192 



MILITIA 



Though ut lii-i intended for home defence only, 

 those troops are freely used to reinforce the regular 

 army if tin- exigencies of ttMOMmsigll require it. 

 In several respecU tin- militia <-i (Jicat liritain 

 di tiers from that of other Kuiopcaii n.-ili.ni-. It 

 can only lie sent out of tlie country if it volunteera 

 anil with tin- consent of parliament, and with ft few 

 iinlivi.liiiil exceptions the men composing it have 



.-ne.l in die tegular army. 



It is a constitutional force raised under the 

 sanction of parliament for the defence of the 

 ruiinlry against invasion. Organised by counties 

 and cities, it is essentially a local force. I'nder 

 tin- Anglo Saxons all men were Mnirad to bear 

 arms a* a sort of body. rent for the land they 

 held, IMI! there was no special organisation until 

 Alfred's reign. That great king organised the 

 militia or fynf, making land the basis of nuni- 

 liers, but the family system that of discipline : 

 go many families were a tything. ten tythings 

 a hundred, and hundreds were united into county 

 powers, each under its herctoga, dux, or duke. 

 Each section of the community had not only to 

 furnish ii- quota in time of war, but also to pro- 

 vide arms, keep them in repair, ami train its men 

 for so many days every year. This arrangement 

 subsisted in more or less vigour until the Conquest ; 

 then the feudal troops rendered the militia unneces- 

 sary ; but it never ceased wholly to exist, and when 

 the rrown began to contend with the Norman 

 barons it naturally found its most powerful instru 

 in. -MI in tin- Saxon militia. Henry II. established 

 'an assj/e of urms,' at which every holder of land 

 was hound to produce one or more men fully 

 equipped, nnd capalde of lighting in the national 

 defence. This annual assembly of the fyrd or militia 

 i first recorded after the Conquest in 1 181. Further 

 alterations to suit the advances in the art of war 

 took place in 1558. In 1(304 James I. abolished the 

 fyrd, and substituted 'Trained ( commonly called 

 train) Hands,' to the number of 160,000 men a 

 force pai taking of the nature of txith the militia and 

 volunteers, but delicient in discipline and drill. 

 During the Civil War the train bands for the most 

 part sided with the Parliament. Up to that time the 

 command had never by any law been definitely 

 assigned to thecrowto, but after the Restoration the 

 loyal pailiameiit of Charles II. declared 'the sole 

 supreme ^'ovenimi-nt, command, and dis|isition of 



the militia (o IK- the undoubted right of his majesty 

 and his royal predecessors.' As. however, the crown 

 from this lime Is-gati to depend for it* support upon 

 a mercenary army, the militia was much neglected 

 until I7~>7, when, a l.u^e portion of the regular army 

 iM-ing absent in the Seven Years' War, it was care- 

 fiilK i for the defence of the kingdom. 



Several militia act* have ln-en subsequently p.is-.-.l. 

 In 1871 the control of the militia was transferred 

 to the War Otlicc from the lords-lieutenant, who 

 may, however, still recommend gentlemen for 

 commissions. Various laws for the consolida- 

 tion of the national defences by bringing the army, 

 mililia, and oilier military forces into closer eon 

 neciion were compled-d in 1870, and the 1'iiited 

 Kingdom was div.dcd into (i!) infantry regimental 

 district*. To i-Hch belongs a territorial regiment, 

 consisting generally of two line battalions, and two 

 to nine militia battalions, besides the regimental 

 dep.it, volunteer battalions, and the men in the 

 Army Reserve and Militia Reserve. The latter 

 are militiamen who by taking a double bounty 

 ( t-1 at ll ..... ud of each (ruining render themselves 

 liable in time of emergency to lie drafted into 

 the regular army. The Militia Reserve numbers 

 about :l.OOO. 



