The English Army was a creation of an independent England, and was reestablished when at war with other states, but it was not until the Interregnum and the New Model Army (raised by Parliament to defeat the Royalists in the English Civil War) that England acquired a peacetime professional standing army. At the Restoration of the monarchy, Charles II kept a small standing army, formed from elements of the Royalist army in exile and elements of the New Model Army, from which the most senior regular regiments of today's British Army can trace their antecedence. Likewise, Royal Marines can trace their origins back to the formation of the English Army's "Duke of York and Albany's maritime regiment of Foot" at the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company on 28 October 1664.[1]
In England, similar to most European nations during the Middle Ages, every man initially served as a soldier, obligated to rally to the standards at a designated time to defend against an attack or to launch an invasion. This rudimentary arrangement evolved alongside the advancement of civilisation and the organic development of society. As the principle of the division of labor became established within the Anglo-Saxon character, a distinction emerged between military and civil authority. Consequently, more or less organised military units were created; the earliest paid forces existed only temporarily, constrained by specific circumstances. These troops were assembled during wartime for particular purposes and were disbanded immediately following the cessation of hostilities.[2][3]
Edward III with the Black Prince after the Battle of Crécy by Benjamin West (1788). English armies campaigned intermittently in France from the 14th century to the mid-16th century.
The initial development of organised armed forces can be traced back to the Middle Ages. In 1181, King Henry III issued the Assize of Arms, which mandated that small landholders be highly skilled and trained in the use of the bow, while wealthier individuals were required to possess and be proficient with the sword, dagger, and longbow.[5] This Assize specifically addressed a class of freeholders known as the Forty shilling freeholders, who became associated with the term 'yeomanry.' It stated that individuals with land valued between 40 and 100 shillings annually would be armed and trained with a bow and arrow, sword, buckler, and dagger. The extensive wars of the Medieval period necessitated a more structured military organisation, including the implementation of compulsory mass enlistment. In 1346, King Edward III ordered that every man-at-arms in the realm either join the army or provide a substitute. Feudal lords were also required to contribute men-at-arms and archers in proportion to their income.[6]
The social structure of the Anglo-Norman society of England was relatively rigid. One of the easiest ways for a man to improve his social rank was through military service; another method was through the church. In England, unlike in many other contemporary societies, the knighting of men of common birth who had demonstrated ability and courage on the field of battle was possible. Although rare, some non-knightly men-at-arms did advance socially to the status of knights. The knighting of squires and men-at-arms was sometimes done in an ignoble manner, simply to increase the number of knights within an army (such practice was common during the Hundred Years' War). In chivalric theory, any knight could bestow knighthood on another, however, in practice this was usually done by sovereigns and the higher nobility. It is recorded that the great mercenary captain Sir John Hawkwood knighted a number of his followers, as many as twenty on one occasion, though he could reasonably be expected to provide the income his created knights required to maintain their new status.[7] Attempts to restrict the power of commanders to make knights would increase during the 16th century and by the end of Elizabeth I's reign, the practice had all but ceased.[8]
Although a knight bachelor, a knight banneret and all grades of nobility usually served as men-at-arms when called to war, the bulk of men-at-arms from the later 13th century came from an evolving social group which became known as the gentry. The man-at-arms could be a wealthy mercenary of any social origin, but more often he had some level of social rank based on income, usually from land. Some came from the class known as serjeants but increasingly during the 14th century they were drawn from an evolving class of esquire. Esquires were frequently of families of knightly rank, wealthy enough to afford the arms of a knight but who had thus far not been advanced to knightly status or perhaps had avoided it because they did not want the costs and responsibilities of that rank. Also found serving as men-at-arms were the lowest social group of the gentry, known by the 15th century simply as gentlemen.[9]
The proportion of knights among the men-at-arms varied through time. Between the 1280s and 1360s, figures between 20 and 30% were commonplace. Thereafter, there was a rapid decline, with the figure dropping to 6.5% in 1380. A slight rise is recorded to 8% at Agincourt, perhaps because this was a royal army, but thereafter the figure continued to decline and by 1443, the Duke of Somerset mustered only 1.3% knights among his men-at-arms.[10]
