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.
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. The universal obligation to serve continued under the Norman and Plantagenet kings and was reorganised under the Assizes of Arms of 1181 and 1252, and again by the Statute of Winchester of 1285. The men were arrayed by the Hundreds into which each county was divided.Fortescue, Vol I, pp. 5, 12, 16.Fissel, pp. 178–80.Hay, pp. 60–1.Maitland, pp. 162, 276. Under this statute 'Commissioners of Array' would levy the required number of men from each shire. The usual shire contingent was 1000 infantry commanded by a millenar, divided into companies of 100 commanded by centenars or ductores, and subdivided into platoons of 20 led by vintenars. The coastal towns of Kent forming part of the Cinque Ports also had a legal obligation to supply ships, seamen and marines for the Royal Navy.Morris, pp. 92–7, 106–8.
Under the later Tudors the legal basis of the militia was updated by two acts of 1557 covering musters (4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 3) and the maintenance of horses and armour (4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 2), which placed the county militia under a Lord Lieutenant appointed by the monarch, assisted by the Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace. The entry into force of these Acts in 1558 is seen as the starting date for the organised county militia in England.Beckett, p. 20.Boynton, Chapter II.Cruickshank, p. 17.Fissel, pp. 184–5.Fortescue, Vol I, p. 125.Hay, p. 88.Maitland, pp. 234–5, 278.
Trained Bands 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. The traditional site for musters in Kent was at Muster Oak in Codsheath Hundred. The government aimed for 10 days' training a year, with a two-day national 'general muster' at Michaelmas, and two 'special musters' lasting four days for detailed training at Easter and Whitsun. In the early years of Queen Elizabeth I's reign the nationwide musters only occurred roughly every four years, and from 1578 the special musters were reduced to two days each. When war broke out with Spain training and equipping the militia became a priority. From 1583 counties were organised into groups for training purposes, with emphasis on the invasion-threatened 'maritime' counties including Kent. In 1584, Kent had 2500 trained men, of which 1000 were equipped with firearms, 500 with bows and 1000 were 'corslets' (armoured pikemen).Boynton, pp. 13–7, 91–2, 96, Appendix I.Cruickshank, pp. 24–5.Fissel, pp. 174–8, 187–8.
Spanish War The Armada Crisis in 1588 led to the mustering of the trained bands in April, when the Lord Lieutenant of Kent reported 10,866 able-bodied men, of whom 2953 were trained. The trained bands were put on one hour's notice in June and called out on 23 July as the Armada approached. Those actually mobilised in Kent numbered 7124, of whom 4166 were untrained. These included 64 'lances' (heavy cavalry), 80 light horse, 84 'petronel's (the petronel was an early cavalry firearm) and 300 'argolets' (a French style of light cavalry). Kent was the most vulnerable county, threatened on its southern, eastern and northern coasts. The force in the county was divided into eastern and western divisions based at Maidstone and Canterbury respectively. Two thousand of the Kent trained men were sent to join the main Royal army at St James's Palace in London, and 4000 foot and 725 horse were to be sent into the neighbouring county of Sussex if the Spanish landed there. But the Armada was defeated at sea and was unable to land any troops: the trained bands were stood down shortly afterwards.Beckett, pp. 24–5.Fissel, pp. 188–9.Hay, p. 90.Hay, pp. 376–8.
In the 16th century little distinction was made between the militia and the troops levied by the counties for overseas expeditions, and Kent supplied levies almost every year from 1589. However, the counties usually conscripted the unemployed and criminals rather than the Trained Bandsmen – in 1585 the Privy Council had ordered the impressment of able-bodied unemployed men, and the Queen ordered 'none of her trayned-bands to be pressed'. Replacing the weapons issued to the levies from the militia armouries was a heavy cost on the counties.Cruickshank, pp. 25–7, 126.
Stuart reform With the passing of the threat of invasion, the trained bands declined in the early 17th century. Later, King Charles I attempted to reform them into a national force or 'Perfect Militia' answering to the king rather than local control. In 1638 the Kent regiments were organised by 'lathes' (the ancient groups of Hundreds into which Kent was subdivided):Kent Trained Bands at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. Aylesford Lathe, recruited from the Rochester, Maidstone and Tonbridge areas St Augustine Lathe, recruited from the Canterbury, Sandwich and Dover areas Scray Lathe, recruited from the Ashford area Shepway Lathe, recruited from the Folkestone, Hythe and New Romney areas Sutton-at-Hone Lathe, recruited from the Dartford and Sevenoaks areas City of Canterbury, one company These totalled 2910 musketeers, 1757 corslets, and 293 horse.
