Militia



The Civil War came at a time of transition from armies being equipped with bows and lances to the era of pike and musket, from an army called-up only in time of war to a well-trained standing army and the emergence of the army as a distinct political unit which could defy both Crown and parliament. As was often the case in Chester the course of events was influenced by the peculiar status of the city as a distinct administrative unit from the the county. In a letter sent to the Lords Lieutenant of all counties in 1626 the Privy Council described the militia as ‘the sure and constant bulwark of defence’. Whatever the truth of this description it underlined the fact that the militia remained, in the early seventeenth century, the bedrock of the country’s land based defences against invasion. Based on the medieval concept that it was the obligation of every able-bodied man to aid the defence of his country in time of national danger, the militia was a part-time force organised on a county basis. In fact the geographical county of Cheshire possessed two militia forces. The city of Chester, as a county in its own right, vigorously upheld the privilege of organising and maintaining its own militia as a unit completely separate from Cheshire’s force.

A Change of Tactics
Pike and shot is a historical infantry combat formation that evolved during the Italian Wars before the late seventeenth century evolution of the bayonet. The infantry formations of the period were a mix of pike and early firearms ("shot"), either arquebusiers or musketeers.

By the end of the fifteenth century, those late-medieval troop types that had proven most successful in the Hundred Years' War and Burgundian Wars dominated European warfare, especially the heavily armoured "gendarme" (a professional version of the medieval knight), the Swiss and Landsknecht mercenary pikeman, and the emerging artillery corps of heavy cannons, which were rapidly improving in technological sophistication. The French dominance of warfare at this time presented a daunting challenge to those states which were opposed to Valois ambitions, particularly in Italy. In 1495 at the Battle of Seminara, the hitherto-successful Spanish army was trounced while opposing the French invasion of Naples by an army composed of armoured gendarme cavalry and Swiss mercenary infantry. Realizing that he could not match the sheer offensive power of the French gendarmes and Swiss pikes, the Spanish decided to integrate the shooting power of firearms, an emerging technology at the time, with the defensive strength of the pike, and to employ them in a mutually-supporting formation. This new tactic resulted in triumph for the Spanish at the Battle of Cerignola (April 28, 1503), one of the great victories of the Italian Wars, in which the heavily outnumbered Spanish pike-and-shot forces, in a strong defensive position behind a ditch, crushed the attacking gendarmes and Swiss mercenaries of the French army.

The arquebus, derived from the German Hakenbüchse, was a form of long gun that appeared in Europe during the 15th century. Although the term arquebus was applied to many different forms of firearms from the 15th to 17th centuries, it originally referred to "a hand-gun with a hook-like projection or lug on its under surface, useful for steadying it against battlements or other objects when firing." These "hook guns" were in their earliest forms defensive weapons mounted on German city walls in the early 1400s, but by the late 1400s had become handheld firearms. The development of the arquebus is somewhat tied to technology developed for the crossbow as without the stock from the crossbow, the arquebus would not have a stable platform to rest one's shoulder on. Priming pans also were placed on the arquebus. A matchlock mechanism was added around 1475 and it became the first firearm with a trigger. The heavy arquebus, known as the musket, was developed to better penetrate plate armor and appeared in Europe around 1521. A standardized arquebus, the caliver, was introduced in the latter half of the 16th century. The name "caliver" is derived from the English corruption of calibre, which is a reference to the gun's standardized bore. The caliver allowed troops to load bullets faster since they fit their guns more easily, whereas before soldiers often had to modify their bullets into suitable fits, or were even forced to make their own prior to battle.

In Europe Maurice of Nassau pioneered the countermarch volley fire technique. After outfitting his entire army with new, standardized arms in 1599, Maurice of Nassau made an attempt to recapture Spanish forts built on former Dutch lands. In the Battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600, he administered the new techniques and technologies for the first time. The Dutch marched onto the beach where the fort was located and fully utilized the countermarching tactic. By orienting all of his arquebusiers into a block, he was able to maintain a steady stream of fire out of a disciplined formation using volley fire tactics. The result was a lopsided victory with 4000 Spanish casualties to only 1000 dead and 700 wounded on the Dutch side. Although the battle was principally won by the decisive counterattack of the Dutch cavalry and despite the failure of the new Dutch infantry tactic in stopping the veteran Spanish tercios, the battle is considered a decisive step forward in the development early modern warfare, where firearms took on an increasingly large role in Europe in the following centuries.