English men-at-arms before the second quarter of the 14th century served as heavy cavalry on the field of battle. The Battle of Dupplin Moor in 1332, against the Scots, signaled a major change in the battlefield role. This battle was the first major encounter where the tactical combination of dismounted men-at-arms with longbow-armed archers was deployed; the men-at-arms functioning as heavy close-combat infantry.[11] This combination was later employed very effectively. The English man-at-arms remained highly trained in mounted combat, though his use of the warhorse became largely confined to the pursuit of a broken enemy, skirmishing and in the chevauchée. In the late 15th century a resurgence in the effectiveness of the heavy lancer in combat took place in England, exemplified by Richard III's mounted charge at the Battle of Bosworth (1485) and the English cavalry charge at the Battle of the Spurs (1513).[12][13]
The last major battle in which English men-at-arms were prominent was fought against a Scottish army in 1547 at Pinkie Cleugh. The outnumbered Scots cavalry were easily driven off by the English horse (the Scots cavalry having lost heavily in an engagement the day before), the Scots then made a sudden advance with their massed pikemen. To slow their onset and give time for the English infantry to receive them the English heavy horse (men-at-arms and demi-lancers) were thrown against the pikes. The English cavalry crashed into the pikemen with great elan but sustained considerable losses. However, they halted the Scots attack, buying time for the English infantry and artillery to deploy effectively; the battle resulted in a heavy defeat for the Scots.[14]
Tudor and Stuart organisation
The Tudor era marked a significant transformation of England's medieval military into a more extensive force equipped with firearms, bolstered by robust naval vessels and strong coastal fortifications designed to safeguard the nation against potential invasions. The English army of the 16th century engaged in a diverse range of activities, albeit on a relatively limited scale. This included several expeditions against France, ongoing conflicts, and two significant wars with Scotland, as well as protracted military engagements in Ireland. The army also provided support to both factions in the Netherlands and to the Huguenots in France, while simultaneously preparing for various invasions that ultimately did not materialise.[15] The army is particularly noteworthy for its weaponry, as it maintained the use of the bill, cavalry lance, and especially the longbow. Additionally, it relied heavily on a national militia system during a period that was predominantly characterised by the use of mercenaries. The initial military forces of the Tudor period were predominantly medieval in nature. Before the onset of the English Civil War in 1642, the Tudor and Stuart monarchs of England maintained a personal bodyguard consisting of the Yeomen of the Guard, established by Henry VII, and the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, also known as "gentlemen pensioners," also created by Henry VIII. Additionally, several locally raised companies were tasked with garrisoning key locations, such as Berwick on Tweed, Portsmouth, and Calais, the latter of which was lost to France in 1558.[16]
Troops for overseas campaigns were assembled on an as-needed basis by the reigning monarch. This practice evolved from the feudal system, where a lord was expected to provide a specific number of knights, men-at-arms, and yeomen in exchange for the right to occupy land. In reality, noblemen and professional soldiers were commissioned by the monarch to fulfill troop requirements, often raising their quotas through various means. A Commission of Array was employed to gather forces for foreign missions, while several Militia Acts stipulated that, in principle, all property-owning males above a certain wealth threshold were obligated to maintain arms at home and participate in periodic training or musters. These musters often devolved into disorganized events, primarily utilised by Lord Lieutenants and other officials to collect their pay and allowances, while the troops viewed them as an opportunity for leisure following minimal drills.[17]
In 1511, the Kingdom signaled the elevation of the national obligation as the sole means of raising armies from the citizenry. He ordered the commissioners of array be responsible not just for the raising of levies, but also for ensuring that they were suitably equipped according to the Statute of Winchester. He also restricted landowners to raising forces only from their own tenants or others for whom, by the tenure of office, they were responsible. This instituted a quasi-feudal system, whereby he looked to the nobility to raise forces, but expected them to do so within the constraints of the shire levies, and the last use of indenture to raise an army came in 1512.[18]
Italian ambassadors reckoned that England had 150,000 armed men in 1519 and 100,000 in 1544 and 1551 available through their militia, while a French ambassador in 1570 reported that 120,000 were ready to serve. This was reasonably close to the truth as 183,000 militiamen were mustered in 37 counties in 1575, and in the officials returns of 1588 more than 132,000 were expected to be fielded.[19] They were intended to comprise part of the armies raised to combat the Spanish invasion. There were expected to be a total of 92,000 men mustered in the south of England (including 5,300 cavalry). Their poor state of readiness and obsolete nature of the weapons they used (mainly bills and longbows) prompted the creation of the more elite Trained Bands, who numbered 50,000 in 1588 (comprising about a third of the militia). This was only a partial solution however. By 1591 official records show 102,000 men on the rolls, of whom 42,000 are fully trained and furnished, plus 54,000 armed. In 1588 the Trained Bands primary weapons were 42% firearms, 26% pikes, 18% longbows, and 16% bills.[20]