The nuiiilwr of militiamen to IK- provided by each 

 territorial district -known n. it* 'quota' is* fixed 

 by government in proportion to the number of 



battalions in each such district. These nnmliers 



are raised by voluntary recruit i I, serve six years, 



and may re-enlist tor six mote; but should volun- 

 teering fail, a levy by ballot would ! made upon 

 all the inhabitant* of the locality between the ages 

 of eighteen and thirty to serve five years. Theixiwrr 

 of making this ballot always exists, and would ha\ e 

 by law to l>e enforced, but for the annual Militia 

 IJall.it Suspension Act. Many classes are exempt 

 from the ballot, as peers, soldiers, volunteers, yeo- 

 manry, resident members <>f universities, clergymen, 

 parish schoolmasters, articled clerks, apprentices, 

 seafaring men, crown employes, free watermen of 

 the Thames; in England any poor man with more 

 than one child liorn in wedlock ; in Scotland any 

 man with more than two lawful children and not 

 possessed of property to the value of t'.Mi ; in Ireland 

 any [XMII- man not worth 10, or who does not pay 

 t.'i per annum for rent, and has more than three 

 lawful children under the age of fourteen. 



Large barracks have lieen built at the head- 

 quarters of regimental districts where there weie 

 none previously, so that militia when training need 



no lonjjer lie billeted. Camps are constantly for 1 



for their occupation. The officers are of ten employed 

 with regular troops, l>oth infantry and artillery. 

 Militia recruits are if possible trained at the head- 

 quarters of the regimental district, and everything 

 possible done to increase the efficiency of the force 

 and assimilate it to the regular army. Young 

 officers, after serving two trainings in the militia 

 and passing an examination in (a. -tics, fortification, 

 military topography, and law, as well as a literary 

 examination similar to that for cadctships at the 

 Royal Military College (see MlUT.\i:\ SCHOOLS), 

 are given commissions in the line and cavalry, or, if 

 they pass the entrance examination for the Royal 

 Military Academy at Woolwich, in the artillciv. 

 Finally, in 1890 it was derided that the miliiia 

 should no longer be styled part of the ' auxiliary ' 

 forces of the empire. 



The militia ass hies annually for not more than 



fifty-six days' training ( recruits for not more than six 

 months'), and the government can embody the 

 whole or part of the force at any national crisis. 

 In November 1813 a brigade of three, militia bat- 

 talions was formed, and embarked for France in 

 March 1814, serving in the Marquis of Dalhousie's 

 division till the peace. I'.y Isl.'i the mililia had 

 lieen embodied for nearly twenty years; again, 

 during the Russian war of 1HT>4 ."lise\eial battalions 

 served in garrison at Gibraltar and Malta: and 

 many were einliodicd during the Indian Mutiny, 

 1857-59. The quota of the I'nited Kingdom 

 (including the Channel Islands) is M,'t,4.">!i men, of 

 which number 121,000 mav l>e considered as effec- 

 tive, costing the country aliout IJ millions. 



A militiaman receives a bounty of 1 (1 10s. if 

 re enlisted) after each training. When out for 

 training or embodied, the officers and men receive 

 the same pay as regular troops of corresponding 

 arms of the service, and are then all under the 

 Army Act of 1881. The officers rank with, but 

 junior to, those of the regular army, and are at all 

 times suliject to military law. The only distinc 

 lion in uniform is the letter M on the shoulder- 

 si ran. 



Trie celebrated Local Militia is the old general 

 levy ; it was instituted in IMOS. and suspended but 

 not abolished in 1816. It consisted of a force for 

 each county six times as numerous as the regular 

 militia quota. The men were drawn b\ ballot from 

 those lictween the ages of eighteen and thirty, served 

 four years, and wen 1 not paid Inmntiesor allowed to 

 find substitutes. The counties were liable to a fine 

 of 15 for every man short of the quota. These 

 tn Mips could only be marched beyond their respec- 

 tive counties in the event of actual invasion, but 



