The Highland Rifle Militia, originally the Ross, Caithness, Sutherland and Cromarty Militia, was a Scottish Militia regiment first raised during the French Revolutionary War. It served in home defence during the 19th Century, and in Egypt at the time of the Second Boer War. It became a reserve battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders and trained thousands of recruits for the fighting battalions during World War I. After 1921 the militia had only a shadowy existence until its final abolition in 1953.
Scottish Militia The universal obligation to military service in the Shire levy was long established in Scotland: all men aged from 16 to 60 were obliged to serve for a maximum of 40 days in any one year if required, and their arms and equipment were inspected at regular Wapenshaws. In time of war they would be called out by proclamation and by riders galloping through towns and villages bearing the 'Fiery Cross'.Phillips, pp. 46–54.Hay, pp. 107–9.
After the restoration of Charles II, the Scottish Parliament passed an act in 1661, ratified in 1663, creating a militia of 20,000 infantry and 2000 horse, available for Crown service anywhere in Scotland, England or Ireland. These troops were called out in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution.Dudgeon, p. 5. Thereafter the militia in Scotland, as in England, was allowed to decline.
Following the Union of Scotland and England a Scottish Militia Bill was passed by the Union Parliament in 1708 but it failed to receive Royal Assent due to government fears of a Jacobite uprising. As a result of the Jacobite Rising of 1715 a Disarming Act was passed in Scotland and although some militia served in the Government forces against the Jacobite Rising of 1745 there was a reluctance to leave weapons in the hands of those who might rebel.Scobie.Stewart, Vol I, pp. 139–40, at Electric Scotland.
The English Militia were conscripted by ballot, and this was revived in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. However, there were residual fears of Jacobitism in Scotland, so rather than embody the moribund militia, full-time regiments of 'Fencibles' were raised for the duration of the war by means of normal recruitment. Scotland relied on Fencibles again during the War of American Independence and the early stages of the French Revolutionary War.
Ross-shire Militia
Finally, Parliament passed the Militia Act 1797, to raise and embody a militia force in Scotland, which introduced the ballot in that country. This measure was unpopular and there were anti-ballot riots in the west, but as in England volunteers and paid substitutes could be accepted in lieu of balloted men.Parkyn.Dudgeon, pp. 6, 22–3. Ten regiments of 'North British' (Scottish) militia were raised in 1798 under the 1797 Act, including the 2nd (or Ross-shire) Regiment formed at Dingwall in Ross-shire.Frederick, pp. 193–4.Hay, pp. 407–8.
The regiment was embodied from 23 April 1798, on which day the lord lieutenant of Ross-shire, Lord Seaforth, was commissioned as colonel of the regiment. Seaforth was the hereditary chief of Clan Mackenzie, and on the outbreak of war in 1793 he had raised two battalions of 'Ross-shire Buffs', which were taken into the Regular Army as the 78th Highlanders. Captain W. Wilson, formerly of the 39th Foot, was commissioned as major of the new militia regiment.London Gazette, 21–24 April 1798.
After training during the summer of 1798, the new regiments were sent to winter quarters. In the case of the Ross-shires this was at Banff. This became an annual routine. In the winter of 1799–1800 the militia regiments were issued with two field guns each and ordered to train detachments in gun drill. The preliminaries of peace having been agreed in late 1801, the Scottish militia was prepared for disbandment. The 2nd (Ross-shire) Militia was accordingly disbanded on 1 May 1802, shortly after the signature of the Treaty of Amiens.Dudgeon, pp. 25–33.
Napoleonic Wars A new Militia (Scotland) Act 1802 came into force on 26 June, placing the Scottish militia on a permanent basis, to be manned by ballot from men aged 18–45 (paid substitutes were permitted), to serve for five years in Great Britain; peacetime training would be for 21 days. A new Ross, Caithness, Sutherland and Cromarty Militia (sometimes abbreviated to RCSC Militia) was formed, the title emphasising the four northern Highland counties that constituted its recruitment area. Lord Seaforth (now a major-general) was reappointed colonel from 18 October. However, he was absent for most of 1802–06 as Governor of Barbados, and the regiment was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel the Earl of Caithness, commissioned on 18 December. The Earl was chief of Clan Sinclair and Lord Lieutenant of Caithness, and also colonel of the three battalions of Caithness Volunteers.Dudgeon, pp. 34–5.War Office, 1805 List.Burke's: 'Caithness'.
The Peace of Amiens soon broke down, and the new regiment was embodied for full-time service again on 12 March 1803. During the ensuing Napoleonic Wars the militia were transformed. 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, manned garrisons, guarded prisoners of war, and carried out internal security duty, while their traditional local defence duties were taken over by the Volunteers and mounted Yeomanry.Holmes, pp. 94–103.Knight, pp. 78–9, 111, 255, 411.
In the summer of 1805, when Napoleon was massing his 'Army of England' at Boulogne for a projected invasion, the Ross-shire Militia was stationed in Norfolk. Under the command of the Earl of Caithness, the regiment, 558 strong, had four companies at Norwich Barracks and four at Yarmouth, comprising Maj-Gen George Milner's infantry brigade headquartered at Norwich.Brown.