In 1642, at the start of the English Civil War both the Royalists (Cavaliers) and Parliament (Roundheads) raised men when and where they could, and both claimed legal justification. Parliament claimed to be justified by its own recent "Militia Ordinance", while the king claimed the old-fashioned "Commissions of Array".[21] For example, in Cornwall the Royalist leader Sir Ralph Hopton indicted the enemy before the grand jury of the county for disturbing the peace, and expelled them by using the posse comitatus. In effect, both sides assembled local forces wherever they could do so by valid written authority.[21] After two years of ruinous but indecisive military campaigning, Parliament passed the Self-denying Ordinance (by which members of both Houses of Parliament were deprived of military office, a measure originally introduced to replace some high-ranking officers who were suspected of disloyalty or defeatism),[22] and created the New Model Army, the first professional standing army in Modern English history.[23] An experienced soldier, Sir Thomas Fairfax, was appointed its Lord General.
The New Model Army proved supreme in field, no more so than in the Second English Civil War which was succinctly described by Sir Winston Churchill:
The Story of the Second English Civil War is short and simple. King, Lords and Commons, landlords, merchants, the City and the countryside, bishops and presbyters, the Scottish army, the Welsh people, and the English Fleet, all now turned against the New Model Army. The Army beat the lot![24]
From its foundation, the New Model Army adopted social and religious policies which were increasingly at odds with those of Parliament. The Army's senior officers (the "Grandees") formed another faction, opposed both to Parliament and to the more extreme radicals (Levellers and dissenting Nonconformist sects) within the lower ranks.[22] The New Model Army's elite troops were its Regiments of Horse. They were armed and equipped in the style known at the time as harquebusiers, rather than as heavily armoured cuirassiers. They wore a back-and-front breastplate over a buff leather coat, which itself gave some protection against sword cuts, and normally a lobster-tailed pot helmet with a movable three-barred visor.[25]
Regiments were organised into six troops, of one hundred troopers plus officers, non-commissioned officers and specialists (drummers, farriers etc.). Each troop had its own standard, 2 feet (61cm) square. On the battlefield, a regiment was normally formed as two "divisions" of three troops, one commanded by the regiment's colonel (or the major, if the colonel was not present), the other by the lieutenant colonel.[26] Their discipline was markedly superior to that of their Royalist counterparts. Cromwell specifically forbade his men to gallop after a fleeing enemy, but demanded they hold the battlefield. This meant that the New Model cavalry could charge, break an enemy force, regroup and charge again at another objective. The New Model Army contained one regiment of dragoons of twelve companies, each of one hundred men, under Colonel John Okey. Dragoons were mounted infantry, and wore much the same uniform as musketeers although they probably wore stout cloth gaiters to protect the legs while they rode. They were armed with flintlock "snaphaunces".[27] On the battlefield, their major function was to clear enemy musketeers from in front of their main position. At the Battle of Naseby, they were used to outflank enemy cavalry.[28] In 1650, Okey's dragoons were converted into a regiment of horse. It appears that after that date, unregimented companies of dragoons raised from the Militia and other sources were attached to the regiments of horse and foot as required. This was the case at the Battle of Dunbar on 3 September 1650.[29]
The Regiments of Foot consisted of ten companies, in which musketeers and pikemen were mixed, at least on the march. Seven companies consisted of one hundred soldiers, plus officers, specialists and so on, and were commanded by captains. The other three companies were nominally commanded by the regiment's colonel, lieutenant colonel and major, and were stronger (200, 160 and 140 ordinary soldiers respectively). The regiments of foot were provided with red coats. Red was chosen because uniforms were purchased competitively from the lowest bidder, and Venetian red was the least expensive dye. Those used by the various regiments were distinguished by differently coloured linings, which showed at the collar and ends of the sleeves, and generally matched the colours of the regimental and company standards. In time, they became the official "Facing colour". On some occasions, regiments were referred to, for example, as the "blue" regiment or the "white" regiment from these colours, though in formal correspondence they were referred to by the name of their colonel. Each company had its own standard, 6 feet (180cm) square. The colonel's company's standard was plain, the lieutenant colonel's had a cross of Saint George in the upper corner nearest the staff, the major's had a "flame" issuing from the cross, and the captains' standards had increasing numbers of heraldic decorations, such as roundels or crosses to indicate their seniority.[30]
The Company of Pikemen and Musketeers salutes the new Lord Mayor of London at Mansion House at the conclusion of the Lord Mayor's Show 2014.