Trained Bands
The "Trained Bands" were local militia regiments organised on a county basis. The system was inaugurated during the reign of Elizabeth I (17 November 1558 - 24 March 1603) for the defence of the realm. Elizabeth's foreign policy was largely defensive. The exception was the English occupation of Le Havre from October 1562 to June 1563, which ended in failure when Elizabeth's Huguenot allies joined with the Catholics to retake the port. Elizabeth's intention had been to exchange Le Havre for Calais, lost to France in January 1558. Only through the activities of her fleets did Elizabeth pursue an aggressive policy. This paid off in the war against Spain, 80% of which was fought at sea.

As far as Cheshire was concerned, relaxation of close Privy Council supervision of militia activity was long-standing. In the early 1590s the county had undergone two invasion scares resulting from intelligence from the Continent which suggested that the Spanish were about to invade the north west of England. Neither invasion materialised but both were sufficiently credible to make the Council take a closer than usual interest in the county’s military affairs. The passing of these threats and the growing disorder in Ulster, which escalated into full scale open rebellion in the mid nineties, ended this temporary preoccupation with Cheshire’s internal military situation. As Chester was the main port for embarkation to northern Ireland, the Council’s interest in Cheshire now became centred on its role in contributing to the efficient movement of troops sent to quell the rebellion. Therefore, in the later 1590s and the early 1600s, Cheshire’s Commissioners for Musters, a panel of leading gentlemen undertaking responsibility for the county’s military government (in the temporary absence of a Lord Lieutenant) received a constant stream of orders from the Council relating to the Irish campaign rather than to the county militia. They were directed to carry out such duties as aiding the provision of shipping and victuals for the troops, raising levies of fresh soldiers and ensuring the orderly and efficient passage of men through the county to the point of embarkation. In these circumstances it was inevitable that the state of Cheshire’s militia should be overlooked by both central and local governors, fully occupied as they were by more immediately pressing military commitments. The Stuart period  opened, then, with the Cheshire militia, like the forces of so many counties, already suffering from neglect and increasing decay. Through the first ten years of James I’s reign this deterioration in standards continued as supervision of the militia became just another aspect of the Council’s routine administration, given no special priority.

Re-invigoration
The year 1616, however, marked the end of this period of near total neglect of the militia. The central government was jolted out of its inattentiveness by renewed Spanish military activity on the Continent which once more brought the possibility of war and even invasion. In the following year, a letter from the Privy Council ordering musters to be held in every county, disclosed that "the danger had caused the King to cast a vigilant and provident eye to the safety of his dominions", a sureindication that militia affairs were again coming under closer scrutiny.

Initially the major result of the government’s change of policy was only to reveal the lamentable condition of the militia after ten years of neglect. The bands were controlled by the lords-lieutenant of counties. In 1613, the Earl of Derby, Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire and Cheshire, and therefore the government’s military officer for the two counties, reported to the Council that he "found the defects .. to be sundry and great" in the Cheshire militia after the annual muster had been held. Under­standably, remedying the effects of the previous decade was a slow business, despite pressure from London. In 1619 Derby still had to report that "many defects in general both in horse and foot" had been found at the Cheshire muster. The main faults he noted were that the men were badly trained, many of the firearms were obsolete and the horse company’s heavy cavalry was in every respect below standard. In 1623, a new book of instructions for militia training was sent out to the counties describing the use of modern firearms and the latest methods of drilling and exercising troops.

The accession of Charles I in 1625 was the major turning point in the history of the militia. The presence of an energetic young monarch and the resumption of a warlike policy in the later 1620s combined to cause a far greater interest in the condition of the militia than had been evident even in the latter years of the previous reign. The improvements were three-fold:

"Low Countries Sergeants"
The lords-lieutenant of counties were expected to appoint professional soldiers to drill the militia and teach them to use the pike and the then modern musket. Membership of the Trained Bands was compulsory for freeholders, householders and their sons. The education of the Trained Bands was a marked success especially in Cheshire. This was due to the Privy Council’s decision to use experienced professional soldiers to instruct the trained bands. Eighty four of these "Low Countries Sergeants", as they were called, were to be deployed throughout the country and they were sent out to their allotted counties early in 1626. Cheshire received two, Philip Cotton and Arthur Humberstone. They were given an enthusiastic and positive welcome in the county. Special divisional training was arranged by the Deputy Lieutenants so that the veterans could begin to instruct the raw infantrymen of the militia. In a short time highly favourable reports of their work were being sent to the Privy Council. Originally, the soldiers were to work in the counties for three months. However, as the laudatory  reports of their work in Cheshire were paralleled by so many other counties, including neighbouring Lancashire, King James and Council extended their stay. The Cheshire Deputies welcomed this arrangement and gave the soldiers further commendations when they had completed their lengthened term of service. A sure sign of the county’s favour was the ease and speed with which a county rate was arranged and collected to pay the soldiers’ salaries and expenses.

