The London Trained Bands (LTBs) were a part-time military force in the City of London from 1559 until they were reconstituted as conventional Militia regiments in 1794. They were periodically embodied for home defence, for example in the army mustered at Tilbury during the Armada Campaign of 1588. They saw a great deal of active service during the English Civil War, including the First and Second Battles of Newbury, and the battles of Alton, Cheriton, Cropredy Bridge and Lostwithiel. Throughout their history they were used to suppress civil disorder and insurrection around the capital.
Early history
The English militia was descended from the Anglo-Saxon Fyrd, the military force raised from the freemen of the shires under command of their Sheriff. It continued under the Norman kings, notably at the Battle of the Standard (1138). The force was reorganised under the Assizes of Arms of 1181 and 1252, and again by King Edward I's Statute of Winchester of 1285.Fortescue, Vol I, pp. 5–7, 12–6.Hay, pp. 60–1.Holmes, pp. 90–100.Nagel, pp. 6–8.Oman, pp. 110, 359–60. Levies from London were engaged at the Battle of Lewes in 1264, and defended the city in the Siege of London in 1471 during the Wars of the Roses.Oman, pp. 421–31.Richmond.
King Henry VIII strengthened the military capability of the country: in Acts of 1511 (An Act concerning shooting in Long Bows., 3 Hen. 8. c. 3), 1514 (6 Hen. 8. c. 2) and 1541 (The Unlawful Games Act), Parliament reiterating the obligation on boys aged from 7 and upwards, and all men of military age, to practise archery (with English longbows, not crossbows) and for all towns and villages to set up Archery butts. Moorfields and Finsbury Fields were popular archery grounds for Londoners. In 1537 Henry issued a charter to the Fraternity of St George whereby the citizens of London could practise with 'artillery' (longbows, crossbows and handguns), and in 1539 he called out a 'Great Muster' across the country, when the 16,000-strong 'Citie Forces' marched through London from their muster at Mile End and Stepney.Money Barnes, pp. 22–4.Emberton, pp. 11–3.Hay, p. 62.History 1537–1799 at HAC.
London Trained Bands The legal basis of the Shire levy was updated by two acts of 1557 (4 & 5 Ph. & M. cc. 2 and 3), which placed the county militia under a Lord Lieutenant appointed by the monarch. The entry into force of these Acts in 1558 is seen as the starting date for the organised county militia in England. Regulations for mustering the militia of the City of London were issued by Queen Elizabeth I in 1559. The elected Lord Mayor and Aldermen fulfilled the roles of Lord Lieutenant and appointed the officers.Beckett, Amateur Tradition, p. 20.Boynton, Chapter II.Cruickshank, p. 17.Emberton, p. 13.Fortescue, Vol I, p. 125.Hay, p. 88.Hay, pp. 258–61.Maitland, pp. 234–5, 278.Roberts, pp. 7–8.
Although the militia obligation was universal, it was clearly impractical to train and equip every able-bodied man, so after 1572 the practice was to select a proportion of men for the Trained Bands, who were mustered for regular drills.Boynton, pp. 13–7.Cruickshank, pp. 24–5.Firth, p. 5.Hay, pp. 11–17, 25–28. Even so, there was resistance throughout the country to the costs involved, especially for firearms and training ammunition, and when London tried to get its quota of 2000 'shot' reduced to 500 in 1574, the government increased it to 4000. To reach that total the Court of Aldermen had to exert pressure on the city livery companies to raise the necessary money.Boynton, pp. 93, 96. In 1586 the responsibility for the London Trained Bands was shifted from the livery companies to the Wards of the City of London.Nagel, p. 9.
In theory the Trained Bands met for a day's training in each of the summer months, but for most of the country this was perfunctory, and they were in fact Untrained Bands, who would not serve outside their own district. Londoners often made fun of the Trained Bands and their sham fights at Mile End (Beaumont and Fletcher ridiculed them in their 1607 play The Knight of the Burning PestleFirth, pp. 10–1.Nagel, p. 17.Act V, Scenes I & II.), but London was in fact the exception to the rule: its regiments were well trained, capable of putting up a stout defence, and the men were even prepared to leave their businesses for short campaigns. Under Queen Elizabeth I the Fraternity of St George had developed into the 'Artillery Company of London' (later the Honourable Artillery Company, HAC) with a drill ground and firing ranges at the Old Artillery Garden outside the city walls at Spitalfields. It attracted keen citizens who learned drill and studied the military arts as a hobby under the tutelage of hired professional captains. The Artillery Company and similar groups such as the Military Garden in St Martin's Fields provided much of the officer corps for the LTBs and ensured that they were among the best-trained and equipped in the country.Money Barnes, pp. 40, 80.Firth, pp. 8–11.Embleton, p. 14.Nagel, pp. 10–1.Raikes, Vol I, Chapter II.
Tilbury muster With the outbreak of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604), training and equipping the militia became a priority. By early 1588 the LTBs were training twice-weekly before the Armada Crisis led to the mobilisation of the trained bands on 23 July. At this time the LTBs were organised as follows:Money Barnes, pp. 25–6.Emberton, pp. 16–7.Leslie, Muster.Nagel, pp. 12–3.