The New Model Army always had two musketeers for each pikeman,[31] though depictions of battles show them present in equal numbers. In the aftermath of the Second English Civil War, Parliament was made subservient to the wishes of the Army Council whose leading political figure was Oliver Cromwell. In an episode known as Pride's Purge, troops used force to prevent members of the House of Commons opposed to the Army Council from attending Parliament.[32] The resulting Rump Parliament passed the necessary legislation to have King Charles I tried and executed by beheading, and to declare England a Commonwealth.[33] The next two years saw the New Model Army invade first Ireland and then Scotland defeating their armies and occupying their territory. The New Model Army with the aid of English militias easily defeated a predominantly Scottish Royalist army under the command of Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651 bringing the Civil War to an end.[34]
During the Interregnum (1649–1660) the power of all the republican experiments in governance relied on the military might of the New Model Army, which, whenever it was called upon, was easily able to meet the challenges of its enemies, both foreign and domestic.[35] Two particularly notable events of the interregnum were to have long-lasting effects. The first was political; the army's complete seizure of power when Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament in 1653 is the closest to a coup d'état that England has had,[36] and the subsequent Rule of the Major-Generals. The other was the Battle of the Dunes (1658), where soldiers of the New Model Army fighting in their red-coats[37] astonished both their French allies and Spanish enemies by the stubborn fierceness of their assault up a sand-hill 150 feet (46m) high and strongly defended by Spanish veterans who were forced to retreat.[38]
It was only after the death of Oliver Cromwell and the loss of his influence that the other members of the army could not agree on an alternative to the restoration of Charles II. Even so, it was under the firm guidance and with the agreement of General George Monck of the New Model Army that the restoration of the monarchy took place in 1660.[35]
Stuart Asquith argues:
Many authorities quote the Restoration of 1660 as the birth date of our modern British Army. While this may be true as far as continuity of unit identity is concerned, it is untrue in a far more fundamental sense. The evidence of history shows that the creation of an efficient military machine and its proving on the battlefield, predates the Restoration by 15 years. It was on the fields of Nasby, Dunbar and Dunes that the foundations of the British professional army were laid.[35]
On 26 January 1661, Charles II issued the Royal Warrant that created the first regiments of what would become the British Army,[39] although Scotland and England maintained separate military establishments until the Acts of Union 1707. A third military establishment, the Irish Army also existed in the Kingdom of Ireland. For some of his enforced exile King Charles II had lived at the court of Louis XIV; he had witnessed the changes introduced in France into the organisation of the troops maintained in time of peace as well as of war. On his return to England in 1660, Charles took measures to support his recently restored throne on the fidelity of his soldiers; he moreover endeavoured to fix the hitherto unstable basis of a military government. As no system is improvised, a precedent for the innovation was to be found in the history of England. Two regiments created in the reign of Henry VIII, still subsist, the Gentlemen Pensioners and the Yeomen of the Guard formed in those days a sort of transition to a permanent army.[40][41]
This latter state of things was however so contrary to the constitutional customs of England that Charles II introduced it by degrees, gradually filling up the cadres of his battalions and, although contemporary writers considered it a formidable army.[40] King Charles put into these regiments those Cavaliers who had attached themselves to him during his exile on the European continent and had fought for him at the Battle of the Dunes against the Roundheads of the Protectorate and their French allies. For political expediency he also included some of the elements of the New Model Army. The whole force consisted of two corps of horse and five or six of infantry. It is, however, on this narrow and solid basis that the structure of the English army was gradually erected. The horse consisted of two regiments the Life Guards (formed from exiled Cavaliers); and The Blues (or The Oxford Blues), formed by Lord Oxford, out of some of the best New Model Army horse regiments. The foot regiments were Grenadier Guards (initially two regiments Lord Wentworth's Regiment and John Russell's Regiment of Guards which amalgamated in 1665), the Coldstream Guards (the New Model Army regiment of General Monck), the Royal Scots (formed from the Scotch guard in France), and the Second Queen's Royals.[40]
It will thus be seen that the military system prevailed in England almost at the same time as in France; the two people, however, hailed in a very different manner an innovation, which changed, especially in time of peace, the character of the armed force. In France, under the absolute rule of Louis XIV, it does not appear that the establishment of standing armies met with the shadow of opposition. This was not the case in free England. Pamphleteers wrote tracts voicing the fear of a people who within living memory had experienced the Rule of the Major-Generals and had liked neither the imposition of military rule, nor the costs of keeping the New Model Army in being when the country was not at war with itself or others. People also remembered the "Eleven Years' Tyranny" of Charles I and feared that a standing army under royal command would allow monarchs in the future to ignore the wishes of Parliament.[42]
Army Control
...the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law.
