Militia was ordered not to muster for training in 1687, and was not embodied when William of Orange made his landing in the West Country in 1688 (the Glorious Revolution).
Two, later four (Exeter, North, East and South), battalions were formed in Devon under the command of the Duke of Bedford as Lord Lieutenant.
They served in the West Country for the whole of their service; the duties included guarding French prisoners of war and assisting Revenue Officers in suppressing smuggling.
was passed to 'Enable His Majesty to call out and assemble the Militia in all cases of Rebellion in any part of the Dominion belonging to the Crown of Great Britain'.
In the event the militia was called out in its traditional role when Britain was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain.
[34][29][40][41][42] From 1784 to 1793 the Devon Militia regiments were assembled for their annual 28 days' training, but to save money only two-thirds of the men were mustered each year.
In view of the worsening international situation the Devonshire Militia was embodied for service on 22 December 1792, even though Revolutionary France did not declare war on Britain until 1 February 1793.
[34][9][46] In 1805 there was a drive to induce militiamen to volunteer for the Regular Army (or the Royal Marines, in the case of men from Devon and Cornwall).
In 1812 there was an outbreak of Luddite machine-breaking and the regiment spent much of the year constantly on the move round the industrial Midlands before returning to Plymouth in 1813.
[50] In 1817 an Act was passed that allowed the annual training of the Militia to be dispensed with, so although officers continued to be commissioned into the regiment and the ballot was regularly held, the selected men were rarely mustered for drill.
In 1847 the permanent staff and pensioners of the 1st Devons were called out to assist special constables to put down food riots in Exeter.
When the Militia was partially disembodied in 1799 the regiment provided a large contingent to the Regulars, but the colonel, Earl Fortescue, resigned in protest.
During the Napoleonic Wars it mainly served in the southern and western counties, but during the Luddite disturbances of 1812 it was quartered in the Nottingham area.
In Devonshire some of these were distributed among the existing regiments while the others were formed in March 1798 into the 4th Devon Militia at Exeter under the command of Sir Bourchier Wrey, 7th Baronet.
That year the Militia Reserve Act came into force, whereby in exchange for a bounty the militiamen could sign up for service with the Regulars in time of war.
The Militia Reserve was called out in the summer of 1878 during the international crisis preceding the Congress of Berlin, the men of the 1st Devons being attached to the 1st Battalion 11th Foot at Devonport.
Most of the officers transferred to the new corps, together with volunteers of sufficient physique; deficiencies in men of the correct height were made up by exchanges with the two infantry regiments.
[34][60][69][63][71] It was embodied on 9 March 1885 when an international crisis arose over the Panjdeh incident while much of the Regular Army was simultaneously engaged on the Nile Expedition, but it was stood down on 30 September 1885.
[34][68] Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872, Militia infantry regiments were grouped into county brigades with their local Regular and Volunteer battalions.
There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed by St John Brodrick as Secretary of State for War.
The battalion was soon overwhelmed by returning reservists and recruits flocking to enlist, and by the end of September 1914 it was three times its establishment strength.
