| North Devon Militia Devon Artillery Militia Devon Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1758–1909 |
| Country |  Kingdom of Great Britain (1758–1800) United Kingdom (1801–1909) |
| Branch |  Militia |
| Type | Infantry Artillery |
| Garrison/HQ | Barnstaple Devonport (after 1853) |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | SirGeorge Stucley, Bt |
TheNorth Devon Militia, later theDevon Artillery Militia, was a part-time military unit in the maritime county ofDevonshire in theWest of England. TheMilitia had always been important in the county, which was vulnerable to invasion, and from its formal creation in 1758 the regiment served in home defence in all Britain's major wars until 1909. Having always been an infantry regiment, the North Devon Militia was converted into an artillery unit in 1853, with a role in manning the forts that protected the vital naval base atPlymouth.
The universal obligation to military service in theShire levy was long established in England and its legal basis was updated by two acts of 1557 (4 & 5 Ph. & M. cc. 2 and 3), which placed selected men, the 'Trained Bands', under the command ofLords Lieutenant appointed by the monarch. This is seen as the starting date for the organised county militia in England. The Devon Trained Bands were divided into three 'Divisions' (East, North and South), which were called out in theArmada year of 1588.[1][2][3]
Although control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute betweenKing Charles I andParliament that led to theFirst English Civil War, most of the county Trained Bands played little part in the fighting. After theRestoration of the monarchy in 1660 the militia of Devon were called out on a number of occasions when the appearance of hostile fleets caused alarm, and in 1685 they prevented the rebelDuke of Monmouth from accessing recruits and supplies from Devon and Cornwall. After theBattle of Sedgemoor the Devon Militia were active in rounding up rebels.[4][5][6]
The Devonshire Militia continued to be mustered for training during the reign of William III, the six 'county' regiments together with theExeter andPlymouth regiments and several Troops of Horse, mustering 6163 men.[2][7][5] But after theTreaty of Utrecht in 1713 the militia was allowed to dwindle.[8][9]
Under threat of French invasion during theSeven Years' War a series of Militia Acts from 1757 re-established county militia regiments, the men being conscripted by means of parish ballots (paid substitutes were permitted) to serve for three years. Front-line Devonshire was given a quota of 1600 men to raise. There was a property qualification for officers, who were commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant. The size of the militia was increased as the war continued.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Once again, the maritime counties were to the fore: the first issue of arms to the Devon Militia was made on 5 December 1758, and they were embodied on 23 June 1759. Two, later four (North, South, East and Exeter), battalions were formed in Devon under the command of theDuke of Bedford as Lord Lieutenant. From 1759 to 1763 the North Devon regiment was stationed in Cornwall to assist Revenue Officers in suppressing smuggling. Detachments were stationed atMevagissey,Padstow and many other places. In 1763 the battalions were reorganised into three regiments, including the2nd or North Devon Militia of 500 men, 25Sergeants and 16Drummers, organised into eight companies, with its headquarters (HQ) atBarnstaple.[2][15][17][18][19][20][21][22]
The regiment was stood down ('disembodied') in 1761, after which the militiamen's peacetime obligation was for 28 days' annual training. This was widely neglected, but the Devonshire regiments do appear to have completed their training each year. However, when the militia was called out again in 1778 during theWar of American Independence (when Britain was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain), the North Devon regiment was inspected and found to be 'in so shamefully unmilitary a state as to be returned unfit for service'. This was attributed to the frequent absence through illness of the commanding officer (CO), ColSir Bourchier Wrey, 6th Baronet, who had now resigned. Thelieutenant-colonel andmajor were both superseded, and Lt-Col Paul Orchard of the East Devon Militia was promoted to command the North Devon regiment. The regiment was then embodied in May 1778 for service, all of which was in the southern counties of England. Each summer, Militia regiments were gathered in camps for collective training: the North Devons spent the summer of 1779 atPortsmouth Common Camp, 1780 as part of a brigade