Many of the English were not fully reconciled to the need for a standing army until the reign of William III when the near perpetual wars with other European states made a modest standing army a necessity to defend England and to maintain its prestige in the world. But public opinion, always anxious of the bad old days, was resolved to allow itself no rest until it had defined the prerogatives of the Crown on this delicate point. Parliament finally succeeded in acquiring a control over the army, and under a general bill, commonly called the Mutiny Act, laid down the restrictions which, whilst respecting the rights of the sovereign, were likewise to shield the liberty of the people. It did this by making the standing army conditional on an annually renewed act of parliament.[44]
Command and control
Supreme command of the English Army was vested in the sovereign, though monarchs (with the notable exception of King William III) seldom led their forces in battle after 1660. Instead, executive command was generally delegated, in time of war, to a soldier.[45] In 1660, erstwhile parliamentarian commander General Monck was appointed captain general by King Charles II on his restoration and was given wide-ranging powers. Following his death in 1670 command was vested in a committee of colonels for a time; subsequently, individuals were from time to time appointed commander-in-chief with regard to particular actions or particular geographical areas, and the Duke of Monmouth served briefly as captain general from 1678 to 1679. A captain general was not appointed either by James II or William III; but in 1702 Queen Anne appointed her husband generalissimo and the Duke of Marlborough captain general.
A portrait of an English Army officer by Michael Dahl
Strategic control of the army was in the hands of the Privy Council.[45] By the early the eighteenth century, the power to raise an army, to issue marching orders and to administer army pay and finances lay with the Secretary at War, a member of the Government. (In origin the Secretary at War had been secretary to the captain general; but at times when no captain general or Commander-in-Chief was appointed the Secretary took on greater importance, gaining access to the sovereign and counter-signing orders; until, even when a new captain general was appointed, the Secretary at War retained distinct responsibilities and functioned independently.) An earlier official, the Treasurer at War, did not outlast the Interregnum.[45]
In 1679, the captain general being absent, a lieutenant-general was appointed to act in his stead (Lord Gerard of Brandon). Later, in 1685, King James II created three lieutenants-general 'over all our Forces, as well Horse as Foot';[46] three majors-general were also appointed at the same time along with several 'brigadeers' (also referred to as colonels of brigade and brigadeers-general). The first appointment of a full general (apart from the captain general) was in 1689.[46]
Following the Act of Union in 1707, the armies of England and Scotland were merged to create the British Army.[50] Although all the regiments were now part of the new British military establishment, they remained under the old operational-command structure and retained much of the institutional ethos, customs and traditions of the standing armies created shortly after the Restoration of the Monarchy 47 years earlier. The order of seniority of the most-senior British Army line regiments is based on that of the earlier English army.[51]
Scottish and Irish regiments were permitted to assume a rank in the English army only from the time of their arrival in England or from the moment they were first incorporated into the English establishment. For instance, in 1694, a panel of general officers was assembled to ascertain the rank of English, Irish, and Scottish regiments serving in the Netherlands. During this meeting, the regiment that would later be recognised as the Scots Greys was assigned the designation of the 4th Dragoons, as there were three English regiments that had been established prior to 1688, the year the Scots Greys were first integrated into the English establishment. In 1713, another board of general officers was convened to evaluate the rank of various regiments, leading to a reassessment of the Scots Greys' seniority, which was now based on their arrival in England in June 1685. At that time, there was only one English dragoon regiment, and after some delay, the Scots Greys were granted the rank of 2nd Dragoons within the British Army.[52]
↑ Ian Heath. "Armies of the Sixteenth Century: The Armies of England, Ireland, the United Provinces, and the Spanish Netherlands 1487–1609." Foundry Books, 1997. Pages 33 and 37.