Bishops' Wars The trained bands were called out in 1639 and 1640 for the Bishops' Wars. In February 1639 the Lord Lieutenant of Kent, the Earl of Pembroke, was ordered to select 1200 of the Trained Bands for Sir Thomas Morton's Regiment of Foot in the Marquess of Hamilton's army, which was to make an amphibious landing in Scotland. The Kent contingent, drawn from all of the regiments, assembled at Gravesend in April, delayed by a lack of partizans. But the best men were kept for coastal defence and most of those who actually went were untrained and badly equipped hired or 'pressed' substitutes, the men and arms described as 'utterly unserviceable'. On 16 April the men embarked on a convoy of small ships to Harwich, where they were joined by the Essex Trained Bands contingent for Morton's Regiment. The regiment landed on the island of Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth, but in May it was re-embarked and sailed back to Holy Island on 28 May, after which it marched to join the main Royal army at Berwick-upon-Tweed. By May Morton's Regiment had already lost 100 men to smallpox. After a stand-off with the Covenanters between Birks and Dun Law in June, the army was dispersed to its homes.Morton's Regiment of Foot at BCW Project Regimental Wiki.Fissel, pp. 5, 22–37, 198, 204–7, 252–4.
Kent's quota for the 1640 campaign was 700, not including the Cinque Ports' 300, to be sent by sea to join the army assembling on the Scottish border. Kent however was notably uncooperative and Sir Humfrey Tufton could not persuade the yeomen and farmers amongst the trained bandsmen to go to Scotland, and the numbers had to be made up with pressed men.Fissel, pp. 42–4, 207–11, 241.
Civil Wars Control of the trained bands was one of the major points of dispute between Charles I and Parliament that led to the English Civil War. However, with a few exceptions neither side made much use of the trained bands during the war beyond securing the county armouries for their own full-time troops, many of whom were recruited from their ranks.Maitland, pp. 325–6.Reid, pp. 1–2.Wedgwood, pp. 65–8. However, the Kent Trained Bands were often called out and as the war dragged on the county organised units of Auxiliary Trained Bands to allow rotation of units on duty. They also raised units of volunteers for service outside the county. Each of the five lathes organised an auxiliary regiment and a regiment of horse: Trained Band Regiments at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. Aylesford Lathe Trained Band Aylesford Lathe Trained Band at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Colonel Sir Francis Barnham, MP, later Col Mark Dixwell and Col John Dixwell, MPSurnames beginning with D at Cromwell Association Directory (archived at the Wayback Machine). Aylesford Lathe Auxiliaries Aylesford Lathe Auxiliaries at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – existed by May 1645; Col William Kendrick Aylesford Lathe Volunteers Alyesford Lathe Volunteers at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Col George NewmanSurnames beginning with N at Cromwell Association Directory (archived at the Wayback Machine). Aylesford Lathe Horse Aylesford Lathe Horse at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – active 1643–45, Col Sir John SedleySurnames beginning with S at Cromwell Association Directory (archived at the Wayback Machine). St Augustine Lathe Trained BandSt Augustine Lathe Trained Band at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Col Sir George Sondes, MP (1639), imprisoned as a Royalist 1645 St Augustine Lathe AuxiliariesSt Augustine Lathe Auxiliaries at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. St Augustine Lathe Volunteers St Augustine Lathe Volunteers at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – active 1643–47 St Augustine Lathe Horse St Augustine's Lathe Trained Band Horse at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Sir Richard HardresSurnames beginning with H at Cromwell Association Directory (archived at the Wayback Machine). Scray Lathe Trained Band Scray Lathe Trained Band at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Col Sir Edward Hales, 1st Baronet (1639), later Col Richard Hardy Scray Lathe Auxiliaries Scray Lathe Auxiliaries at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Col William Herbert Scray Lathe Horse Scraye Lathe Horse at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. Shepway Lathe Trained BandShepway Lathe Trained Band at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Col Sir Humphrey Hales Shepway Lathe AuxiliariesShepway Lathe Auxiliaries at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – being formed December 1644–July 1645; Col John Browne Shepway Lathe HorseShepway Lathe Horse at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. Sutton-at-Hone Lathe Trained BandSutton at Hone Lathe Trained Band at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Col Sir Francis Walsingham (1639), later Col Thomas BluntSurnames beginning with B at Cromwell Association Directory (archived at the Wayback Machine). Sutton-at-Hone Lathe Auxiliaries Sutton at Hone Lathe Auxiliaries at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Col William Boothby Sutton-at-Hone Lathe Volunteers Sutton at Hone Lathe Volunteers at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Sir William Brooke Sutton-at-Hone Lathe HorseSutton at Hone Horse at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Sir John RiversSurnames beginning with R at Cromwell Association Directory (archived at the Wayback Machine). City of Canterbury CompanyCanterbury Trained Band at BCW Project Regimental Wiki. – Sir Francis Tufton
Colonels Henry Honeywood and Oxenden are also known to have been colonels in the Kent TBs at this time.
Open warfare between the King and Parliament broke out in the autumn of 1642. After the Parliamentarian Army, supported by the London Trained Bands (LTBs), had blocked the Royalist army's advance on London at the Battle of Turnham Green on 13 November, there was a plan to send three regiments of the LTBs to Blackheath to join the Kentish TBs to protect Kent from the King's Army. In the event the Royalists withdrew up the Thames Valley and the concentration was not needed.Nagel, p. 74.