The Forfarshire Militia, later the Forfar and Kincardine Militia was an auxiliary regiment recruited in the Scottish counties of Forfarshire and Kincardineshire from 1798. It served in home defence and on internal security duties across the British Isles through all Britain's major wars. In 1854 it was converted into an artillery corps that continued until 1908.
Scottish Militia The universal obligation to military service in the Shire levy was long established in Scotland: all men aged from 16 to 60 were obliged to serve for a maximum of 40 days in any one year if required, and their arms and equipment were inspected at regular Wapenshaws. In time of war they would be called out by proclamation and by riders galloping through towns and villages bearing the 'Fiery Cross'.Phillips, pp. 46–54.Hay, pp. 107–9.
After the restoration of Charles II, the Scottish Parliament passed an Act in 1661, ratified in 1663, creating a militia of 20,000 infantry and 2000 horse, available for Crown service anywhere in Scotland, England or Ireland. These troops were called out in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution.Dudgeon, p. 5. Thereafter the militia in Scotland, as in England, was allowed to decline. After the Jacobite Rising of 1715 a Disarming Act was passed in Scotland and although some militia served in the Government forces against the Jacobite Rising of 1745 there was a reluctance to leave weapons in the hands of those who might rebel.Scobie.
The English Militia were conscripted by ballot, and this was revived in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. However, there were residual fears of Jacobitism in Scotland, so rather than embody the moribund militia, full-time regiments of 'Fencibles' were raised for the duration of the war by means of normal recruitment. Scotland relied on Fencibles again during the War of American Independence and the early stages of the French Revolutionary War.
Forfar and Kincardine Militia Finally, in 1797 Parliament passed an Act introducing the militia ballot in Scotland. This measure was unpopular and there were anti-ballot riots in the west of the country, but volunteers and paid substitutes were accepted.Dudgeon, pp. 6, 22–3. Appendix IIIParkyn.Western, pp. 223, 252. Ten regiments of Scottish militia were raised in 1798 under the 1797 Act, including the Forfarshire Militia formed at Montrose.Frederick, pp. 168, 982.Hay, pp. 207–8.Litchfield. pp. 87–9, Appendix 1.Forfar and Kincardine Militia at Regiments.org. The Lord Lieutenant of Forfarshire, Archibald Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas, previously commander of the Angusshire Regiment of Fencible Infantry, was appointed Colonel, with the rank of Brevet Colonel in the army while the regiment was embodied.London Gazette, 17 July 1798.
The French Revolutionary Wars saw the militia embodied for long periods and they became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in Great Britain), which the Regular Army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits. They served in coast defences, manning garrisons, guarding prisoners of war, and carried out internal security duty.Knight, pp. 78–9, 111, 255, 411.
The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802 and the militia regiments could be disembodied, leaving only the permanent staff of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and drummers under the regimental adjutant. During the brief period of peace the militia was reorganised. The Forfarshire regiment widened its recruitment area and it was designated the Forfarshire and Kincardine Militia, soon afterwards shortened to Forfar and Kincardine Militia. Its establishment was 511 privates drawn from Forfarshire and 136 from Kincardineshire, for a total of 647.Sleigh, pp. 143–4. The Hon Archibald Douglas, son of Lord Douglas, was appointed colonel of the regiment in 1802, with his brother the Hon Charles Douglas as the junior major.War Office, 1805 List.
Napoleonic Wars The Peace of Amiens was short-lived and Britain declared war on France once more on 18 May 1803. The Forfar and Kincardine regiment had already been embodied at Montrose on 6 April 1803, and on 21 June its establishment strength was raised to 970 (reverting to 647 in 1805 after a new Act of Parliament encouraged militiamen in excess of the quota to volunteer for the Regular ArmyHay, pp. 150–2.). On 1 July 1803 it moved to Musselburgh, where it went into camp for the summer. From 8 November it was billeted in Musselburgh town. During the summer of 1805, when Napoleon was massing his 'Army of England' at Boulogne for a projected invasion, the Forfar and Kincardine Militia with 918 men in 10 companies under Lt-Col Robert W. Duff was quartered in Musselburgh, Fisherwick and Inveresk. It was part of a militia brigade based at Musselburgh that also included the Berwickshire, Dumfriesshire and Edinburgh regiments, all under the command of Lt-Col John Wauchope of the Edinburgh Militia.Brown.
The Forfar and Kincardine Militia finally left Musselburgh on 13 October 1806 and moved to Glasgow Barracks, where it was quartered until 5 March 1807 when it moved to Stirling Castle. On 14 November 1807 its establishment was ordered to be 1049. It next moved to Edinburgh Castle on 11 June 1808, and then Berwick-upon-Tweed on 19 May 1809. It moved to Dunbar on 7 May 1810, followed by Newcastle upon Tyne on 28 May 1810 and Tynemouth on 10 June 1811. The establishment was reduced to quota again on 17 September 1811 after further recruitment to the Regulars. By 2 November 1812 the regiment was on the move to Stockport, travelling on to Manchester on 27 January 1813.