↑ The core of Gentlemen Pensioners consisted exclusively of noblemen. In the reign of William IV (17 March 1834) they took the name of Gentlemen at Arms; they are now a ceremonial of body guard who attend at great public ceremonies. The "Yeomen of the Guard" (officers of the King's household) do duty at the Palaces in a uniform of the time of Henry VIII (Colburn 1860, p.566).
↑ On the experience of the Scottish soldiers see Victoria Henshaw, Scotland and the British Army, 1700–1750: Defending the Union (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014), ch 3
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, KB, PC was an English Parliamentarian and soldier during the first half of the 17th century. With the start of the Civil War in 1642, he became the first Captain-General and Chief Commander of the Parliamentarian army, also known as the Roundheads. However, he was unable and unwilling to score a decisive blow against the Royalist army of King Charles I. He was eventually overshadowed by the ascendancy of Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax, and resigned his commission in 1646.
The Battle of Naseby took place on 14 June 1645 during the First English Civil War, near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire. The Parliamentarian New Model Army, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, destroyed the main Royalist army under Charles I and Prince Rupert. The defeat ended any real hope of royalist victory, although Charles did not finally surrender until May 1646.
The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms in that members were liable for service anywhere in the country, rather than being limited to a single area or garrison. To establish a professional officer corps, the army's leaders were prohibited from having seats in either the House of Lords or House of Commons. This was to encourage their separation from the political or religious factions among the Parliamentarians.
The Battle of Edgehill was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642.
The Battle of Dunbar was fought between the English New Model Army, under Oliver Cromwell, and a Scottish army commanded by David Leslie on 3 September 1650 near Dunbar, Scotland. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for the English. It was the first major battle of the 1650 invasion of Scotland, which was triggered by Scotland's acceptance of Charles II as king of Britain after the beheading of his father, Charles I on 30 January 1649.
The Battle of Inverkeithing was fought on 20 July 1651 between an English army under John Lambert and a Scottish army led by James Holborne as part of an English invasion of Scotland. The battle was fought near the isthmus of the Ferry Peninsula, to the south of Inverkeithing, after which it is named.
The Battle of Wigan Lane was fought on 25 August 1651 during the Third English Civil War, between a Royalist army led by the Earl of Derby and forces loyal to the Commonwealth of England under Colonel Robert Lilburne. The Royalists were defeated, losing nearly half their officers and men.
The battle of Powick Bridge was a skirmish fought on 23 September 1642 south of Worcester, England, during the First English Civil War. It was the first engagement between elements of the principal field armies of the Royalists and Parliamentarians. Sir John Byron was escorting a Royalist convoy of valuables from Oxford to King Charles's army in Shrewsbury and, worried about the proximity of the Parliamentarians, took refuge in Worcester on 16 September to await reinforcements. The Royalists despatched a force commanded by Prince Rupert. Meanwhile, the Parliamentarians sent a detachment, under Colonel John Brown, to try to capture the convoy. Each force consisted of around 1,000 mounted troops, a mix of cavalry and dragoons.
Thomas Wentworth, 5th Baron Wentworth, KB, PC was an English landowner and soldier who supported the Royalists during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. At the end of the First English Civil War in 1646, he accompanied the future Charles II of England into exile and fought with him at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.
The Eastern Association of counties was an administrative organisation set up by Parliament in the early years of the First English Civil War. Its main function was to finance and support an army which became a mainstay of the Parliamentarian military effort until early 1645. In January 1644 committeemen of the Eastern Association gathered at the Bury Conference to discuss their concerns as regards the proposed New Model Army. However in the following months many of its units were incorporated into this new military formation.
