The Artillery Company and similar groups such as the Military Garden in St Martin's Fields provided much of the officer corps for the LTBs and ensured that they were among the best-trained and equipped in the country.

It appears that the City regiments were temporary – no colonels were appointed (except to the Tower Hamlets and Westminster contingents) – and the 40 companies were the sole permanent organisations.

Formally, the Southwark Trained Bands were under the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, but since 1550 the heart of the borough had formed Bridge Without ward of the city, and its regiment generally cooperated with the LTBs.

[46] Trained bands were called out in 1639 and 1640 for the Bishops' Wars, The LTBs were ordered to muster in Spring 1639 and the king demanded 3000 selected men for his projected campaign.

[47][48][49][50] There is an often-repeated story that when Charles I returned from his Scottish campaign in October 1641 he ordered the guards on Parliament sitting at Westminster, which were provided by the city, Surrey and Middlesex TBs under command of the Puritan Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, to be replaced by the Westminster TBs (many of whose tradesmen members were purveyors to the Royal Court) under the command of the Royalist Earl of Dorset, and that subsequently there were clashes between the new guards and the London apprentices.

The clashes between TBs and apprentices may have been orchestrated by the anti-Royalist faction in Parliament, especially the City of London MP John Venn (captain of the Cripplegate Within company and in the HAC).

Parliament was now issuing orders direct to a committee of the Common Council of London over the objections of the Royalist Lord Mayor and aldermen, including imposing Philip Skippon as commander of the LTBs.

The King's army found itself outnumbered and out-gunned; after a day facing Essex and Skippon, it retired to Hounslow under cover of darkness rather than make a frontal attack.

During the Edgehill campaign the citizens had erected breastworks across all the streets leading to open country and set up guard posts manned by the LTBs – 20 companies were on duty each night.

Not all could be called away at once – the need to man the defences and continue the economic life of the City precluded that – but during the active campaigning season the regiments took turns to do tours of duty in the field, receiving pay for a month.

[119][120][55][128] During the summer of 1643 the Royalists made great strides in the West Country, storming the vital port of Bristol and moving on to begin a Siege of Gloucester on 10 August.

[133][134][136] The regiments mustered at the New Artillery Ground on 23 August and marched out that night, proceeding via Chalfont and Chesham to rendezvous with Essex's army on Brackley Heath on 1 September.

When the army camped on 3 September there were insufficient quarters and the Red Regiment had to march 1 mile (1.6 km) beyond the rest of the brigade to the village of Oddington near Stow-on-the-Wold to find billets of their own.

[133][137][138][131][139][140][141] However, the arrival of this army forced the Royalists to break up their siege, and on 8 September Essex entered Gloucester with the badly-needed supplies for Col Edward Massey and his garrison.

This time he chose to move round the south of the Oxford zone, overrunning a small Royalist garrison and supply train in Cirencester and marching via Cricklade, Swindon and Aldbourne.

The London Train'd-bands and Auxiliary Regiments (of whose inexperience of danger, or any kind of Service beyond the easy practice of their Postures in the Artillery Garden, Men had 'till then too cheap an estimation) behaved themselves to wonder; and were, in truth, the preservation of that Army that day.

Skirmishing continued around the outbuildings next day, but deputations from the London regiments asked Waller to be allowed to withdraw because of the bad weather, while the paid substitutes had run out of money.

The Royalists were taken by surprise as Waller's infantry assaulted the town, the London Brigade supported by the regular garrison of Farnham Castle attacking from the west.

Late in the afternoon the Royalists began to give way, pursued by musketry and artillery fire, but made a reasonably orderly retreat to Basing, covered by a rearguard in Alresford.

He was sent to capture Greenland House on the Thames near Henley, under his original orders, which he did with the assistance of part of Venn's Windsor garrison on 11 July, after which the Essex TBs went home and Browne moved to Reading.

However, the check inflicted on Waller at Cropredy had allowed the King to break contact and march with his Oxford army into the West Country to deal with Essex.

Essex and Waller worked round to attack from the west towards Speen village while Manchester's army remained to the east, using about 1000 skirmishers to distract attention from the pincer movement.

Despite Royalist reports that the London brigade was with Manchester, suffering heavy casualties in his skirmish line and final attack, they were in fact with Essex's army, which had made a 13 miles (21 km) march to get into position.

[115][116][247][248] The London Auxiliaries were recruited back to strength for a general muster on 19 May 1646, when all 18 regiments were on parade in Hyde Park but the First English Civil War had effectively ended with the surrender of King Charles to the Scots in April.

The revived London Militia Committee restored the purged officers, demolished the Lines of Communication and returned the suburban trained bands to local control.

Pride's men then denied entry to those MPs who opposed them ('Pride's Purge") and the army arrested moderate officers, including Browne, Massey and Waller.

When insurrection threatened in 1655 Lord Protector Cromwell appointed new commissioners including Skippon to control the LTBs in case they were needed to suppress civil disorder.

When Charles arrived on 29 May he was met at St George's Fields by a great procession from the city, led by Maj Gen Richard Browne, with the LTBs and Auxiliaries lining the route.

Venner's Rising began on Sunday 1 January 1661 when a number of Fifth Monarchy men attempted to seize St Paul's Cathedral in the name of ‘King Jesus’, killing a passer-by.

Radical journalist and former Lord Mayor John Wilkes, who was Chamberlain of London, commanded a picquet in the Bank's defences (though it is unclear whether he was with the militiamen or volunteers).