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Queen's Edinburgh Light Infantry Militia

The Queen's Edinburgh Light Infantry Militia was an auxiliary[a] regiment raised in and around the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. It was formed in 1798 and reformed in 1802, but had links with earlier Fencible and Volunteer units from the area. It served in home defence during the Napoleonic Wars and the Crimean War. Later it became a battalion of the Royal Scots and saw active service in South Africa during the Second Boer War. It served as a Special Reserve training unit in World War I, but after 1921 the militia had only a shadowy existence until its final abolition in 1953.

10th North British Militia
Queen's Edinburgh Light Infantry Militia
3rd Battalion, Royal Scots
Active10 March 1798–1 April 1953
Country Kingdom of Great Britain (1798–1800)
 United Kingdom (1801–1953)
Branch Militia/Special Reserve
RoleInfantry
Garrison/HQDalkeith (1798–1878)
Glencorse Barracks (1878–1953)
Nickname(s)The Duke's Canaries
EngagementsSecond Boer War
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch
Lt-Col Edward Lisle Strutt

Scottish militia edit

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'.[1] There is a record of Edinburgh Town Council calling out 200 men of the county militia to join the king's army on its march to Dumfries in 1588. The Edinburgh militia usually exercised on the Burgh Muir.[2][3][4]

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 2,000 horse, available for Crown service anywhere in Scotland, England or Ireland. The quota from the county of Edinburgh was set at 800 foot and 74 horse. These troops were called out in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution.[4][5][6] Thereafter the militia in Scotland, as in England, was allowed to decline. After 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.[7]

South Fencibles edit

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. Fencibles were raised again in 1778, during the War of American Independence, when Britain was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain. One of the regiments formed in that year was the South Fencibles, raised by Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch at his residence at Dalkeith Palace and recruited from Edinburghshire, Berwickshire, Haddingtonshire, Linlithgowshire, Peeblesshire, Selkirkshire, Roxburghshire and Dumfriesshire. The regiment was only required to serve in Scotland, except in time of invasion, but the following year it offered to serve in any part of Great Britain. Among its duties were guarding French Prisoners of War in Edinburgh Castle. In the summer of 1780 the regiment was defending the west coast of Scotland from Kirkcudbright to Glasgow and Dumbarton. In 1782 it was marched from Glasgow to be quartered at Edinburgh, and that summer eight companies joined other fencibles in a camp at West Barns under the command of the Duke of Buccleuch. Following the signing of the preliminaries of the Treaty of Paris, the regiment was disbanded at Dalkeith on 1 April 1783 after five years' service.[3][8][9][10][11]

10th North British Militia edit

In view of the worsening international situation in late 1792 the English militia was embodied for service, even though Revolutionary France did not declare war on Britain until 1 February 1793. Fencibles were again raised in Scotland. Both England and Scotland also raised part-time bodies of Volunteers for purely local defence, including the 2nd Regiment of Royal Edinburgh Volunteers under the Duke of Buccleuch, formed in February 1797.[12][13]

Finally, in 1797 Parliament passed an Act introducing the militia ballot in Scotland. This measure was unpopular and there were anti-militia riots in the west of the country, but Buccleuch ensured that paid substitutes would be available.[14][15] Ten regiments of Scottish militia were raised in 1798 under the 1797 Act, including the 10th North British Militia.[b] Once more it was raised by the Duke of Buccleuch (appointed 10 March 1798) at his Dalkeith estate. A number of officers and men were drawn from the 2nd Edinburgh Volunteers. The regiment's recruiting areas and quotas were defined as:[3][4][18][17][16]

  • Edinburgh (county): 230 men
  • Edinburgh (city): 83 men
  • Linlithgowshire: 74 men
  • Haddingtonshire: 144 men
  • Berwickshire: 153 men

The regiment of eight companies was ready for its first inspection on 18 September, and in early October it marched to Dumfries for its winter quarters, with detachments at Wigtown and Port William. In March 1799 the regiment supplied a detachment to assist the civil authorities to preserve the peace in Portpatrick. The regiment trained detachments to man the two field guns attached to each militia regiment. The men were permitted to help local farmers with the harvest. In March 1800 the regiment was moved to Ayr, with detachments at Newtown, Wallacetown and Stranraer; in June two companies went to Greenock with a detachment at Port Glasgow. Then in July the companies at Ayr moved into the barracks at Glasgow and took over guard mounting in the city.[19]