The English Militia was the principal military reserve force of the Kingdom of England. Militia units were repeatedly raised in England from the Anglo-Saxon period onwards for internal security duties and to defend against external invasions. One of the first militia units in England were the fyrd, which were raised from freemen to defend the estate of their local Shire's lord or accompany the housecarls on offensive expeditions. During the Middle Ages, English militia units continued to be raised for service in various conflicts such as the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Roses. Militia troops continued to see service in Tudor and Stuart periods, most prominently in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Following the Acts of Union 1707, the English Militia was transformed into the British Militia.
James Berry, died 9 May 1691, was a Clerk from the West Midlands who served with the Parliamentarian army in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Characterised by a contemporary and friend as "one of Cromwell's favourites", during the 1655 to 1657 Rule of the Major-Generals, he was administrator for Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Wales.
The battle of Preston was fought on 17 August 1648 during the Second English Civil War near the Lancashire town of Preston between part of a Royalist army under James Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton, and a considerably smaller Parliamentarian army commanded by Lieutenant General Oliver Cromwell. The Royalists were defeated with heavy losses.
The siege of Dundee, 23 August to 1 September 1651, took place during the 1650 to 1652 Anglo-Scottish war. After a two-day artillery bombardment, a Covenanter garrison under Robert Lumsden surrendered to Commonwealth of England forces commanded by George Monck.
The Fifeshire Militia was an auxiliary regiment raised in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1798. It served in home defence during the Napoleonic Wars and again during the Crimean War when it was converted into an artillery unit as the Fifeshire Artillery Militia. It served in home defence again during the Indian Mutiny and the Second Boer War. It was disbanded in 1909.
The Kent Trained Bands were a part-time military force recruited from Kent in South East England, organised from earlier levies in 1572. They were periodically embodied for home defence and internal security, including the Spanish Armada campaign in 1588, and saw active service during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They were replaced by the Militia in 1662.
The Somerset Trained Bands were a part-time military force in the county of Somerset in South West England from 1558 until they were reconstituted as the Somerset Militia in 1662. They were periodically embodied for home defence, for example in the army mustered at Tilbury during the Armada Campaign of 1588. They fought of the Battle of Newburn in the Second Bishops' War and their units saw considerable active service for both sides during the English Civil War.
The Battle of Winwick was fought on 19 August 1648 near the Lancashire village of Winwick between part of a Royalist army under Lieutenant General William Baillie and a Parliamentarian army commanded by Lieutenant General Oliver Cromwell. The Royalists were defeated with all of those who took part in the fighting, their army's entire infantry force, either killed or captured. The Royalist mounted component fled but surrendered five days after the battle. Winwick was the last battle of the Second English Civil War.
The Suffolk Trained Bands were a part-time auxiliary military force in the county of Suffolk on the East Coast of England from 1558 until they were reconstituted as the Suffolk Militia in 1662. They were periodically embodied for home defence, for example in the army mustered at Tilbury during the Armada Campaign of 1588. They served in the Bishops' Wars and the Second and Third English Civil Wars, including the Siege of Colchester and the Battle of Worcester. They were also employed reorganised to support the Commonwealth and Protectorate regimes during the 1650s.
The Norfolk Trained Bands were a part-time military force in the English county of Norfolk in East Anglia from 1558 until they were reconstituted as the Norfolk Militia in 1662. They were periodically embodied for home defence, for example during the Rising of the North in 1569 and the Armada Crisis of 1588. They campaigned in the Bishops' Wars but saw no active service then or during the English Civil War. However, the Norfolks TBs were an integral part of the government security apparatus during the period of the Commonwealth and Protectorate.
References
Asquith, Stuart (1981), New Model Army 1645–60 (illustrateded.), Osprey, p.3, ISBN978-0-85045-385-0
Firth, C. H. (1972) [1902]. Cromwell's Army: A history of the English soldier during the civil wars, the Commonwealth and the Protectorate (1sted.). London: Methuen & Co Ltd.
Mallinson, Allan (2009), The Making of the British Army, Bantam Press, ISBN978-0-593-05108-5
Royal Scots Greys (1840), Historical record of the Royal regiment of Scots dragoons: now the Second, or Royal North British dragoons, commonly called the Scots greys, to 1839, p.56-57
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain:Colburn, H. (December 1860), "French view of our military institutions: The English Army", The United Service Magazine, Part 3 (385): 566–567
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Kingdom of England 