East Regiment Portsoken Aldgate Tower – from Aldgate Tower – from the Tower itself Billingsgate Billingsgate – from Billingsgate and Bridge Bridge – from Bridge and Langbourn Langbourn Lime Street – from Lime Street, Langbourn and Bishopsgate Bishopsgate
North Regiment Cornhill – from Cornhill, Bishopsgate and Broad Street Broad Street Coleman Street – from Coleman Street and Broad Street Bassishaw – from Bassishaw, Broad Street and Cripplegate Cripplegate – 3 Companies Liberty of St Martin-le-Grand – from St Martin-le-Grand, Cripplegate and Farringdon Within Aldersgate Cheapside
West Regiment Farringdon Within – 3 Companies Cheapside – from Cheapside, Farringdon Within and Castle Baynard Farringdon Without – 5 Companies Castle Baynard
South Regiment Castle Baynard – from Castle Baynard and Queenhithe Queenhithe Bread Street – from Bread Street and Queenhithe Bread Street – from Bread Street and Vintry Dowgate Cordwainer – from Cordwainer and Vintry Cordwainer – from Cordwainer and Dowgate Vintry Walbrook Candlewick
In total the 40 City companies, each with an establishment of 150 men, comprised 2000 pikemen and 4000 armed with the caliver, a kind of light musket. In addition the 'Out Liberties' of the Tower Hamlets, Westminster and Southwark provided a further 5 companies with 350 pikes and 750 calivers. (Another breakdown of the LTBs' weapons in April 1588 listed 1000 muskets, 2000 pikes, 2400 calivers and 600 bills, with 4000 armed but untrained men listed as pioneers). It appears that the City regiments were temporary – no colonels were appointed (except to the Tower Hamlets and Westminster contingents) – and the 40 companies were the sole permanent organisations. Formally, the Southwark Trained Bands were under the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, but since 1550 the heart of the borough had formed Bridge Without ward of the city, and its regiment generally cooperated with the LTBs.Hay, pp. 95–96.
The LTBs marched out behind their captains and ensigns to join the great camp at Tilbury where Queen Elizabeth gave her Tilbury speech on 9 August. It appears that the job of watching the walls and gates of the city was left to the 4000 armed but untrained men. Captain Martin Bond of the Aldersgate Company was one of those present at Tilbury. He later became 'Chief Captain' of the LTB and the first President of the Court of Assistants of the Artillery Company. After the defeat of the Armada, the army at Tilbury was dispersed and the Trained Bands returned to their homes. They continued to train, but by the 1599 muster the numbers from the 25 wards and the out-liberty of St Martin-le-Grand had fallen to 1150 pikes and 2225 calivers.Cruickshank, p. 14.Nagel, pp. 13–4.
1599–1642 The LTBs were next called into service during Essex's Rebellion in 1601. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, believed that he had the support of 1000 men of the LTBs under Sheriff Thomas Smyth, captain of the Billingsgate and Broad Street company, but when he and his followers went to Smyth's house they found no support, and on returning to Ludgate their way was barred by the LTBs. Essex ordered his followers to charge, but several of them were killed in the skirmish that followed. Essex was captured shortly afterwards. The LTBs were reinforced by the Trained Bands of Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey to guard the suburbs against disorder during Essex's trial and subsequent execution. Similarly, the accession of King James I in 1603 saw 100 Surrey trained bandsmen summoned to help guard the City of Westminster during the coronation.Davis, pp. 61–2.Nagel, p. 15.
The militia was neglected during James's reign, but in 1614 the Privy Council ordered the Lord Mayor to muster the LTBs, inspect the weapons and fill vacancies. In 1616 the four regiments were formally established (with slightly different recruiting areas), each consisting of five companies of 300 men. Until the late 1630s the LTBs' duties were largely ceremonial, or to maintain order amongst the unruly apprentices during holidays. It appears that the annual muster was the only regular training for the LTBs, but the officers were active in the HAC and the growing number of other military societies.Nagel, pp. 15–21.
Trained bands were called out in 1639 and 1640 for the Bishops' Wars, The LTBs were ordered to muster in Spring 1639 and the king demanded 3000 selected men for his projected campaign. However, the City asserted the right that its trained bands could not be compelled to serve outside London. The following year the city was ordered to levy 4000 men for the next campaign, but they were not to be drawn from the trained bands. Instead, the LTBs were to secure the suburbs where riots against Royal policies were becoming frequent (though the men were reluctant to act against the rioters with whom they sympathised). As the crisis worsened, the LTBs did duty at Westminster for long periods, for example for 55 days and 10 nights during the trial of the Earl of Strafford.Beckett, Amateur Tradition, p. 39.Fissell, pp. 43–4, 195–208, 246-63.Fortescue, Vol I, pp. 195–6.Nagel, pp. 22–5.
There is an often-repeated story that when Charles I returned from his Scottish campaign in October 1641 he ordered the guards on Parliament sitting at Westminster, which were provided by the city, Surrey and Middlesex TBs under command of the Puritan Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, to be replaced by the Westminster TBs (many of whose tradesmen members were purveyors to the Royal Court) under the command of the Royalist Earl of Dorset, and that subsequently there were clashes between the new guards and the London apprentices.Beckett, Wanton Troopers, pp. 38–9.Emberton, p. 58.Wedgwood, pp. 28–9. However, this story has been refuted in the most detailed history of the LTBs, which points out that the guards were provided by the Westminster TBs all along, supported by the other Middlesex TBs and it was only the commanders who were exchanged. The clashes between TBs and apprentices may have been orchestrated by the anti-Royalist faction in Parliament, especially the City of London MP John Venn (captain of the Cripplegate Within company and in the HAC). The LTBs, meanwhile, were maintaining order in the City itself. Later, the House of Commons did petition the king for a guard from the LTBs, which was denied.Nagel, pp. 26–35.