The preliminaries of peace having been agreed in late 1801, the militia was prepared for disbandment. The 10th North British was marched in January 1802 from Glasgow to quarters in Musselburgh, Fisherrow and Inveresk, and sent its battalion guns to Leith Fort. From these quarters the regiment could assemble at Dalkeith Park for exercises. The Treaty of Amiens was signed on 25 March 1802 and orders were issued to disband the regiment. The men were paid off on 26 April except a cadre of sergeants and drummers under the adjutant (Captain James Fraser, formerly of the 78th Highlanders) and sergeant-major.[3][20][c]

Edinburgh Militia edit

In 1802 a new Act was passed, 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. As Lord Lieutenant of Midlothian (Edinburghshire) the Duke of Buccleuch was required to raise the Edinburgh County Militia, and he took command of the regiment himself, many of the officers coming from the previous 10th North British, including the adjutant (and presumably his permanent staff). The armoury and depot would be at Dalkeith town because of the suitability of the area for training and exercises.[3][21][22]

Napoleonic Wars edit

The Peace of Amiens soon broke down, and the new regiment was embodied for fulltime service on 11 April 1803, the men from the county assembling at Dalkeith, and those from the city of Edinburgh at Musselburgh.[17][23] When they were embodied in 1803 the English and Scottish militia regiments were allocated places in a single order of precedence by drawing lots. The Edinburgh regiment received the number 51; formally, it became the '51st, or Edinburgh Regiment of Militia'. Although most regiments ignored the number, the Edinburgh unit did sometimes use it. These positions remained unchanged until 1833.[16][22][24][25]

Militia duties during the Napoleonic War were home defence and garrisons, guarding prisoners of war and, increasingly, internal security in the industrial areas where there was unrest. The regular forces also saw the militia as a prime source of recruits, and between 1803 and 1815 the Edinburgh Militia supplied 833 men, particularly to the Scots Guards, 15th Foot, 94th Foot and Royal Marines.[3][26][27][28]

From 29 June 1803 the regiment was in camp at Musselburgh as part of a Scottish Brigade temporarily commanded by the Duke of Buccleuch. In November the regiment returned to Dalkeith, where temporary barracks were erected at nearby Lugton, with one company detached to Newbattle and one to Lasswade. It continued to take part in field days with the rest of the brigade through the winter. In 1804 a Scottish Militia Brigade was formed with its headquarters at Inveresk, and the 'flank companies' (grenadiers and light infantry) of the brigade were drilled together at Portobello, Edinburgh. The brigade also found the guards for a Prisoner-of-war camp at Greenlaw House (later Glencorse Barracks). In May 1807 the Edinburgh Militia moved from Dalkeith to Dunbar barracks, with one company detached at Eyemouth barracks. The duty was to assist in preserving the peace and aiding the revenue officers. It returned to Musselburgh in February 1808, then went back to Dunbar in February 1809. In April 1809 it went to Haddington barracks , and then to Edinburgh Castle in June, with a detachment at Leith Fort. The duties included escorting parties of prisoners of war.[29]

In March 1811 the Duke of Buccleuch resigned command of the regiment and was succeeded by the Earl of Ancrum (later 6th Marquess of Lothian). On July that year the regiment left Scotland for the first time, sailing from Leith to Harwich where it went into barracks before being stationed at Colchester for nine months. In April 1812 the regiment moved to the large prisoner of war camp at Norman Cross Prison. There was an outbreak of Luddite machine-breaking in the English industrial districts, and in May the regiment was marched to Nottinghamshire, being quartered at Mansfield. In October it was quartered at Manchester with detachments at Bolton, Bury and Rochdale. After short stays in Birmingham and Somerset in February and March 1813, the regiment marched to Plymouth, being quartered in Frankfort Barracks from 31 March.[30]

British militia units were now permitted to serve in Ireland, and most of the Edinburgh Militia volunteered to do so. It sailed from Plymouth on 26 June 1813 and disembarked at Monkstown on 12 July. It was then marched towards Armagh, but diverted to Derry where it arrived on 31 July. Most of the duty was to assist revenue officers in seizing illicit whiskey, which occasionally led to exchanges of gunfire – the militiamen involved in successful seizures received sizeable rewards.[4][31]

The war having ended with the deposition and exile of Napoleon in 1814, the regiment was relieved in February 1815 and marched to Belfast where it embarked for Scotland. It reached Stranraer on 9 March and marched to Dalkeith, where the men were given leave before the regiment was disembodied on 3 April 1815. The Regimental Colours were laid up in Newbattle Abbey, the Marquess of Lothian's house. Unlike some regiments, the Edinburgh Militia was not re-embodied during the short Waterloo campaign of 1815.[17][32]

