The Militia and Volunteers of Northumberland are those military units raised in the county independently of the regular Army. The "modern" militia dates from legislation enacted during the Seven Years' War. The volunteers had several forms and separate periods of existence until made a permanent body in 1859.
Militia
After the invasion scare of 1745, and the later strain on the regular army during the Seven Years' War, bills for the reform of the militia were brought to Parliament, but it was not until 1759 that the Militia Act 1757 (30 Geo. 2. c. 25) would be passed.Beckett p. 63 The act continued with the ballot to select men from each county, in numbers based on a return made by the county authorities of men of eligible age, initially between 18 and 50 years of age. As a substitute could be made on a payment of £10, the burden fell on the working classes.Beckett p. 65 Subsequent explanatory legislation was required to curb rioting in 13 counties over fears of pay and overseas service, the militia would only be used in England and Wales.Beckett pp. 63-64 This included a riot in Hexham in June 1761 when about 5,000 people were confronted by six companies from the North York Militia. By the end, 51 people were dead and 300 wounded including some militiamen, earning the North York Militia the nickname The Hexham Butchers.Hewitson p. 18 When not embodied (mobilised) for service the men had an annual training requirement of 28 days by 1762.Beckett p. 67 The legislation was continually amended, for example, by the end of the Napoleonic wars, to permit wider service in the country, fixed terms of service and paying a bounty for volunteering for the regular army.Beckett p. 110
The militia was under the control of the lord-lieutenant of the county and was to be officered by the local gentry, their rank determined by a property qualification which was gradually reduced or ignored as time progressed. Initially a colonel required an income of £400 a year, or be an heir to twice that amount, lieutenant colonels and majors, £300, captains, £200, lieutenants, £100 and ensigns £50.Hewitson p. 16
General militia
The regiment of the Northumberland Militia did not form until 1759, it was led by Sir Edward Blackett Bart., and had an initial strength of 560 men, with the headquarters at Alnwick. The militia regiment in its early form was embodied on the following occasions:Hewitson pp. 18-26 During the Seven Years' War from 23 February 1760 to December 1762, it was stationed in Berwick-upon-Tweed. During the American Revolutionary War from 13 April 1778 to December 1782, when France had joined the Americans. It was commanded by Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland, The uniforms had buff waistcoats, and gained the regiment the nickname of the Northumberland Buffs.Hewitson p. 19 On 19 May they marched for London, and on 7 June made a 40-mile march, arriving at Holborn to aid the civil power during the Gordon Riots, where they earned praise for their orderly fire on looters and arsonists only.Hewitson p. 20 They then were posted to Dorking, where they shared a camp with the Nottingham and Sussex Militias, and the 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot. The regiment spent the winter of 1781–2 at Southampton returning to Northumberland via Chatham to be disbanded.Hewitson p. 22 During the French Revolutionary Wars from the end of 1792 until May 1802 the regiment was tasked with maintaining order as well as anti-invasion duties and for this purpose they were employed outside of their area of recruitment and kept on the move so as to avoid fraternization with the local population.Knight p. 79 By June 17989 the regiment was 1300 strong and based in Hornsea. Also that year, the Northumberland Supplemental Militia was raised and designated as the 2nd battalion, serving at Sunderland and South Shields before being disbanded in November 1799. During 1799, 266 men of the regiment transferred to the regular army, the 5th, 17th, 56th and 59th regiments of foot and the Royal Artillery.Hewitson pp. 22-23 Less than a year later, after the short lived Peace of Amiens, the regiment was once again embodied from 22 April 1803 to 24 June 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars, with an initial strength of 649. After spending two years in the North east of England the regiment was dispatched to anti-smuggling duties in Kent, thereafter moving around the South of England, in turn guarding French prisoners of war in 1810, during which time each man of the regiment subscribed one days pay for the relief of British prisoners of war. While in Colchester during 1811, the regiment volunteered for a third time to serve in Ireland, and as a mark of distinction was granted the title of Light Infantry, becoming the Northumberland Light Infantry Militia, and having its offer accepted, arrived in Cork in August. The regiment returned to England at Bristol on 11 October 1813, and Marched to Scotland, wintering in Haddington, it was disbanded in Alnwick on 24 June 1814. During its embodiment 1,159 men had volunteered for service in the regular army or Royal Navy.Hewitson pp. 23-26
Training for balloted men began again in 1820, however desertion was a problem, and again in 1821.Hewitson p. 26 Training was infrequent up to 1831 and then went into abeyance along with the Militia movement as a whole.Beckett pp. 129-131
A new act, the Militia Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 50), was passed that revived the militia, with voluntary service (and a bounty of six guineas) but with the ballot remaining an option. Commanded by the earl of Beverly and titled the 27th Northumberland Light Infantry Militia the first training was attended by 850 men out of the enlisted 1122.Hewitson p. 27