underLieutenant-GeneralSimon Fraser in a training camp at Waterdown Forest, nearTunbridge Wells, and 1781 and 1782 in Devon atRoborough Camp andMaker near Plymouth, where both Regulars and Militia (including all three Devon regiments) were gathered. The Light Companies of the regiments at Roborough were formed into a composite Light Battalion, which trained separately. The Militia also had to find guards for the American prisoners of war lodged in Mill Prison. The camp at Roborough was broken up on 10 November 1782 and the regiments went into winter quarters (atTaunton andBridgwater inSomerset for the North Devons). At the end of the war the North Devons were disembodied atBideford and Barnstaple on 4 March 1783.[2][12][21][23][24][25][26]
From 1787 to 1793 the East Devon Militia was assembled for its annual 28 days' training, usually at Bideford, but to save money only two-thirds of the men were mustered each year. In view of the worsening international situation the whole Devonshire Militia was embodied for service on 22 December 1792, even thoughRevolutionary France did not declare war on Britain until 1 February 1793.[2][27][28] The Militia could be employed anywhere in the country for home defence, manning garrisons, guarding prisoners of war, and for internal security, while the Regular Army regarded them as a source of trained men if they could be persuaded to transfer. In practice the North Devon Militia remained in the southern counties during their periods of embodied service. In June 1793 both the North and South Devon regiments marched to join a large militia training encampment at Broadwater Common, Waterdown Forest, outsideTunbridge Wells. The whole camp moved toAshdown Forest at the beginning of August and then toBrighton for two weeks before returning to Broadwater Common. The camp broke up in the autumn and the regiments went to their separate winter quarters.[29][30] During the winter of 1793–94 The North Devons were atSevenoaks inKent, then spent the summer of 1794 atHythe Camp before returning west to Taunton for the winter. In the summer of 1795 the North Devons were brigaded with the East Devons at Roborough Camp. The regiment spent the next two years at Plymouth, where all three Devon regiments spent the winter of 1795–6 in barracks atPlymouth Dock. The Grenadier and Light Companies were again taken from all the regiments in the district to form composite battalions. As the invasion threat grew the Militia was doubled in size: each county was given an additional quota of men to raise for the Supplementary Militia. In Devonshire some of these were formed into a fourth regiment under Sir Bourchier Wrey, 7th Baronet, while the others were distributed among the existing regiments in March 1798: by 1799 the North Devon Militia had a strength of 1128 men, well above the usual establishment of a battalion. The North Devons spent the summer of 1798 atMoreleigh Camp, then wintered in Barnstaple and Bideford.[21][31][32][33]
With the militia liable for service anywhere in the country, their traditional local defence duties had been taken over by theVolunteers. In November 1799 the Militia was partially disembodied, two-fifths of the men being stood down together with the whole of the Supplementary Militia. The hope was that the men dismissed from service would enlist in the Regular Army – 247 men from the North Devons did so – but the disbandment was not popular with the Militia colonels, and the North Devons' colonel,Earl Fortescue, resigned in protest. In the North Devons the two companies of volunteers (as opposed to balloted men) had been raised by their captains at some expense, but as the junior companies they were the ones ordered to be disbanded. Having made representations to theHome Office, they were allowed to be kept on the establishment.[34][35][36]
The North Devons spent the summer months of 1799 atLymington inHampshire and then went into barracks roundPortsmouth andGosport until the summer of 1801, when it moved toWeymouth Camp inDorset. In November 1801 the regiment moved back to Plymouth, where there had been bread riots earlier in the year and where the countryside was still disturbed. A peace treaty having been agreed (theTreaty of Amiens), the Militia began to be disembodied in early 1802. The North Devons marched home to Barnstaple and disembodied on 19 April 1802.[21][37][38]