Long peace edit

The permanent staff of sergeants and drummers remained at the depot at Dalkeith, where they formed a reserve for the civil authorities in cases of disorder. However, after Waterloo the militia were rarely assembled for training: in 1820, 1821, 1825 and 1831, but not thereafter. Although officers continued to be commissioned into the militia (the 7th Marquess of Lothian was promoted to the command of the Edinburgh Militia on his father's death in 1824, and when he died in 1841 he was succeeded by the 5th Duke of Buccleuch), the ballot was eventually suspended and the permanent staff progressively reduced.[33][34]

The militia order of precedence balloted for in the Napoleonic War remained in force until 1833. In that year the King drew the lots for individual regiments and the resulting list remained in force with minor amendments until the end of the militia. The regiments raised before the peace of 1783 took the first 69 places: the Edinburgh regiment was drawn as 126th out of 129.[16][24][35] It continued to appear in the Army Lists as the Edinburgh (County and City of) Militia, with HQ at Dalkeith.

1852 reform edit

The Militia of the United Kingdom was revived 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. Under the Act, militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time home defence service in three circumstances:[36][37][38][39]

  1. 'Whenever a state of war exists between Her Majesty and any foreign power'.
  2. 'In all cases of invasion or upon imminent danger thereof'.
  3. 'In all cases of rebellion or insurrection'.

The 1852 Act introduced Artillery Militia units in addition to the traditional infantry regiments. Their role was to man coastal defences and fortifications, relieving the Royal Artillery (RA) for active service. The Edinburgh City Artillery (later the Duke of Edinburgh's Own Edinburgh Artillery) was established as a separate regiment in 1854. [16][36][38][40][41][42]

Queen's Edinburgh Light Infantry edit

The outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 gave impetus to organising the reformed militia regiments. In September the establishment of the Edinburgh Militia was set at 72 officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and 657 privates in six companies. It was still commanded by the 5th Duke of Buccleuch, who was also Lord-Lieutenant of Midlothian. The regiment was embodied for service on 12 February 1852 and the men were billeted throughout Dalkeith, with the officers at the Cross Keys Hotel. The regiment lined the streets from Edinburgh railway station to Holyrood Palace on 6 September when Queen Victoria visited Edinburgh on her way to Balmoral Castle, and again on her return. As a result the regiment was given the title 'Queen's Regiment of Edinburgh County Militia', quickly changed to 'The Edinburgh, or Queen's Regiment of Light Infantry Militia'.[3][17][16][43][44] This cumbersome title was usually rendered as the Queen's Edinburgh Light Infantry (QELI).[45]

The Crimean War having ended early in 1856, the regiment was disembodied on 28 May.[4][17][46] Militia units that had been embodied were not called up for annual training again until 1859, after which it was held every year, the year's recruits attending 14 or 21 days' preliminary drill. From 1869 the regiment sometimes participated in brigade field days with the regulars and Volunteers in the area.[47]

Cardwell reforms edit

From the late 1860s a number of army reforms affected the militia. A Militia Reserve was created in 1867, consisting of present and former militiamen who undertook to serve overseas in case of war. [36][48][49][50] In 1869 the War Office began to supply the new breechloading Snider Rifle to selected militia regiments that had 'most systematically devoted themselves to rifle practice'; the QELI was one of those chosen.[45]

 
The old gates of Glencorse Barracks in front of the modern buildings.

Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872, militia regiments were brigaded with their local regular and volunteer battalions – for the QELI this was with the two battalions of the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) in Sub-District No 62 based at Greenlaw. It was intended to raise a second militia battalion in the Lothians, but this never happened, through the QELI was increased to eight companies in 1874. Increasingly, the QELI's permanent staff instructors were drawn from the Royal Scots. The militia now came under the War Office rather than their county lords lieutenant, and officers' commissions were signed by the Queen. Around a third of the recruits and many young officers went on to join the Regular Army. In 1878 the QELI's headquarters (HQ) moved from Dalkeith to the brigade depot at the new Glencorse Barracks at Greenlaw.[43][50][51][52][53]

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 QELI was assigned to 2nd Brigade of 1st Division, IV Corps in Ireland.[43]

The Militia Reserve of the QELI was called out in April 1878 during the period of international tension over the Russo-Turkish War that led to the Congress of Berlin. They served at the 62nd Brigade Depot until the end of July. In 1881 a fire destroyed the old wooden barracks at Glencorse that was occupied by the permanent staff and their families, but the involvement of the Fenians was ruled out.[3][54]

3rd Battalion, Royal Scots edit

 
Cap badge of the Royal Scots based on the star and badge of the Order of the Thistle.

