It was one of the smallest artillery militia corps to be raised at that time, with an establishment of only 161 all ranks, including permanent staff, organised in two batteries.

[5][6][7][8] In May 1860, while the Northumberland Artillery was embodied for service during the Indian Mutiny, there was a riot at Tynemouth Castle and North Shields, in which the militiamen were accused of maltreating the police in the discharge of their duties.

[7][9] In the Mobilisation Scheme developed in the 1870s, the Northumberland Artillery Militia's war station was in the Tilbury Division of the Thames and Medway Defences.

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.

[20][21] Under the sweeping Haldane Reforms of 1908, the Militia was replaced by the Special Reserve, a semi-professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for Regular units serving overseas in wartime.

Their black leather helmet carried a plate consisting of an ornate silver shield surmounted by a crown and surrounded by a laurel wreath.

The officers' regimental pattern button was silvered with a scalloped edge, bearing the three cannons in pale from the arms of the Board of Ordnance surmounted by a crown, with a scroll underneath inscribed 'NORTHUMBERLAND ARTILLERY'.