A New Magazine
In 1613 most infantrymen in the Cheshire trained bands who carried a firearm were still armed with the caliver, the lighter, less penetrating forerunner of the musket. This weapon had been deemed unacceptable by the Council in 1618 and the process of ousting it was now completed. In 1626 the Council ordered the Lord Lieutenant to ensure that a magazine was established at Chester and laid down the quantities of ammunition it should contain. At first the county’s Deputy Lieutenants toyed with a more ambitious alternative plan, namely to set up several smaller magazines throughout the county, to be used in conjunction with divisional musters of the militia. The idea was only briefly entertained, however, because of the high cost of such a venture. Thus, the original plan was adopted and a magazine was established at Chester Castle and paid for by a county rate.

Improving The Horse Companies
Unfortunately, the passage of time would lead to a significant drop-off in the performance of the Cheshire Trained Bands.

In the absence of a regular army, the Trained Bands were the only permanent military units in England when the Bishops' Wars broke out in 1639-40 and the First Civil War followed in 1642. The popular view was that by the time war actually broke-out the Trained Bands were inefficient, poorly equipped and badly drilled and disciplined.

Cowper and Brereton
A militia bill was proposed in December 1641 in the wake of the Irish Uprising of October. The bill was drafted by Oliver St John and introduced in the House of Commons by Sir Arthur Hesilrige on 7 December 1641. The King and Parliament agreed that an army was needed to supress the rebellion in Ireland, but neither side trusted the other with control of the armed forces. Parliament's militia bill proposed that a lord-general should be appointed to raise and command the militia, to levy money to pay it, and to execute martial law. A lord-admiral was also to be appointed to command the navy. The bill proposed that Parliament should have the right to nominate the commanders of the armed forces rather than the King. Headed by Sir John Culpeper, the King's supporters in the House of Commons vehemently opposed the measure and called for its rejecton, but the bill passed its first reading by 158 votes to 125. Despite the protestations of Parliament, King Charles refused to surrender his control of the armed forces by giving his assent to the bill, so that it was unable to pass into law. In March 1642, however, Parliament issued the militia bill as an ordinance (legislation that has not received the royal assent) and took the unprecedented step of proclaiming that Parliament could act independently of the King in the interests of the nation's defence. The lords-lieutenant of counties, who had authority over the trained bands, were to be appointed by Parliament and all appointments made by the King were to be revoked. Ordinances passed by the Commons and Lords were to be regarded as valid in law without the royal assent. The King issued commissions of array to counter the militia ordinance. The question of whether to obey the militia ordinance or the commission of array became an early test of allegiance in the English Civil War. Baron Strange's attempt to prevent the execution of the militia ordinance at Manchester resulted in the first fatal casualty of the war in England when linen weaver Richard Perceval was killed in street fighting on 15 July 1642.

The prevailing mood in Chester in summer 1642 was a wish for accommodation between Charles I and parliament, reflected in the city's neutralist petition in August and in its reaction to the parliamentary commission of lieutenancy and the royal commission of array. The Assembly stood fast against both an attempt by James Stanley, Lord Strange, to secure the county magazine in the castle for the royalists, and Alderman William Edwards's and Sir William Brereton's effort to take control of the city's trained bands for parliament. Nevertheless, Bishop of Chester John Bridgeman, his son Orlando Bridgeman (vice-chamberlain of Chester), other lawyers, and prominent figures were apparently trying to encourage royalist sympathies among leading citizens. On 6 September Mayor Thomas Cowper secured a majority vote in the Assembly for an immediate assessment of 100 marks to fortify the city. Just prior to the outbreak of Civil War in England (22nd August 1642), Brereton tried to seize Chester for Parliament (8th August, 1642), but was driven out by the Royalist faction. According to Frank Simpson, mayor Cowper ordered the constables to arrest the leaders of this "treasonable" gathering, but they failed to do so. At this point Cowper stepped-in and seized one of the leaders by the collar, delivering him to the civil officers. He also wrested a broadsword from another of the party, which which he cut the drum to pieces.

The Cheshire Regiment
The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. The regiment was expanded in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the linking of the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot and the militia and rifle volunteers of Cheshire. The title 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment continued to be used within the regiment.

On 1 September 2007, the Cheshire Regiment was merged with the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th/45th Foot) and the Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) to form a new large regiment, the Mercian Regiment, becoming the 1st Battalion, Mercian Regiment.

Related Pages

 * Civil War;
 * Brereton;
 * The Booth Rising;
 * Cheshire Regiment;

Sources and Links

 * THE MILITIA IN EARLY STUART CHESHIRE;