The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, with militia regiments formally joining their linked regular regiments as numbered battalions. The QELI therefore became the 3rd (Edinburgh Light Infantry Militia) Battalion, Royal Scots.[3][4][17][16][43]

Second Boer War edit

On the outbreak of the Second Boer War in December 1899, most of the regular army was sent to South Africa, and many militia units were embodied to replace them for home defence and to garrison certain overseas stations, while other volunteered for active service. The 3rd Royal Scots was embodied on 5 December 1899 and volunteered for overseas service.[4][17][43][55]

The battalion embarked with a strength of 21 officers and 570 other ranks under the command of Colonel Edward Grant. It disembarked at East London on 21 March 1900 and was sent to fortify Bethulie in the Orange Free State (OFS). Next it went to prepare defences at Kaffir River Bridge. At this point it formed part of 23rd Brigade under Major-General W.G. Knox, alongside the 1st Royal Scots. On 10 July the battalion moved to Kroonstad. The Boer leader Christiaan de Wet was operating in this area, and the battalion was ordered to cover the pioneer corps repairing the railway that he had damaged.[4][56]

On 1 August Maj-Gen Charles Knox, was ordered from Kroonstad with a 2000-strong column including the 3rd Royal Scots to operate south of the Vaal River with other columns to block de Wet's access to the OFS. This was part of the 'First de Wet Hunt'. There were some exchanges of fire, in one of which a sergeant of the 3rd Royal Scots was killed, and on 9 August the column was engaged at Venterskroon. A British cavalry brigade contacted the Boers on 17 August and 3rd Royal Scots formed the advanced guard as Knox's column came up to join the engagement. However, the infantry columns were generally unable to keep up with the mounted Boers, and de Wet got away. In October Knox's column left Heilbron to relieve a force besieged by de Wet at Frederikstad. Knox continued harrying the Boers with his mounted troops while Col Grant was left to command the infantry, which was mainly employed in escorting the baggage train. Between1 October and 7 November the 3rd Royal Scots had marched 672 miles (1,081 km), often on quarter rations.[4][57][58]

On 10 November 1900 the battalion took over a number of defence posts on the railway south of Kroonstad while its Mounted infantry (MI) detachment under Capt C.P. Wood operated as part of Major John Pine-Coffin's column in a number of engagements. In July 1901 two detachments from the battalion, under Capt Edward Strutt and Lieutenant C.E. Lambert took part in the first organised 'Drive' towards the Modder River attempting to trap the Boers, and afterwards in Lieutenant-General Sir W. Eliot's movement eastwards from Winburg. The detachments spent three nights camped at over 9,000 feet (2,700 m) and afterwards took part in the night attack that captured Commandant Marais at his Laager.[4][59]

Meanwhile the rest of the battalion along the railway had seen some action, Corporal Cummings and Lance-Corporal McKinnan distinguishing themselves in command of small posts that maintained their positions against attacks by much larger groups of Boers. In the later part of 1901 and early 1902 the battalion garrisoned about 40 miles (64 km) of the blockhouse line between Kroonstad and Klip Drift. Major Lord Tewkesbury, who had just succeeded his father as Earl of Munster, was killed in an accident at Lace Mines on 2 February 1902.[4]

The 3rd Royal Scots embarked at Cape Town for home on 7 May 1902, shortly before the end of the war. It was disembodied on 28 May 1902, having lost 4 officers and 31 other ranks killed or died of wounds or accidents. The participants received the Queen's South Africa Medal with clasps for 'Transvaal', 'Orange River Colony' and 'Cape Colony, and the King's South Africa Medal with the 'South Africa 1901' and 'South Africa 1902' clasps.[4][17]

Special Reserve edit

After the Boer War, the future of the Militia was called into question. There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed by St John Brodrick as Secretary of State for War. However, little of Brodrick's scheme was carried out.[60][61]

Under the sweeping Haldane Reforms of 1908, the militia was replaced by the Special Reserve, a semi-professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for regular units serving overseas in wartime.[38][62][63][64] The battalion became the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, Royal Scots, on 9 August 1908.[17][16]