During the Crimean War it was embodied from 9 January 1855 to 20 June 1856 spending early 1856 in Carlisle, where 395 men transferred to the regular army. It was not among those embodied during the manpower shortage caused by the Indian Mutiny. In 1859 the enthusiasm for the militia had waned and only 200 of the 900 on strength turned up. The revival of the Volunteer forces led to competition with the regular army and Volunteers for the available manpower.Beckett p. 155 The rise of local constabularies meant that the militia would be used less for keeping order than to replace regular soldiers on home service during large mobilizations.Beckett pp. 142-143
Reforms and amalgamation
New legislation increased ease with which militia officers and men could transfer to the regular army, and resulted it becoming, as Cardwell wanted, more of an auxiliary to the regular line regiments.Beckett pp. 168-187 In 1881, after being brigaded with, but seldom interacting with, the Volunteer units of the county since 1873, but being briefly embodied into the 5th Regiments's Depot in 1878, the Northumberland Light Infantry Militia became the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, The Northumberland Fusiliers.Hewitson pp. 30-32
For the first and only time, the militia battalion would not only be embodied, but also see action during the Second Boer War. The 3rd battalion was embodied on 12 December 1899, with a strength of 412 officers and men. Of these 151 went to South Africa reinforcing the 2nd Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, the remainder were part of the Malta garrison where it guarded Boer prisoners, and received the news that with the raising of the 3rd and 4th regular battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers it was to be temporarily renamed the 5th (Militia) Battalion. The South Africa contingent would lose 23 men to disease and fighting.Hewitson pp.32-33
The Haldane Reforms
In 1908, in large part due to the Militias' resistance to more reform, the militia were reduced to a draft finding and training role.Beckett pp. 216-127 Now renamed the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, it would take over the running of the regimental Depot, being part of the local garrison during a mobilisation. After serving in this role in World War I, it was not reformed after the war, the role of the original militia no longer existing, and was finally disbanded after a long period of suspended animation in 1953.
Artillery Militia
Raised as a coastal artillery battery in 1854, the Northumberland Artillery Militia was first headquartered on Tyneside, then at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Initially it had an establishment of just 161 men of all ranks in two batteries, later rising to six batteries.Hewitson p. 38Litchfield, pp. 122–5.
During its embodiment during the Crimean War (4 April to 2 March 1861) a group of around 30 militiamen rioted in North Shields, after two of them had been threatened with imprisonment for a drunken assault the previous night, 14 May 1860. In June 28 militiamen and one woman were turned over to the local Magistrates, and the townspeople requested that militia be removed from Tynemouth. The headquarters was moved to Berwick upon Tweed in 1861.Hewitson pp. 38-40
In 1882 it was renamed the 3rd Brigade, Northern Division, Royal Artillery and again in 1889 to the Northumberland Artillery (Western Division) Royal Artillery. After a second, short, period of full-time service from May to October 1900, it was again renamed the Northumberland Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia). It was transferred to the field artillery in 1908 as part of the Special Reserve and disbanded in 1909.Hewitson p. 40
Volunteers
It was initially intended in the Militia Act 1778 to permit volunteers to augment the militia, however only 14 companies had been added nationwide by 1780.Beckett p.69 In 1782 a new act, the Volunteers Act 1782 (22 Geo. 3. c. 79), allowed raising of volunteer forces by local subscription, with a wealthy land-owners or businessman providing most of the funding, but with the government paying them for any service and allowing the men to be court-marshalled only under volunteer officers.
Volunteer Corps
Volunteer recruitment early on in the Revolutionary wars proceeded slowly, mostly in the counties most likely to face an invasion.Knight p. 80 Even with the right to avoid the militia ballot, it remained slow until boosted by the Defence of the Realm Act 1798 (38 Geo. 3. c. 27) which allowed the raising of "Armed Associations".Knight p. 81Beckett p. 81 These were again raised by local subscription, with local gentry or a rich businessman providing the bulk of the capital who often commanded the formation. The rank of commandant depended on the number of men in the formation, two of three score for a captain-commandant, up to 500 for a Lt. colonel-commandant.Ward p. 21
Early formations (1794-5) were:- The Loyal Newcastle Volunteers, 300 to 400 men strong were self-financing and nicknamed the Tinsel Dons on account of their bright uniforms of scarlet with large green facings and gilt buttons, commanded by Colonel Thomas Clennel.Hewitson pps. 42, 47 The Newcastle Armed Association was government supported and was 800 to 1,000 men strong, and included a light infantry company, commanded by Sir Matthew White Ridley, 2nd Baronet.Hewitson pp. 42-43 The Loyal Berwick Volunteers were four companies strong by 1797, commanded by Major Commandant, later Lt. Colonel Thomas Hall.Hewitson p. 51
Other units raised in 1798 and later were:- The Hexham Volunteer Infantry.Hewitson p. 54 The Morpeth Associated Volunteer Infantry commended by John Bell was 125 strong in 1801. It did not reform in 1803. The Wallington and Kirkharle Volunteer Troop of Cavalry The Corbridge Volunteer Corps of Infantry from 1804, had a uniform of red with yellow facings and white breeches.Beckett p. 55 The Seaton Delaval Associated Corps of Volunteer Infantry, 72 men strong, were funded by Lord Delaval and had plans to evacuate the town and parish by cart.Hewitson pp. 53-54