However, the Peace of Amiens did not last long, and the order to call out the Devonshire Militia was sent to the Lord Lieutenant (Earl Fortescue) on 11 March 1803. The North Devon regiment was re-embodied on 31 March and sent to Plymouth on 25 May. Here the Devonshire regiments trained alongside the Regulars, with particular emphasis on the Light Companies, and six chosen men from each of the other companies trained as marksmen alongside the Light Companies.[2][21][39] Rewards were posted on 1 August for the apprehension of seven men who had not rejoined the regiment and were listed as deserters.[40] Soon afterwards the Supplementary Militia were also called out to reinforce the standing militia regiments. The regiment camped atEfford and then wintered roundPlympton andSaltash, before moving toPendennis Castle in 1804 and Exeter in 1805. In 1805 there was a drive to induce militiamen to volunteer for the Regular Army (or theRoyal Marines, in the case of men from Devon and Cornwall).[21][41][42]
During the summer of 1805, whileNapoleon's 'Army of England' massed atBoulogne and threatened invasion, the regiment was camped atWoodbury and then moved toLympstone Camp, where it joined Lt-GenCharles Lennox's militia brigade. On 1 September the regiment was 665 strong under the command of Lt-Col Charles Hayne. On 15 September the brigade marched toHemerdon camp, arriving on 20 September. This camp was broken up on 22 December and the regiment moved to Portsmouth where it was quartered inPortsea Barracks and brigaded with the East Devon and North Hampshire Militia.[43][44][45]
The regiment spent the next two years in the Portsmouth area, at Gosport,Haslar, Portsea andSouthsea Camp. It then spent the winter of 1807–8 in Bristol before spending a year at Weymouth, followed by over three years (May 1808 to November 1811) back at Plymouth. In 1809 another recruitment drive for men to transfer to the Line regiments was accompanied by balloting to bring the Militia up to strength, and the regiments were allowed to obtain recruits 'by beat of drum' (as in regiments of the Line) and by volunteers from the Local Militia, which had replaced the Volunteer Corps.[21][46]
From November 1811 to May 1814 the North Devons were stationed at Gosport, includingFort Monckton. The regiment moved toDartmoor in June, but by then the war was over, theTreaty of Fontainebleau having been signed in April. On 16 June the warrant for disembodying the Devonshire Militia was signed. The regiment marched to Barnstaple to be disembodied on 30 July 1814.[2][21][47]
Napoleon's escape fromElba and return to power in France in 1815 meant that the Militia had to be called out once more. The regiments began recruiting for volunteers 'by beat of drum' from 25 April and the warrant for embodying the Devonshire Militia was issued on 16 June, with the North Devon to be embodied at Barnstaple on 17 July. By then the decisiveBattle of Waterloo had already been fought, but the process of embodiment went on while the Regulars were away in the Army of Occupation in France. The regiment left Barnstaple on 9 August 1815 and was at Plymouth three days later, where it served in the garrison until 4 February 1816. It then returned to Barnstaple to disembody on 9 February.[2][21][48]
In 1817 an Act was passed that allowed the annual training of the Militia to be dispensed with. So although officers continued to be commissioned into the regiment and the ballot was regularly held, the selected men were rarely mustered for drill. The regiment assembled at Barnstaple for 28 days' drill in 1820, and for 21 days the following year. The Devonshire Militia's training of June 1825 resulted in newspaper advertisements offering rewards for the capture of deserters (31 of them from the North Devon regiment).[21][49][50] Training was held at Barnstaple in February 1831, but not again before 1852.The ballot lapsed and the permanent staff of the militia, which had been reduced in 1819 to the adjutant, paymaster and surgeon, sergeant-major and drum-major, one sergeant and corporal for every 40 men, and one drummer for every two companies plus the flank companies, were progressively reduced so that by 1835 there were only the adjutant, sergeant-major and six sergeants, and the other long-serving men were pensioned off. (In 1834 an inspecting officer had found nine of them unfit for service) was progressively reduced.[51]
TheMilitia of the United Kingdom was reformed by theMilitia Act 1852, enacted during a period of international tension. As before, units were raised and administered on a county basis, and filled by voluntary enlistment (although conscription by means of the Militia Ballot might be used if the counties failed to meet their quotas). Training was for 56 days on enlistment, then for 21–28 days per year, during which the men received full army pay. Under the Act, Militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time home defence service in three circumstances:[52][53][54][55][56][57]
