Kent Militia


The Kent Militia was an auxiliary military force in the county of Kent in South East England. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands in 1558 until their final service as the Special Reserve, the Militia regiments of the county served in home defence in all of Britain's major wars. They also saw active service during the Second Boer War, and trained thousands of reinforcements during World War I. After a shadowy postwar existence they were formally disbanded in 1953.

Early history

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. The universal obligation to serve continued under the Norman and Plantagenet kings and was reorganised under the Assizes of Arms of 1181 and 1252, and again by the Statute of Winchester of 1285. The men were arrayed by the Hundreds into which each county was divided. Under this statute 'Commissioners of Array' would levy the required number of men from each shire. The usual shire contingent was 1000 infantry commanded by a millenar, divided into companies of 100 commanded by centenars or ductores, and subdivided into platoons of 20 led by vintenars. The coastal towns of Kent forming part of the Cinque Ports also had a legal obligation to supply ships, seamen and marines for the Royal Navy.

Kent Trained Bands

Under the later Tudors the legal basis of the militia was updated by two acts of 1557 covering musters and the maintenance of horses and armour, which placed the county militia under a Lord Lieutenant appointed by the monarch, assisted by the Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace. The entry into force of these Acts in 1558 is seen as the starting date for the organised county militia in England.
Although the militia obligation was universal, it was clearly impractical to train and equip every able-bodied man, so after 1572 the practice was to select a proportion of men for the Trained Bands, who were mustered for regular drills. When war broke out with Spain training and equipping the militia became a priority. From 1583 counties were organised into groups for training purposes, with emphasis on the invasion-threatened 'maritime' counties including Kent. In 1584, Kent had 2500 trained men, of which 1000 were equipped with firearms, 500 with bows and 1000 were 'corslets'.

Armada

The Armada Crisis in 1588 led to the mustering of the trained bands in April and they were called out on 23 July as the Armada approached. Kent produced 7124, of whom 4166 were untrained. Kent was threatened on its southern, eastern and northern coasts and its force was divided into eastern and western divisions at Maidstone and Canterbury respectively. Two thousand of the Kent trained men were sent to join the main Royal army at St James's Palace in London, and 4000 foot and 725 horse were to be sent into the neighbouring county of Sussex if the Spanish landed there. But the Armada was defeated at sea and was unable to land any troops: the trained bands were stood down shortly afterwards.

Bishops' Wars

With the passing of the threat of invasion, the trained bands declined in the early 17th Century. Later, King Charles I attempted to reform them into a national force or 'Perfect Militia' answering to the king rather than local control. In 1638 the Kent regiments were organised by 'lathes' : Aylesford ; St Augustine Lathe ; Scray Lathe ; Shepway Lathe and Sutton-at-Hone Lathe, together with one company from the City of Canterbury. These totalled 2910 musketeers, 1757 corslets, and 293 horse.
The trained bands including the Kent contingent were called out in both 1639 and 1640 for the Bishops' Wars. In 1639 the county was ordered to select 1200 men for Sir Thomas Morton's Regiment of Foot in the Marquess of Hamilton's army, which was to make an amphibious landing in Scotland. But the best men were kept for coastal defence and most of those who actually went were untrained and badly equipped hired or 'pressed' substitutes, the men and arms described as 'utterly unserviceable'. Morton's Regiment took part in the abortive expedition, suffering serious casualties from an outbreak of smallpox before the army was dispersed to its homes. Kent's quota in 1640 was another 700, not including the Cinque Ports' 300, to be sent by sea to join the army assembling on the Scottish border. Kent however was notably uncooperative and the numbers had to be made up with pressed men.

Civil War

Control of the trained bands was one of the major points of dispute between Charles I and Parliament that led to the English Civil War. However, with a few exceptions neither side made much use of the trained bands during the war beyond securing the county armouries for their own full-time troops, many of whom were recruited from the trained band ranks. However, the Kent Trained Bands were often called out and as the war dragged on the county organised Auxiliary Trained Bands to allow rotation of units on duty. They also raised units of volunteers for service outside the county. Each of the five lathes organised an auxiliary regiment and a regiment of horse:
The London Trained Bands helped the Kentish authorities to put down a rising at Sevenoaks and Tonbridge in the summer of 1643. The Sutton at Hone TB Volunteers were represented in the Parliamentary army that relieved the Siege of Gloucester and fought the First Battle of Newbury on their return, and a number of Kentish TB units joined the Sir William Waller's Southern Association army for the successful Siege of Arundel from December 1643 to January 1644. Later in 1644 the Aylesford TB Volunteers were at the inconclusive Second Battle of Newbury. After attending a rendezvous at Romsey, Kentish troops may have been involved in the Siege of Basing House, which surrendered in October 1645.
Although the New Model Army was kept in being after the First Civil War ended in 1646, Parliament disbanded its local forces and the Trained Bands were again the main military force to deal with local uprisings. An outbreak in Canterbury at Christmas 1647 was quelled by the St Augustine Volunteers. However, the trial of those arrested led to further protests in May 1648, which former Royalist officers turned into an organised revolt, sparking off the Second English Civil War. The Royalists seized numerous towns in Kent and the Prince of Wales landed at Sandwich to put himself at the head of the rebellion. Many of the gentleman of Kent joined and trained bandsmen could not be relied upon, but Sir Thomas Fairfax led the New Model Army into the county and defeated the Royalists at the Battle of Maidstone on 1 June.
Once Parliament had re-established full control it passed new Militia Acts in 1648 and 1650 that replaced lords lieutenant with county commissioners appointed by Parliament or the Council of State. At the same time the term 'Trained Band' began to disappear in most counties. Under the Commonwealth and Protectorate the militia received pay when called out, and operated alongside the New Model Army to control the country. Large numbers of Trained Band units were called out across England in 1650 during the Scottish invasion of the Third English Civil War, including those of Kent. Twistleton's Kent Dragoons were ordered to join a concentration at Oxford, before the Scots army was defeated at the Battle of Worcester.

