The East Suffolk Militia was an auxiliary military unit in the English county of Suffolk in East Anglia. First organised as one of two regiments in the county during the Seven Years' War it served on internal security and home defence duties in all of Britain's major wars. It was converted to artillery in 1853 and continued in that role until its disbandment in 1909.
Background
The universal obligation to military service in the Shire levy was long established in England and its legal basis was updated by two acts of 1557 (4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 3 and 4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 2), which placed selected men, the 'Trained Bands', under the command of lords-lieutenant appointed by the monarch. This is seen as the starting date for the organised county militia in England. It was an important element in the country's defence at the time of the Spanish Armada in the 1580s, and control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between King Charles I and Parliament that led to the English Civil War. The Suffolk Trained Bands were active in the Siege of Colchester and Battle of Worcester, and later in controlling the country under the Commonwealth and Protectorate. The English militia was re-established under local control in 1662 after the Restoration of the monarchy, and the Suffolk Militia played a prominent part in the Second Dutch War of 1667. However, after the Peace of Utrecht in 1715 the militia was allowed to decline.Fortescue, Vol I, pp. 12, 16, 125, 294–5.Hay, pp. 14–7, 60–2, 88, 99–104.Hay, pp. 272–3.Holmes, pp. 90–4.Hussey, pp. 17, 20–1, 47–111.Ive, pp. 212–4, 230–2.Webb, pp. 422–4.
East Suffolk Militia Under threat of French invasion during the Seven Years' War a series of Militia Acts from 1757 re-established county militia regiments, the men being conscripted by means of parish ballots (paid substitutes were permitted) to serve for three years. There was a property qualification for officers, who were commissioned by the lord lieutenant.Fortescue, Vol II, pp. 288, 299, 301–2, 521.Holmes, pp. 94–100.Webb, pp. 424–5.Hay, pp. 136–44.Western, English Militia, pp. 127–61. Suffolk was given a quota of 960 men to raise. The militia was strongly supported by the new Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, the 3rd Duke of Grafton, and the county was one of the first to raise its quota. Grafton was ordered organise his men into two battalions as the 1st or West Suffolk Battalion at Bury St Edmunds and the 2nd or East Suffolk Battalion at Ipswich commanded by Colonel Francis Vernon of Orwell Place (later Member of Parliament for Ipswich, who became Lord Orwell in 1762). The government would only issue arms from the Tower of London to militia regiments when they had enrolled 60 per cent of their quota: for the two Suffolk regiments this was on 27 April 1759, which was taken as their official date of formation. The regiments were embodied for full-time service on 16 October 1759.Frederick, p. 222.Hay, p. 218.Litchfield, pp. 130–3.Parkyn.Western, English Militia, p. 124.Western, English Militia, Appendices A & B.East Suffolk Militia at Regiments.org.Vernon at History of Parliament Online.
Soldiers' pay was subject to various stoppages at the discretion of the Colonel for cleaning, repair and replacement of clothing and equipment. A venal colonel could make a great deal of money from his command, but the East Suffolks were proud that their regiment only had one stoppage, of 5 pence (2p) per week for 'small clothing'>Western, English Militia, p. 348.
At the end of 1759 the Suffolk Militia regiments made their first marches outside the county, which was a novel experience for most of the junior officers and men. Ensign John Cobbold of the East Suffolks kept a diary of this march through Cambridge, Kettering, and Market Harborough to its assigned station at Leicester.Western, English Militia, p. 399. On 14 October 1760 both regiments marched back to Bury St Edmunds and went into winter quarters in their home county, the East Suffolks at Beccles from 23 October, and later Woodbridge. In May 1761 the East Suffolks moved back to Ipswich, with 5 companies deploying to Landguard Fort in June. In October the regiment returned to Woodbridge for the winter. By January 1762 the East Suffolks had been expanded to 12 companies, with 7 in Ipswich and 5 at Landguard Fort. In June, under Lord Orwell, it attended a training camp at Sandheath, near Ripley. It spent the winter from October at Woodbridge as usual.Webb, pp. 425–8.
With the Seven Years War drawing to a close, Grafton and Orwell were instructed on 20 December 1762 to disembody the two battalions, and the East Suffolks returned to Ipswich to carry this out. Annual training continued thereafter, and officers were commissioned to fill vacancies. Although Ensign Cobbold was described as a Yeoman, the officers were generally drawn from the landed gentry of the county and guarded their status jealously: in 1768 one of the Suffolk battalions demanded the resignation of one of their ensigns who had become an innkeeper.Western, English Militia, p. 335.
War of American Independence The militia was called out after the outbreak of the War of American Independence when the country was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain. On 26 March 1778 Grafton was ordered to embody the two regiments once more. The regiments were inspected by general officers to determine if they were fit for service. The East Suffolks were reported as one of those regiments that had 'few or bad officers', but the regiment was nevertheless adequately trained.Western, English Militia, p. 408.
