Primarily intended for home defence, it provided a contingent for service in France in the closing stages of the Napoleonic War.

[4][9][10][11][12] During the Armada crisis of 1588, from its 1200 able-bodied men Denbighshire furnished 400 trained foot and 200 untrained 'pioneers', together with 30 light horse and 30 'petronel's (the petronel was an early cavalry firearm).

Conduct money was recovered from the government, but replacing the weapons issued to the levies from the militia armouries was a heavy cost on the counties.

[4][20][21] When open war broke out between the King and Parliament, neither side made much use of the trained bands beyond securing the county armouries for their own full-time troops.

[22][23] In August 1642 Colonel Sir Thomas Salusbury, 2nd Baronet of Lleweni, raised a Royalist foot regiment mainly from Denbighshire and Flintshire, which served throughout the war from the Battle of Edgehill until the final surrender in 1646.

The regiment was besieged at Oswestry in June 1644, was at the Battle of Rowton Heath in September 1645 and the Siege of Chester that ended in February 1646.

As Lord President, the Duke of Beaufort carried out a tour of inspection of the Welsh militia in 1684, when the Denbighshire contingent consisted of one troop of horse and five foot companies commanded by Sir Richard Myddelton, 3rd Baronet of Chirk Castle.

An adjutant and drill sergeants were to be provided to each regiment from the Regular Army, and arms and accoutrements would be supplied when the county had secured 60 per cent of its quota of recruits.

In October 1761 the regiment moved the short distance to relieve the East Devon Militia at Bideford where the duties were similar.

[44] In peacetime the adjutant, sergeants and drummers of the disembodied regiment maintained the militia store and armoury in Wrexham Town Hall at the top of the High Street.

[45] An anonymous letter of December 1778 reported that in the Denbighshires the major had been absent from June, the colonel since September, one captain had never joined while the other, who had never been away more than two weeks, was a Member of Parliament and now had to attend its sitting.

[49] During the American war a number of counties raised additional volunteer companies for their militia regiments, manned by men enlisted for a cash bounty.

In September the regiment visited its home county, with companies stationed in Wrexham, Denbigh and Ruthin (perhaps in connection with recruitment) and then returned to the Chester garrison by the beginning of October.

[45] In late 1779 there were machine-breaking riots in Lancashire and the Denbighshire Militia sent three companies from Chester to Liverpool to assist Sir George Savile's West Riding Regiment that was hard-pressed to send detachments to deal with riots at Wigan, Chorley and other towns as well as to carry out its primary duty of guarding large numbers of prisoners of war.

It continued serving in South East England until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783 and orders were issued on 28 February to disembody the militia.

From 1 April it was at Andover with detachments at Salisbury and Winchester, and was joined on 24 June by two newly raised volunteer companies (147 men) whose clothing, equipment and bounties had been paid for by patriotic subscription.

Hearing the shot, the guard turned out and the goat put them to flight as well before returning to the Denbighshire drum major's quarters.

Early in 1795 the regiment was at Tunbridge Wells in Kent, then spent the summer months moving around the south-eastern counties of England before going into winter quarters back in Hampshire at Gosport.

An Act authorising the deployment of British militia units in Ireland was passed and the Denbighshires were among six Welsh regiments that volunteered for this service.

A year later it moved on to Devon, first to Honiton in November and then to Ottery St Mary for winter quarters, with detachments in the surrounding villages.

Under the command of Lt-Col R. Williams-Wynn the Denbighshires marched to its war station at Woolwich, where it remained until June 1805, training on Plumstead Common.

[40][41][60] During the summer of 1805, when Napoleon was massing his 'Army of England' at Boulogne for a projected invasion, the regiment was again in garrison at Dover, this time stationed in the Castle with the Hertfordshire Militia.

[61] By 1 September the regiment, with 348 men in 5 companies, under Lt-Col John Lloyd Salusbury, was stationed with the Fifeshire Militia at Chatham Camp in Kent, forming part of Maj-Gen the Hon Edward Finch's Brigade of Guards.

Some 242 out of 300 men of the Royal Denbighshire Rifles volunteered, but many withdrew and joined the regular army when it became clear that Col Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn was not to lead them.

However, a legal problem arose over the attestations of the recruits from 1852–54, who had to be released after 56 days' service, rendering many of the 48 regiments that had volunteered temporarily too small to serve overseas, and the Denbighshires stayed at home.

However, over 40 of the men volunteered for the regulars, mainly for the Brigade of Guards or the 23rd Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers)[c] who had distinguished themselves at the Battle of the Alma.

[84][95] Among the young officers who entered the regiment through the Special Reserve at this time was Robert Graves, the future war poet, who described his experience at Wrexham in his memoir Good-Bye to All That.

Among the duties for the RWF special reservists was to guard an internment camp for German civilians set up in a disused waggon works at Lancaster.

[99] The other ranks' buttons of the Denbighshire Militia ca 1797 showed the Prince of Wales's feathers, coronet and motto 'ICH DIEN' above the letters 'DM', later replaced by 'ROYAL DENBIGH'.

The bronze shako plate ca 1830 consisted of the feathers, coronet and motto superimposed on a rayed star surmounted by a crown, a scroll beneath inscribed 'ROYAL DENBIGH'.