World War I edit

The battalion was embodied at Glencorse Barracks on the outbreak of World War I under the command of the Earl of Ellesmere and went to its war station at Weymouth, Dorset. As well as its coast defence duties, the battalion's role was to train and form drafts of reservists, special reservists, recruits and returning wounded for the regular battalions of the Royal Scots. While at Weymouth it probably assisted in the formation of the 14th (Reserve) Battalion from Kitchener's Army volunteers in November 1914. In May 1915 the 3rd Bn returned to Edinburgh until the end of 1917 when it was sent to Ireland. There it was stationed at Mullingar until the end of the war.[65][66] The battalion was disembodied on 5 July 1919 when the remaining personnel were drafted to the 2nd Bn.[17]

The battalion's honorary colonel, Lord Henry Montagu-Douglas Scott, was appointed to command the 1st Public Schools Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, in September 1914,[67] and he also commanded service battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment.[68] After the war Scott founded the Royal Scots Club Edinburgh in 1921 as a memorial to the fallen soldiers of the Royal Scots, making membership of the club open to all ranks.[69]

Postwar edit

The SR resumed its old title of Militia in 1921 but like most militia battalions the 3rd Royal Scots remained in abeyance after World War I. By the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the only officer remaining listed for the battalion was its Honorary Colonel, Lord Henry Scott]] (though the Royal Scots had a number of Supplementary Reserve Category B officers attached to it). The Militia was formally disbanded in April 1953.[17][43][63]

Uniforms and insignia edit

From its formation in 1798 the regiment wore red uniforms with yellow facings, giving rise to its nickname 'The Duke's Canaries'. When it became The Queen's in 1855 the facings were changed to the blue appropriate to a Royal regiment.[3][16][43][46]

The officers' oval shoulderbelt plates ca 1800 carried the star of the Order of the Thistle surmounted by a crown. Round the top of the plate was the title 'Edinburgh' and at the bottom 'Militia'. The officers' waistbelt plates 1855–81 carried the star of the Thistle in silver with a green enamel backing to the centre and the regimental title on the circle. The officers' Coatee button 1820–30 carried the crowned Thistle star with the title 'Edinburgh' below.[16] The regiment adopted the light infantry bugle-horn as a badge after 1855, but when it became a battalion of the Royal Scots it adopted that regiment's insignia based on the Order of the Thistle and its uniform, including the doublet and tartan trews.[43][70]

New drums were issued to the regiment while it was stationed at Derry in 1813–15. When it returned to Scotland the colonel ordered that they should be painted, including the Coat of arms of Derry among other insignia.[25]

Commanders edit

The following were among the commanders of the regiment:[22][43][33][71][72]

Honorary Colonel:

Colonel:

Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant:

