London Militia
From their formal organisation as the London Trained Bands in 1559 they were periodically embodied for home defence, for example in the army mustered at Tilbury during the Armada Campaign of 1588.
The English militia was descended from the Anglo-Saxon Fyrd, the military force raised from the freemen of the shires under command of their Sheriff.
However, even though they were on the winning side the London footsoldiers were routed and cut down by a fierce cavalry charge led by Prince Edward.
[11] During the Wars of the Roses there was a brief Siege of London when a naval expedition from Calais under the Bastard of Fauconberg allied with Kentish rebels attacked the city in 1471.
London was the exception to the rule: its regiments were well trained, capable of putting up a stout defence, and the men were even prepared to leave their businesses for short campaigns.
Increased to six large regiments just before the outbreak of war, they marched out to confront the Royalist army at the Battle of Turnham Green in November 1642, saving the capital for Parliament.
For the next two years brigades of City and Suburban TBs and Auxiliaries were regularly loaned to the small Parliamentary armies for specific campaigns.
[41][42][43][44][45] A City Brigade marched with the Earl of Essex through Royalist-held territory to relieve the Siege of Gloucester and distinguished itself at the subsequent First Battle of Newbury (20 September 1643).
Thereafter, brigades of London troops participated in the Siege of Basing House and the battles of Alton (13 December 1643), Cheriton (29 March 1644) and Cropredy Bridge (29 June 1644).
However, the men were usually unwilling to serve longer than their first paid month, and later brigades suffered from desertion: sometimes whole regiments set up a cry of 'Home, Home!'
The brigade that marched with Essex into Cornwall found itself taken prisoner or locked up in besieged garrisons after the disastrous Battle of Lostwithiel (21 August–2 September).
The Second Battle of Newbury (27 October 1644) saw the last participation by a London brigade in the field, but a number of regiments remained in garrisons until the end of 1645.
The response was poor, but just weeks later the LTBs cheerfully turned out to defend the city against a Royalist force in the Second English Civil War.
[43][48] After the crisis following Oliver Cromwell's death, the City welcomed the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, and the LTBs lined the streets for the arrival of Charles II.
[49][50] The LTBs were routinely called out to suppress riots in London, notably by weavers in 1675 and 1689, and trained bandsmen patrolled the streets during the time of the Popish Plot and the Exclusion Crisis of 1678–81.
Generally the militia declined after the Peace of Utrecht, effectively disappearing in most counties, but not London where the LTBs and HAC continued to play a role in civic ceremonies.
[24][52] The LTBs were deployed on the streets of London during the Gordon Riots of 1780, opening fire on the rioters in defence of the Bank of England.
[24][62][63] The Commission of Lieutenancy for the City built Finsbury Barracks for the Royal London Militia on a site adjacent to the HAC's headquarters at Armoury House.
There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed by the Secretary of State for War, St John Brodrick.