In 1811 an 'Interchange Act' had been passed, allowing British militia units to volunteer for service in Ireland and vice versa. The Forfar and Kincardine regiment volunteered for this service in 1814. It left Manchester on 28 March 1814 and sailed to Ireland. There it was quartered at Clonoony Barracks until 6 July when it moved to Naas Barracks.
The war ended with the abdication of Napoleon in April 1814, and the regiment remained in Ireland awaiting disembodiment. At this time the Hon Archibald Douglas was still colonel but his brother the Hon Charles Douglas was now the Lieutenant-Colonel.Treble Almanack Napoleon escaped from Elba early in 1815, initiating the Hundred Days Campaign. Disembodiment of the militia was halted (and other regiments re-embodied) and units remained in service after the Battle of Waterloo while large numbers of Regular troops were retained on occupation duties in Continental Europe. The Forfar & Kincardine remained at Naas until 12 September 1815 when it moved to Downpatrick. It finally left Downpatrick on 2 March 1816 and returned to Scotland to be disembodied.
Long peace After Waterloo there was another long peace. Although officers continued to be commissioned into the militia and ballots were still held, the regiments were rarely assembled for training and the permanent staffs of non-commissioned officers and drummer (who were occasionally used to maintain public order) were progressively reduced.Hay, pp. 154–5. Donald Ogilvy, who had been major since 1809, was promoted to colonel on 28 February 1828.Ogilvy at History of Parliament Online. On 11 November 1834, Sir Alexander Ramsay, 2nd Baronet, who had first been commissioned into the regiment as an ensign on 14 September 1803, was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel.
Forfar and Kincardine Artillery Militia The Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by the Militia Act 1852, enacted during a renewed 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:Dunlop, pp. 42–51.Hay, pp. 155–7.Spiers, Army & Society, pp. 91–2. 'Whenever a state of war exists between Her Majesty and any foreign power'. 'In all cases of invasion or upon imminent danger thereof'. 'In all cases of rebellion or insurrection'.
The 1852 Act introduced Artillery Militia units in addition to the traditional infantry regiments. Their role was to man coastal defences and fortifications, relieving the Royal Artillery (RA) for active service.Litchfield, pp. 1–7.Maurice-Jones, p. 161. The Forfar and Kincardine Militia was converted to artillery in March 1854. The new quotas assigned were 649 gunners to be raised from Forfarshire and 127 from Kincardineshire, for a total of 868 all ranks, the headquarters remaining at Montrose.Litchfield, Appendices 4 & 7.
Crimean War and Indian Mutiny The outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 and the despatch of an expeditionary force led to the militia being called out for home defence. The new Forfar and Kincardine Artillery Militia was embodied in February 1855. It remained training at Montrose until the autumn, when it moved to garrison Fort George on the Moray Firth.Edinburgh Gazette, 7 August 1855.Edinburgh Gazette, 2 October 1855. The unit volunteered for garrison service in the Mediterranean, Malta and Gibraltar, but the offer was not taken up. It was still at Fort George when the war ended with the Treaty of Paris on 30 March 1856, and it was disembodied in May.Edinburgh Gazette, 6 May 1856. No new colonels were appointed to militia units after 1852, and David Laird, a former lieutenant in the 72nd Highlanders, was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant on 16 September 1857.Hart's.
The Forfar and Kincardine was one of a few artillery militia corps that were mobilised for home defence when an expeditionary force went to suppress the Indian Mutiny. It was embodied in November 1857 and ordered to Kinsale in Ireland. It then moved to Dundalk, and was at Limerick by April 1858.Edinburgh Gazette, 4 December 1857.Edinburgh Gazette, 2 February 1858.Edinburgh Gazette, 13 April 1858. The unit had returned to Montrose by June,Edinburgh Gazette, 8 June 1858. but remained embodied. It then went back to Ireland, being stationed at Dublin by September.Edinburgh Gazette, 7 September 1858. During October it returned to garrison Kinsale.Edinburgh Gazette, 2 November 1858.
In May 1859 the Forfar and Kincardine Artillery moved to the Sheerness defences in Kent,Edinburgh Gazette, 7 June1859. where it remained for the rest of its embodiment.Edinburgh Gazette, 3 April 1860. All the remaining militia artillery were scheduled to be disembodied in April 1860; by now some had been embodied for three years and were considered well trained. In an effort to retain some of this trained manpower, the Secretary of State for War, Sidney Herbert, accepted a proposal by the Earl of Donoughmore, Lt-Col Commandant of the Tipperary Artillery Militia, that certain embodied militia artillery units should be transferred to the regular Royal Artillery (RA). The plan was to form an Irish brigade from the Tipperary Artillery, and another from the Forfar and Kincardine at Sheerness. However, there was an outcry from RA officers that militia officers without professional training would gain regular commissions and might outrank RA officers trained at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. After debate in the House of Lords the proposal was dropped.Litchfield, p. 137.House of Lords Hansard, debate 22 February 1861: 'The Tipperary Militia Artillery'. The Forfar and Kincardine Artillery was disembodied as scheduled in April 1860.Edinburgh Gazette, 1 May 1860.