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ It is incorrect to describe the British Militia as 'irregular': throughout their history they were equipped and trained exactly like the line regiments of the regular army, and once embodied in time of war they were fulltime professional soldiers for the duration of their enlistment.
  2. ^ Some sources state that it was designated the Edinburghshire Regiment of Militia, or simply the Edinburgh Militia,[16] or the Edinburghshire North British Regiment of Militia.[17]
  3. ^ The cadre equated to the permanent staff of the established English militia regiments.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Phillips, pp. 46–54.
  2. ^ Dudgeon, p. 16.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Weaver Chapter 18.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hay, pp. 232–5.
  5. ^ Dudgeon, p. 5.
  6. ^ Hay, pp. 107–9.
  7. ^ Scobie.
  8. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 16–20.
  9. ^ Fortescue, Vol III, p. 294.
  10. ^ Money Barnes, p. 86.
  11. ^ Western, pp. 162–7, 208–9.
  12. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 21–2.
  13. ^ Western, p. 219.
  14. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 6, 22–3.
  15. ^ Western, pp. 223, 252.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Parkyn.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Frederick, p. 299.
  18. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 23–4.
  19. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 24–9.
  20. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 29–33.
  21. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 34–5.
  22. ^ a b c Dudgeon, Table B.
  23. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 35–6.
  24. ^ a b Baldry.
  25. ^ a b Dudgeon, p. 76.
  26. ^ Fortescue, Vol V, pp. 167–8, 198–203, 210–1, 229.
  27. ^ Knight, pp. 238, 437–47.
  28. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 45, 51, 59, 76–7.
  29. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 36–58; Appendices V & VI.
  30. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 58–67.
  31. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 67–71.
  32. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 71–76.
  33. ^ a b Dudgeon, pp. 77–81.
  34. ^ Hay, p. 154.
  35. ^ Hay, pp. 154–5.
  36. ^ a b c Dunlop, pp. 42–52.
  37. ^ Grierson, pp. 27–8.
  38. ^ a b c Litchfield, pp. 1–7.
  39. ^ Spiers, Army & Society, pp. 91–2.
  40. ^ Frederick, p. 982.
  41. ^ Hay, pp. 205–6.
  42. ^ Litchfield, pp. 78–83.
  43. ^ a b c d e f g h i Army List, various dates.
  44. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 82–86.
  45. ^ a b Cardwell reply to Parliamentary Question 23 March 1869.
  46. ^ a b Dudgeon, pp. 87–9.
  47. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 89–98.
  48. ^ Grierson, 84–5, 113, 120.
  49. ^ Spiers, Late Victorian Army, pp. 97, 102.
  50. ^ a b Spiers, Late Victorian Army, pp. 126–7.
  51. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 8–9, 100–6.
  52. ^ Spiers, Army & Society, pp. 195–6.
  53. ^ Spiers, Late Victorian Army, pp. 4, 15, 19.
  54. ^ Dudgeon, pp. 107–19.
  55. ^ Spiers, Army and Society, p. 239.
  56. ^ Amery, Vol IV, Appendix to Chapters I–XIV.
  57. ^ Amery, Vol IV, pp. 421–8.
  58. ^ Amery, Vol V, pp. 13–14.
  59. ^ Amery, Vol V, pp. 303–9, 323–4.
  60. ^ Dunlop, pp. 131–40, 158-62.
  61. ^ Spiers, Army & Society, pp. 243–2, 254.
  62. ^ Dunlop, pp. 270–2.
  63. ^ a b Frederick, pp. vi–vii.
  64. ^ Spiers, Army & Society, pp. 275–7.
  65. ^ James, pp. 42–3.
  66. ^ Royal Scots at Long, Long Trail.
  67. ^ "No. 28937". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 October 1914. p. 8222.
  68. ^ "No. 30128". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 1917. p. 5837.
  69. ^ "History of the Private Members Club, Edinburgh". The Royal Scots Club. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  70. ^ Dudgeon, p. 120.
  71. ^ Dudgeon, Table C.
  72. ^ Hart's.

References edit

  • L.S. Amery (ed), The Times History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902, London: Sampson Low, Marston, 6 Vols 1900–09.
  • W.Y. Baldry, 'Order of Precedence of Militia Regiments', Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol 15, No 57 (Spring 1936), pp. 5–16.
  • Maj R. Money Barnes, The Uniforms and History of the Scottish Regiments, London: Seeley Service, 1956/Sphere 1972.
  • Maj R.C. Dudgeon, History of the Edinburgh, or Queen's Regiment Light Infantry Militia (now) Third Battalion The Royal Scots, Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1882/Bibliolife, nd, ISBN 978-1-10368643-8.
  • Col John K. Dunlop, The Development of the British Army 1899–1914, London: Methuen, 1938.
  • Sir John Fortescue, A History of the British Army, Vol III, 2nd Edn, London: Macmillan, 1911.
  • Sir John Fortescue, A History of the British Army, Vol V, 1803–1807, London: Macmillan, 1910.
  • J.B.M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-007-3.
  • Lt-Col James Moncrieff Grierson (Col Peter S. Walton, ed.), Scarlet into Khaki: The British Army on the Eve of the Boer War, London: Sampson Low, 1899/London: Greenhill, 1988, ISBN 0-947898-81-6.
  • Lt-Col H.G. Hart, The New Annual Army List, and Militia List (various dates from 1840).
  • Col George Jackson Hay, An Epitomized History of the Militia (The Constitutional Force), London:United Service Gazette, 1905/Ray Westlake Military Books, 1987 ISBN 0-9508530-7-0.
  • Brig E.A. James, British Regiments 1914–18, London: Samson Books, 1978/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-84342-197-9.
  • Roger Knight, Britain Against Napoleon: The Organization of Victory 1793–1815', London: Allen Lane, 2013/Penguin, 2014, ISBN 978-0-141-03894-0.
  • Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Militia Artillery 1852–1909 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1987, ISBN 0-9508205-1-2.
  • H.G. Paryn, 'Scottish Militia Regiments 1798–1881: Their Badges and Buttons', Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol 26, No 106 (Summer 1948), pp. 49–56.
  • Gervase Phillips, The Anglo-Scots Wars 1513–1550, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1999, ISBN 0-85115-746-7.
  • Maj I.H. Mackay Scobie, 'The Argyll or Campbell Militia, 1745–6', Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 1946, Vol 24, No 97 (Spring 1946), pp. 12–29.
  • Edward M. Spiers, The Army and Society 1815–1914, London: Longmans, 1980, ISBN 0-582-48565-7.
  • Edward M. Spiers, The Late Victorian Army 1868–1902, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992/Sandpiper Books, 1999, ISBN 0-7190-2659-8.
  • Sir Lawrence Weaver, The Story of the Royal Scots, The Lothian Regiment, London: Country Life Military Histories, 1915.
  • J.R. Western, The English Militia in the Eighteenth Century: The Story of a Political Issue 1660–1802, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965.

