2nd Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster's Own Rifles)

The 2nd Royal Lancashire Militia (The Duke of Lancaster's Own Rifles) was an auxiliary regiment raised in the county of Lancashire in North West England during the French Revolutionary War. It later became part of the King's (Liverpool Regiment). Although primarily intended for home defence, its battalions served in Ireland and saw active service during the Second Boer War. After conversion to the Special Reserve (SR) under the Haldane Reforms one of its battalions was among just a handful of SR units to see combat during World War I, fighting in many actions on the Western Front from early 1915 until the Armistice in 1918. After a shadowy postwar existence the unit was finally disbanded in 1953.

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. cc. 2 and 3), 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 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 English Militia was re-established under local control in 1662 after the Restoration of the monarchy, and the Lancashire Militia fought in King William III's campaign in Ireland in 1690–91, and against the Jacobite Risings in 1715 and 1745. However, between periods of national emergency the militia was regularly allowed to decline.Fortescue, Vol I, pp. 12, 125, 133–40, 194–7, 294–5.Grierson, pp. 6–7.Hay, pp. 11–17, 25–6.LRO, Handlist 72.Williamson & Whalley, pp. 2–3, 10–25, 29–84.

Under threat of French invasion during the Seven Years' War a series of Militia Acts from 1757 reorganised the county militia regiments, the men being conscripted by means of parish ballots (paid substitutes were permitted) to serve for three years. In 1760 Lancashire's quota was set at 800 men in one regiment, which received the title Royal Lancashire Militia in 1761.Fortescue, Vol II, pp. 299–302.Frederick, p. 118.Hay, pp. 139, 242–6.Holmes, pp. 94–100.Western, p. 251, Appendices A & B. These reformed regiments were 'embodied' for permanent service in home defence until the end of the Seven Years' War and again during the War of American Independence. In peacetime they assembled for 28 days' annual training. The militia were re-embodied shortly before Revolutionary France declared war on Britain on 1 February 1793.Fortescue, Vol II, p. 521.Fortescue, Vol III, pp. 173–4, 530–1.Williamson & Whalley, pp. 87–170.

2nd Royal Lancashire Militia French Wars Lancashire's militia quota set in 1760 was small in proportion to its population, which soared during the Industrial Revolution. By 1796 it represented only one man in every 43 of those eligible. But in that year an additional ballot was carried out to raise men for the 'Supplementary Militia' to reinforce the standing militia regiments and to form additional temporary regiments. Lancashire's quota was increased to five regiments, and recruitment became difficult. Nevertheless, the 1st Royal Lancashire Supplementary Militia was raised on 1 March 1797 at Liverpool under the personal command of the 12th Earl of Derby as lord lieutenant. It was formally embodied for service on 10 March 1798, increased to 12 companies in June and on 17 August that year it was placed on a permanent footing as the 2nd Royal Lancashire Militia (2nd RLM). However, it was reduced to 10 companies again in November.Burke's: 'Derby'.London Gazette, 4 March 1797.Fortescue, Vol IV, pp. 639–41, 888–9.Frederick, pp. 126–9.Hay, pp. 150–1.Hay, pp. 262–3.Militia at Museum of the Manchester Regiment.2nd-5th RLM at School of Mars.Parkyn.Western, pp. 246, 269, 282.Williamson & Whalley, p. 145.

During the French Wars the militia were employed anywhere in the country for coast defence, manning garrisons, guarding prisoners of war, and for internal security, while the Regular Army regarded them as a source of trained men if they could be persuaded to transfer. Their traditional local defence duties were taken over by the part-time Volunteers.Grierson, pp. 9–12.Knight, pp. 78–9, 111, 238, 255, 411, 437–47. A peace treaty having been agreed (the Treaty of Amiens), the Militia could be stood down, the 2nd RLM being disembodied on 29 April 1802. However, the Peace of Amiens did not last long, and the Militia were soon called out again, the 2nd RLM being embodied from 14 March 1803. In June it was enlarged to 12 companies once more, and in January 1804 permission was given to convert two of the companies to rifle companies, though in July 1805 it was reduced to 10 companies again. During the summer of 1805, when Napoleon was massing his 'Army of England' at Boulogne for a projected invasion, the regiment was part of an infantry brigade under Maj-Gen Sir Baldwin Leighton, 6th Baronet defending County Durham. On 1 September 1805, the regiment had 924 men under the command of Lt-Col Edward Wilson, with eight companies at Sunderland Barracks and two at Fretwell Barracks.Brown.

After routine service in mainland Britain during the Napoleonic Wars – it was successively stationed at Chelmsford, Sunderland, Liverpool, Hull and Tiverton, Devon – the 2nd RLM volunteered for service in Ireland in 1814. Although most of the militia was disembodied after the Treaty of Fontainebleau in April 1814, the 2nd RLM was still in Ireland when Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to power in France in 1815. The three regiments of Lancashire Militia, which happened to be stationed together at Dublin, were allowed to recruit back to full strength by ballot and 'by beat of drum'. They also provided drafts of around 1000 volunteers to the regular regiments being sent to Belgium. There is a story that many of the Guardsmen at the Battle of Waterloo were still wearing their Militia uniforms.Williamson & Whalley, pp. 197–211, Appendix D.Beckett, p. 113. The militia continued to do duty after the Battle of Waterloo while much of the Regular Army was with the Army of Occupation, and the 2nd RLM did not return from Ireland to be disembodied until 3 March 1816.