The 1852 Act introducedMilitia Artillery units in addition to the traditional infantry regiments. Their role was to man coastal defences and fortifications, relieving theRoyal Artillery (RA) for active service.[52][53][58] Under the Act, the militia establishment for Devon was fixed at two regiments of infantry and one of artillery, and the North Devon Militia was converted into theDevon Artillery Militia in May 1853. The Colonel,Lord Poltimore, retired and Lt-ColGeorge Buck (formerly of theRoyal Horse Guards), the Surgeon, and most of the other officers of the North Devon Militia transferred to the new corps, together with 367 volunteers, all over 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) in height; deficiencies in men of the correct height were made up by exchanging men with the two infantry regiments. The new regiment assembled at theCavalry Barracks at Exeter, and then established its HQ atDevonport, Plymouth.[2][17][18][49][59][60] The unit was embodied for full-time duty in home defence from January 1855 to June 1856 during theCrimean War. It volunteered for overseas service but was not accepted.[18][a]
After theCardwell Reforms the Militia were controlled by theWar Office rather than their county Lord Lieutenant, and officers' commissions were signed by the Queen.[62][63][64][65] A mobilisation scheme began to appear in theArmy List from December 1875. This assigned places to Militia Artillery units in an order of battle for the 'Garrison Army': the Devon Artillery's war station was in thePlymouth defences, includingStaddon Fort,Fort Bovisand,Breakwater,Maker Heights and theWhitsand Bay works.[66]
The Artillery Militia was reorganised into 11 territorial divisions of garrison artillery on 1 April 1882, the regiments formally becoming 'brigades' of the RA. The Devon unit became the3rd Brigade, Western Division, RA.[17][52][18][66][67] The unit was embodied on 9 March 1885 when an international crisis arose over thePanjdeh incident while much of the Regular Army was simultaneously engaged on theNile Expedition, but it was stood down on 30 September 1885.[18][49] The garrison artillery divisions were reduced to just three from 1 July 1889, and county titles were adopted once more, with the Plymouth unit becomingThe Devon Artillery (Western Division, RA).[52][18][66]
The Devon Artillery were embodied from 1 May to 17 October 1900 during theSecond Boer War.[18][66][59]
The RA abandoned its divisional structure in 1902 and the Militia Artillery became part of theRoyal Garrison Artillery, the Devonport unit becoming theDevon RGA (Militia).[17][59]
After the Boer War, the future of the Militia was called into question. There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia,Yeomanry andVolunteers) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed bySt John Brodrick asSecretary of State for War. Some batteries of Militia Artillery were to be converted to field artillery. However, little of Brodrick's scheme was carried out.[68][69]
Under the sweepingHaldane Reforms of 1908, the Militia was replaced by theSpecial Reserve, a semi-professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for Regular units serving overseas in wartime. Although the Devon RGA (M) was due to transfer to the Special ReserveRoyal Field Artillery (under the titleDevon Royal Reserve Field Artillery, all these units were disbanded in March 1909.[17][18][52][70][71][72]
The following served asColonel of the Regiment from its re-establishment in 1758:[21][73]
The following officers served asLieutenant-Colonel of the North Devon Militia:
Under the 1852 Militia Act the rank of colonel was abolished in the militia and the lieutenant-colonel became the commanding officer; at the same time, the position ofHonorary Colonel was introduced. Lieutenant-Colonels Commandant of the Devon Artillery Militia included the following:[49][73][66]
The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit:[66]
The first pairs ofColours issued to the Devonshire Militia battalions in 1758 consisted of theUnion flag for the King's Colour, and one bearing the Duke of Bedford's coat of arms for the Regimental Colour.[78]
The uniform of the 2nd or North Devon Militia in 1778 was red with greenfacings; in 1800 it was red with yellow facings. The badge on the officers' buttons and belt-plates about 1800 was a crowned badge of theOrder of the Garter, but within the garterSt George's Cross was combined with that ofSt Andrew (thereby forming the flag ofGreat Britain 1707–1801); the garter bore the title 'North Devon'. By 1812 the outmoded flag was replaced by a crown within the garter, which now carried the title '2d Devonshire Regiment'. When the regiment was converted to artillery in 1853 it adopted the RA's blue uniform with red facings.[19]