External sources edit

  • Chris Baker, The Long, Long Trail

queen, edinburgh, light, infantry, militia, auxiliary, regiment, raised, around, city, edinburgh, scotland, formed, 1798, reformed, 1802, links, with, earlier, fencible, volunteer, units, from, area, served, home, defence, during, napoleonic, wars, crimean, la. The Queen s Edinburgh Light Infantry Militia was an auxiliary a regiment raised in and around the city of Edinburgh in Scotland It was formed in 1798 and reformed in 1802 but had links with earlier Fencible and Volunteer units from the area It served in home defence during the Napoleonic Wars and the Crimean War Later it became a battalion of the Royal Scots and saw active service in South Africa during the Second Boer War It served as a Special Reserve training unit in World War I but after 1921 the militia had only a shadowy existence until its final abolition in 1953 10th North British MilitiaQueen s Edinburgh Light Infantry Militia3rd Battalion Royal ScotsActive10 March 1798 1 April 1953Country Kingdom of Great Britain 1798 1800 United Kingdom 1801 1953 BranchMilitia Special ReserveRoleInfantryGarrison HQDalkeith 1798 1878 Glencorse Barracks 1878 1953 Nickname s The Duke s CanariesEngagementsSecond Boer WarCommandersNotablecommandersHenry Scott 3rd Duke of BuccleuchLt Col Edward Lisle Strutt Contents 1 Scottish militia 2 South Fencibles 3 10th North British Militia 4 Edinburgh Militia 4 1 Napoleonic Wars 4 2 Long peace 4 3 1852 reform 5 Queen s Edinburgh Light Infantry 5 1 Cardwell reforms 6 3rd Battalion Royal Scots 6 1 Second Boer War 6 2 Special Reserve 6 3 World War I 6 4 Postwar 7 Uniforms and insignia 8 Commanders 9 See also 10 Footnotes 11 Notes 12 References 12 1 External sourcesScottish militia editThe 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 1 There is a record of Edinburgh Town Council calling out 200 men of the county militia to join the king s army on its march to Dumfries in 1588 The Edinburgh militia usually exercised on the Burgh Muir 2 3 4 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 2 000 horse available for Crown service anywhere in Scotland England or Ireland The quota from the county of Edinburgh was set at 800 foot and 74 horse These troops were called out in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution 4 5 6 Thereafter the militia in Scotland as in England was allowed to decline After 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 7 South Fencibles editThe 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 Fencibles were raised again in 1778 during the War of American Independence when Britain was threatened with invasion by the Americans allies France and Spain One of the regiments formed in that year was the South Fencibles raised by Henry Scott 3rd Duke of Buccleuch at his residence at Dalkeith Palace and recruited from Edinburghshire Berwickshire Haddingtonshire Linlithgowshire Peeblesshire Selkirkshire Roxburghshire and Dumfriesshire The regiment was only required to serve in Scotland except in time of invasion but the following year it offered to serve in any part of Great Britain Among its duties were guarding French Prisoners of War in Edinburgh Castle In the summer of 1780 the regiment was defending the west coast of Scotland from Kirkcudbright to Glasgow and Dumbarton In 1782 it was marched from Glasgow to be quartered at Edinburgh and that summer eight companies joined other fencibles in a camp at West Barns under the command of the Duke of Buccleuch Following the signing of the preliminaries of the Treaty of Paris the regiment was disbanded at Dalkeith on 1 April 1783 after five years service 3 8 9 10 11 10th North British Militia editIn view of the worsening international situation in late 1792 the English militia was embodied for service even though Revolutionary France did not declare war on Britain until 1 February 1793 Fencibles were again raised in Scotland Both England and Scotland also raised part time bodies of Volunteers for purely local defence including the 2nd Regiment of Royal Edinburgh Volunteers under the Duke of Buccleuch formed in February 1797 12 13 Finally in 1797 Parliament passed an Act introducing the militia ballot in Scotland This measure was unpopular and there were anti militia riots in the west of the country but Buccleuch ensured that paid substitutes would be available 14 15 Ten regiments of Scottish militia were raised in 1798 under the 1797 Act including the 10th North British Militia b Once more it was raised by the Duke of Buccleuch appointed 10 March 1798 at his Dalkeith estate A number of officers and men were drawn