officer in 1759 The militia's usefulness as a military force, never great, declined thereafter, until by the middle of the 18th century it required a major overhaul. This was achieved by the Militia Acts 1757–1762, passed as a response to the threat of a French invasion during the
Seven Years' War. The
Militia Act 1762 (
2 Geo. 3. c. 20) was passed to consolidate those acts and increase the effectiveness of the militia. Responsibility for raising and organising the force remained at county level, but funding was provided by central government. Officers were to be appointed from among the property-owning class. Men were to be chosen by ballot among the able-bodied men of the parish between the ages of 18 and 50, and would serve for three years (soon extended to five). If they wished not to serve, they could either provide a substitute or pay a £10 fine. There was considerable opposition to the reforms, both in Parliament and in the country at large. Riots occurred in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and elsewhere in 1757. These stemmed chiefly from an ill-informed fear that conscription and compulsory foreign service were being covertly introduced. In fact, the acts, which applied in England and Wales only, restricted service to the territory of Great Britain. However some militia regiments did volunteer for service in Ireland during the
Rebellion of 1798. Local opposition to the acts resulted in some counties being slow to implement them. Six counties – Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Sussex and Worcestershire – were in default for many years, also defaulting on a large part of the fines imposed on them in consequence. The
American Revolution, which drained the country of regular troops, provided the stimulus that brought the defaulters into line. By 1778 all English and Welsh counties had embodied their militias. Training of the disembodied militia took place over a period of several weeks each year, outside which officers and men would be largely free to pursue their civilian lives. When embodied, regiments would normally be quartered in public houses or barracks where available. Camps were also an option, and these were often sizeable affairs which brought troops together in large numbers for strategic and training purposes. Although overseas service was excluded from the militia's duties, embodied regiments were usually required to serve away from their home counties, and were frequently moved from one station to another. This was intended to reduce the risk of the men sympathising with the populace if they were required to quell civil unrest. Pay and conditions were similar to those of the regular army, with the additional benefit of money for family dependants. Unlike the army, the militia had no cavalry or, until 1853, artillery. The militia was constitutionally separate from the army, but from the 1790s militiamen were encouraged to volunteer for the army, and did so in large numbers. During the
French Revolutionary Wars the militia expanded to a total strength of 82,000 men in February 1799, reducing to 66,000 through the
Militia (No. 4) Act 1799 (
39 Geo. 3. c. 106), which was designed to reinforce the regular army by encouraging militia volunteers through the offer of bounties for enlistment. In 1802 peace with France led to the disembodying of the militia, which was embodied again in 1803, when hostilities resumed. The '''''' (
43 Geo. 3. c. 47) consolidated and amended enactments relating to the militia, in recognition of the hardship militiamen's families could be placed in when they were balloted. Britain's increasing overseas troop commitments during the
Napoleonic Wars resulted in growing pressure on recruitment for the militia, both for home defence and as a feeder for the army. During the period to 1815, 110,000 men transferred to line regiments as against 36,000 prior to 1802. The militia continued to serve as a coastal defence force, as well as guarding dockyards and prisoners of war, and performing other duties including riot control during the
Luddite unrest of 1811–1813. It was disembodied in 1815 but balloting continued until 1831.
List of militia regiments An incomplete list includes: •
Anglesey Militia •
Bedfordshire Militia •
Berkshire Militia •
Brecknockshire Militia •
Buckinghamshire Militia •
Cambridgeshire Militia •
Cardiganshire Militia •
Carmarthenshire Militia •
Carnarvon Militia •
Denbigh Militia •
Derbyshire Militia •
Devon Militia (four regiments) •
Dorset Militia •
Durham Militia (two regiments) •
Flintshire Militia •
Glamorgan Militia •
Gloucestershire Militia (two regiments) •
Hampshire Militia (two regiments) •
Herefordshire Militia •
Hertfordshire Militia •
Huntingdonshire Militia •
Isle of Wight Militia •
Kent Militia (two regiments) •
Royal Lancashire Militia (seven regiments) •
Leicestershire •
Royal London Militia (two regiments) •
Middlesex Militia (five regiments) •
Royal Montgomeryshire Militia •
Norfolk Militia (two regiments) •
Northampton Militia •
Northampton and Rutland Militia •
Northumberland Militia •
Nottinghamshire Militia •
Oxfordshire Militia •
Radnorshire Militia •
Rutland Militia •
Somerset Militia (two regiments) •
Suffolk Militia (two regiments) •
Royal Surrey Militia (three regiments) •
Sussex Militia •
Royal Wiltshire Militia •
Warwickshire Militia •
Worcestershire Militia •
East York Militia •
North York Militia ==Scottish Militia==