On 1 June 1778 the East Suffolks marched out to Warley Camp in Essex. At these summer encampments the completely raw Militia were exercised as part of a division alongside Regular troops while providing a reserve in case of French invasion of South East England. In November the regiment went into winter quarters in Essex, with 4 of its 8 companies at Romford and Hare Street, and the remainder distributed between Woodford, Epping, Ongar, Dagenham and Ilford. On 1 June the following year it went to at Coxheath Camp near Maidstone in Kent, which was the army's largest training camp. The East Suffolks formed part of the Right Wing under Maj-Gen Staats Long Morris, an American Loyalist officer.Herbert.
After the camp broke up, the East Suffolks returned to Ipswich on 27 November and were then quartered in detachments across Suffolk, at Beccles, Bungay, Halesworth, Yoxford, Saxmundham and Lowestoft. From 30 May 1780 the regiment was at the defended port of Chatham, Kent, with the recruits detached to nearby Faversham on 29 September. It was not until 20 October the following year that it returned to Suffolk for winter quarters, with headquarters and 4 companies at Beccles, lowestoft and Bungay, 2 distributed between Woodbridge, Wickham Market, Framlingham and Aldeburgh, and the remaining 2 across Blythburgh, Halesworth, Saxmundham and Southwold. On 22 June 1782 the regiment was ordered to march to Brentwood, Essex, then on 8 November the remaining 7 companies were distributed in small detachments across Suffolk and Essex. By the end of 1782 a peace treaty had been agreed and the war was coming to an end, so orders to disembody the Suffolk Militia were issued on 4 March 1783.
From 1784 to 1792 the militia were supposed to assemble for 28 days' annual training, even though to save money only two-thirds of the men were actually called out each year.Fortescue, Vol III, pp. 530–1. In 1786 the number of permanent non-commissioned officers (NCOs) was reduced, and Captain Walter Waring, a company commander of the East Suffolks, quarrelled with his commanding officer, Col Edward Goate, over the demotion of a corporal: both officers claimed the right to make such decisions (Waring accused Goate of using NCOs' places to provide for musicians whom he ought to have paid out of his own pocket). The dispute continued to 1789, with Waring offering to transfer to the West Suffolks. Both sides appealed to the Duke of Grafton as Lord Lieutenant, who referred the question to the Home Secretary. He in turn insisted that it was Grafton's decision, and the duke reluctantly recommended Waring's transfer.Western, English Militia, pp. 333–4.
French Revolutionary War The militia was already being called out when Revolutionary France declared war on Britain on 1 February 1793. The order to embody the Suffolk Militia had gone out on 4 December 1792. Each of the Suffolk battalions was to consist of eight companies, one of which was a light company. They were also issued with two light 'battalion guns'.Webb, pp. 428–31.
The French Revolutionary Wars saw a new phase for the English militia: they were embodied for a whole generation, and became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in the British Isles), which the regular army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits. They served in coast defences, manning garrisons, guarding prisoners of war, and for internal security, while their traditional local defence duties were taken over by the Volunteers and mounted Yeomanry.Knight, pp. 78–9, 111, 255, 411.
On 7 February 1793 the East Suffolks deployed on the coast with 6 companies at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk and the other 2 at Lowestoft, then on 19 June it went to summer camp at Harwich, along with the Bedfordshire and West Kent Militia. The camp broke up on 10 October, when the East Suffolks went to winter at Newmarket, with 11 detachments in the surrounding area.Sargeaunt, p. 85.
With a French invasion possible, the Government augmented the strength of the embodied militia in early 1794: the East Suffolks by 59 men, recruited by voluntary enlistment and paid for by county subscriptions.Hay, pp. 148–9. Western (1956).Western, English Militia, p. 219. The regiment spent from 7 May to 31 October that year encamped at Caister in Norfolk before moving into Great Yarmouth (5 companies), Lowestoft (1 company) and several small detachments (2 companies) for the winter. Its summer camp in 1795 was at Warley (12 May–16 October) after which it wintered in Harwich (2 companies0, Landguard Fort (4) and detachments (2). On 19 April 1796 the East Suffolks moved to Canterbury, beginning a stay of several years in Kent. The regiment was dispersed across the county on 17 May, with 2 companies going to Tunbridge Wells, 2 to Penshurst, and 4 between Tonbridge, Malling, Mereworth, Teston and Yalding. In the autumn it concentrated at Ashford for the winter.
On 17 February 1797 the militia were directed to be formed into brigades for their summer training. The East Suffolks, together with the Bedfordshires, Derbyshires, East Hampshires, and Yorkshire West Ridings, formed Gen Sir Charles Grey's 4th Brigade of the division under Gen Sir William Howe. In May the East Suffolks marched to Dover Castle to relieve the West Yorkshire Militia, who took over their quarters at Ashford. An eyewitness observed that the East Suffolks marched in with 14 loads of baggage, carried in hired waggons. In August the regiment was inspected at the castle by the Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of York, accompanied by Sir Charles Grey. During the year nearly 300 men drawn from the East Suffolk and Montgomeryshire Militia were employed in constructing the modern defences at Dover Castle. In May 1798 the regiment returned to Ashford Barracks.Knight, p. 281.Moyse-Bartlett.