Long Peace After Waterloo there was a long period of peace. The Mutiny Act 1817 allowed the annual training of the militia to be dispensed with. So although officers continued to be commissioned into the regiment (the Colonel's grandson, the Hon Edward Geoffrey Stanley (later 14th Earl of Derby) was commissioned as major on 1 October 1820;London Gazette, 24 February 1821. he resigned in 1827.London Gazette, 21 December 1821.) and the ballot was regularly held, the selected men were rarely mustered for drill. The ballot was suspended by the Militia Act 1829, and the permanent staffs of sergeants and drummers (who were occasionally used to maintain public order) were progressively reduced.Hay, p. 154.

In 1831 King William IV bestowed on the three Lancashire Militia Regiments the additional title of The Duke of Lancaster's Own.Williamson & Whalley, pp. 222–246.

The 13th Earl of Derby was appointed colonel of the regiment after he succeeded his father in the earldom in 1834.Hart's. In 1846–47 there was an effort to replace elderly members of the permanent staff and to appoint a few younger officers from the county gentry, though they had no duties to perform.Sleigh, pp. xv–xvii. The Earl of Derby resigned the command of the 2nd RLM and his younger son the Hon Henry Thomas Stanley was appointed on 8 May 1847,London Gazette, 14 May 1847. but he also resigned the following year and his youngest brother the Hon Charles James Fox Stanley was appointed on 25 February 1848.London Gazette, 3 March 1848.Sleigh, p. 152.

1852 Reforms The national Militia of the United Kingdom was reformed by the Militia Act 1852, enacted during a period of international tension. As before, units were raised and administered on a county basis, and filled by voluntary enlistment (although conscription by means of the Militia Ballot might be used if the counties failed to meet their quotas). Training was for 56 days on enlistment, then for 21–28 days per year, during which the men received full army pay, and the permanent staff was increased. Under the Act, Militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time home defence service in three circumstances:Dunlop, pp. 42–5.Grierson, pp. 12, 27–8.Hay, pp. 155–7.Spiers, Army & Society, pp. 91–2, 162–3. 'Whenever a state of war exists between Her Majesty and any foreign power'. 'In all cases of invasion or upon imminent danger thereof'. 'In all cases of rebellion or insurrection'.

Under the new organisation, militia regiments still had an honorary colonel, but were actually commanded by a lieutenant-colonel. Colonel Charles Fox Stanley resigned (in 1855 he was appointed colonel of the newly raised 7th Royal Lancashire Militia (Rifles)) and on 1 March 1852 Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 5th Baronet, was commissioned as Lt-Col Commandant. The headquarters (HQ) of the 2nd Royal Lancashire was at Liverpool.London Gazette, 5 March 1852.Burke's: 'Hesketh'.

Crimean War War having broken out with Russia in 1854 and an expeditionary force sent to the Crimea, the Militia were called out for home defence and service in overseas garrisons. The 2nd Royal Lancashire Militia was embodied on 18 December 1854 and raised a second battalion at Warrington The 2nd RLM was redesignated as a Rifle regiment on 30 January 1855, becoming the 2nd Royal Lancashire Militia (Duke of Lancaster's Own Rifles). The Militia Reserve introduced in 1867 consisted of present and former militiamen who undertook to serve overseas in case of war.Dunlop, pp. 42–52.

Cardwell reforms

Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872, Militia regiments were brigaded with their local Regular and Volunteer Force units. For the two battalions of the 2nd RLM this was Sub-District No 13 (County of Lancaster) in Northern District alongside the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot, and a number of Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps. Both battalions of the 2nd RLM, together with the brigade depot, were now based at Orford Barracks in Warrington. The Militia were now controlled by the War Office rather than their county Lord Lieutenant, and officers' commissions were signed by the Queen.Army List various dates.Hay, pp. 27, 158.Spiers, Army & Society, pp. 195–6.Spiers, Late Victorian Army, pp. 4, 15, 19.Spiers, Late Victorian Army, pp. 126–7.

Although often referred to as brigades, the sub-districts were purely administrative organisations, but in a continuation of the Cardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the Army List from December 1875. This assigned Regular and Militia units to places in an order of battle of corps, divisions and brigades for the 'Active Army', even though these formations were entirely theoretical, with no staff or services assigned. The 2nd RLM was assigned to 1st Brigade of 2nd Division, VI Corps, alongside two Irish militia regiments. The division would have mustered at Liverpool in time of war.

The King's (Liverpool Regiment)

The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, with the militia formally joining their linked county regiments. The 8th Foot became The King's (Liverpool Regiment) and the 2nd RLM became its 3rd and 4th Battalions on 1 July 1881 (continuing to be administered as a double-battalion regiment until 1 August 1900). Militia battalions now had a large cadre of permanent staff (about 30). Around a third of the recruits and many young officers went on to join the Regular Army.Grierson, 33, 84–5, 113, 120.Spiers, Late Victorian Army, pp. 97, 102.

Second Boer War