Kent Militia

After the Restoration of the Monarchy, the English Militia was re-established by The King's Sole Right over the Militia Act 1661 under the control of the king's lords-lieutenant, the men to be selected by ballot. This was popularly seen as the 'Constitutional Force' to counterbalance a 'Standing Army' tainted by association with the New Model Army that had supported Cromwell's military dictatorship, and almost the whole burden of home defence and internal security was entrusted to the militia.

Dutch wars

In 1666, Charles II called out the Kent Militia to defend against a threatened Dutch and French invasion, and in September that year it sent a contingent to help fight the Great Fire of London. The militia were again assembled in May 1667, Kent supplying its men with a month's pay. In June the Dutch fleet suddenly appeared off Deal, and 160 townsmen turned out in two hours to help the embodied militia company. The Dutch fleet then sailed into the Thames Estuary and detached a squadron to carry out a Raid on the Medway, with the aim of damaging the ships and dockyard facilities. Its first task was to suppress the coast defences at Sheerness, where Garrison Point Fort was only partly built. The fort contained 16 guns manned by a small detachment of permanent gunners assisted by seamen from HMS Monmouth, and a company of Douglas's Regiment, all under the command of the Governor, Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Spragge. When intelligence of the Dutch approach was received, a company of West Kent Militia was added to the garrison, bringing it to a strength of about 250 men. The Dutch squadron appeared off the entrance to the River Medway at about 17.00 on 10 June and three ships of the line engaged Garrison Point Fort while a force of about 800 soldiers and marines under an English renegade, Colonel Thomas Dolman, was landed from small boats. After about an hour's firing by the warships, nine of the fort's guns had been knocked out, and Spragge ordered the survivors of the garrison to evacuate the damaged fort and withdraw up the Medway to Gillingham. The Dutch now controlled the river below Chatham and Rochester, and proceeded to burn Sheerness Dockyard and the laid-up warships at anchor, towing away the flagship, HMS Royal Charles, as a prize. The other forts prevented the Dutch ships from proceeding further up the Medway or Thames, so they withdrew on 22 June, having completely demolished Garrison Point Fort.
In May 1672, on the outbreak of the Third Dutch War, the Lord Lieutenant of Kent, Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Winchilsea, warned of the danger of invasion before the Royal Navy could be fully mobilised, and set up a system of guards along the coast. He had the whole county militia ready to march at an hour's notice, and hoped to be given command of any regular troops in the county. Again, the whole militia of England was called out to repel a possible invasion after the Battle of Beachy Head in 1690.
Armour was going out of use and the militia were not otherwise supplied with uniforms. The acting Lord Lieutenant of Kent, the Duke of Richmond, caused an upset among taxpayers in Kent in 1668 when he directed that the Kent Militia should abandon armour and the men were to have red soldiers' coats down to the knees, lined with black, except his own regiment, which was to be clothed in yellow. By 1684 militia captains throughout the country were directed to provide cavalry with a buff coat and infantry with a coat of one colour.
In 1697 the Kent Militia consisted of six regiments:
These totalled 37 companies of Foot and four Troops of Horse. Among the colonels were Sir Stephen Lennard, 2nd Baronet, Henry Oxenden, Sir Philip Boteler, 3rd Baronet, Sir Francis Head, 2nd Baronet and Henry Lee. However, musters and training were in decline: in Kent there were complaints that the various troops and companies had never been mustered simultaneously, allowing men to appear in more than one unit, making them seem stronger than they actually were.
The Militia passed into virtual abeyance during the long peace after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1712, although a few counties were called out during the Jacobite Rising of 1745. In Kent, which hourly expected a French invasion in support of the Jacobites in December 1745, all that could be done was for the Deputy Lieutenants to ask anyone willing to fight to assemble with whatever arms they had – a reversion to the shire levy or posse comitatus.