Local Militia While the Regular Militia were the mainstay of national defence during the Napoleonic Wars, they were supplemented from 1808 by the Local Militia, which were part-time and only to be used within their own districts. These were raised to counter the declining numbers of Volunteers, and if their ranks could not be filled voluntarily the militia ballot was employed. They were to be trained once a year.Hay, pp. 148–52.Knight, p. 238. The counties of Ross & Cromarty, Caithness, and Sutherland raised the following regiments in 1809:Stewart, Vol II, 'Volunteer and Local Militia' at Electric Scotland.London Gazette, 20 April 1809.London Gazette, 2 May 1809.London Gazette, 6 May 1809. Wester Ross: 1st (or Western Regiment) of Ross-shire Local Militia – 810 men organised at Dingwall under the command of Lt-Col Duncan Munro of Culcain, who had served in the 78th Highlanders and after retirement had been Lt-Col Commandant of the 2nd (Wester Ross) Battalion, Ross-shire Volunteers.'(1st) Ross Local Militia' at British Military Buttons.Mackenzie, p. 163. Easter Ross: 2nd (or Eastern) Regiment of Ross-shire Local Militia – 906 men under Colonel-Commandant Donald Macleod of Genies, former commander of the 1st Bn of Ross-shire Volunteers. Caithness: 726 men under the Earl of CaithnessLondon Gazette 19 August 1809. Sutherland: 900 men under Earl Gower
Waterloo and long peace Lord Seaforth was promoted to Lieutenant-General in 1808, but took no part in public life in his later years. After Napoleon's abdication in 1814 the RCSC Militia was disembodied on 2 September. However, it was called out again during the Waterloo campaign from 1 August 1815 to 10 June 1816.
Lord Seaforth had died in January, and Charles Mackenzie Fraser of Castle Fraser and Inverallochy, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross-shire and a former Coldstream Guards officer and Peninsular War veteran, was appointed colonel from 17 May 1815.London Gazette, 12 August 1815.Charles Mackenzie Fraser at History of Parliament Online.
Fraser remained colonel of the regiment throughout the long peace that followed Waterloo. Although ballots continued to be held until they were suspended by the Militia Act 1829, the regiments were rarely assembled for training and the permanent staffs of sergeants and drummers (who were occasionally used to maintain public order) were progressively reduced. Officers continued to be commissioned sporadically (a number were appointed to the RCSC Militia in the mid-1830s, including the Hon James Sinclair of Braelangwell, younger son of the 12th Earl of Caithness, the regiment's former lieutenant-colonel, and himself a retired officer, who was appointed Lt-Col in 1831) but they had no duties to perform and essentially the militia was in abeyance.Sleigh, p. 133.Hart, various dates.Hay, p. 154.
1852 Reforms The national Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by the Militia Act of 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. Under the act, Militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time home defence service in three circumstances:Dunlop, pp. 42–5.Hay, pp. 155–7.Spiers, pp. 91–2. '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'.
The RCSC Militia was reformed at Dingwall in 1852, and in 1854 it was designated a rifle corps, as the Ross, Caithness, Sutherland and Cromarty Rifle Militia (RCSCRM).Army List, various dates.
The position of colonel in the militia was abolished after 1852, but Charles Fraser remained Honorary Colonel of the regiment until his death in 1871. The Hon James Sinclair continued as lieutenant-colonel.Hon James Sinclair at History of Parliament Online.
The Crimean War having broken out and a large expeditionary force sent overseas, the militia were called out for home defence: the RCSCRM was embodied on 6 March 1855. At first it was stationed at Dingwall,Edinburgh Gazette, 3 April 1855. then during October it moved to garrison Fort George at Ardersier, across the Moray Firth from Cromarty.Edinburgh Gazette, 6 November 1855.
Lieutenant-Col Sinclair died on 18 January 1856 and was replaced on 11 February as Lt-Col Commandant by George Ross, a former officer in the 92nd Highlanders, who had been appointed to the regiment as a captain in 1854 and promoted to major in November 1855. He remained in command for the next 26 years Mackenzie, pp. 166–8.Edinburgh Gazette, 15 February 1856.
After the signature of the Treaty of Paris in March 1856 the militia could be stood down, and the RCSCRM was disembodied on 23 June 1856. Unlike some other regiments it was not re-embodied during the Indian Mutiny.
Highland Rifle Militia Arguing that the regiment was the only militia unit entirely recruited from the Scottish Highlands, Lt-Col Ross applied to the War Office (WO) in 1860 for it to be uniformed in Highland dress. This was granted (see below) and the regiment became known as the Highland Rifle Militia,Buckell. although the title remained unofficial until 30 July 1867 when the queen's approval was given. However, for several years the Army List merely showed this as a subtitle in brackets after its formal RCSCRM designation.London Gazette, 20 August 1867.