from the 2nd Edinburgh Volunteers The regiment s recruiting areas and quotas were defined as 3 4 18 17 16 Edinburgh county 230 men Edinburgh city 83 men Linlithgowshire 74 men Haddingtonshire 144 men Berwickshire 153 menThe regiment of eight companies was ready for its first inspection on 18 September and in early October it marched to Dumfries for its winter quarters with detachments at Wigtown and Port William In March 1799 the regiment supplied a detachment to assist the civil authorities to preserve the peace in Portpatrick The regiment trained detachments to man the two field guns attached to each militia regiment The men were permitted to help local farmers with the harvest In March 1800 the regiment was moved to Ayr with detachments at Newtown Wallacetown and Stranraer in June two companies went to Greenock with a detachment at Port Glasgow Then in July the companies at Ayr moved into the barracks at Glasgow and took over guard mounting in the city 19 The preliminaries of peace having been agreed in late 1801 the militia was prepared for disbandment The 10th North British was marched in January 1802 from Glasgow to quarters in Musselburgh Fisherrow and Inveresk and sent its battalion guns to Leith Fort From these quarters the regiment could assemble at Dalkeith Park for exercises The Treaty of Amiens was signed on 25 March 1802 and orders were issued to disband the regiment The men were paid off on 26 April except a cadre of sergeants and drummers under the adjutant Captain James Fraser formerly of the 78th Highlanders and sergeant major 3 20 c Edinburgh Militia editIn 1802 a new Act was passed 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 As Lord Lieutenant of Midlothian Edinburghshire the Duke of Buccleuch was required to raise the Edinburgh County Militia and he took command of the regiment himself many of the officers coming from the previous 10th North British including the adjutant and presumably his permanent staff The armoury and depot would be at Dalkeith town because of the suitability of the area for training and exercises 3 21 22 Napoleonic Wars edit The Peace of Amiens soon broke down and the new regiment was embodied for fulltime service on 11 April 1803 the men from the county assembling at Dalkeith and those from the city of Edinburgh at Musselburgh 17 23 When they were embodied in 1803 the English and Scottish militia regiments were allocated places in a single order of precedence by drawing lots The Edinburgh regiment received the number 51 formally it became the 51st or Edinburgh Regiment of Militia Although most regiments ignored the number the Edinburgh unit did sometimes use it These positions remained unchanged until 1833 16 22 24 25 Militia duties during the Napoleonic War were home defence and garrisons guarding prisoners of war and increasingly internal security in the industrial areas where there was unrest The regular forces also saw the militia as a prime source of recruits and between 1803 and 1815 the Edinburgh Militia supplied 833 men particularly to the Scots Guards 15th Foot 94th Foot and Royal Marines 3 26 27 28 From 29 June 1803 the regiment was in camp at Musselburgh as part of a Scottish Brigade temporarily commanded by the Duke of Buccleuch In November the regiment returned to Dalkeith where temporary barracks were erected at nearby Lugton with one company detached to Newbattle and one to Lasswade It continued to take part in field days with the rest of the brigade through the winter In 1804 a Scottish Militia Brigade was formed with its headquarters at Inveresk and the flank companies grenadiers and light infantry of the brigade were drilled together at Portobello Edinburgh The brigade also found the guards for a Prisoner of war camp at Greenlaw House later Glencorse Barracks In May 1807 the Edinburgh Militia moved from Dalkeith to Dunbar barracks with one company detached at Eyemouth barracks The duty was to assist in preserving the peace and aiding the revenue officers It returned to Musselburgh in February 1808 then went back to Dunbar in February 1809 In April 1809 it went to Haddington barracks and then to Edinburgh Castle in June with a detachment at Leith Fort The duties included escorting parties of prisoners of war 29 In March 1811 the Duke of Buccleuch resigned command of the regiment and was succeeded by the Earl of Ancrum later 6th Marquess of Lothian On July that year the regiment left Scotland for the first time sailing from Leith to Harwich where it went into barracks before being stationed at Colchester for nine months In April 1812 the regiment moved to the large prisoner of war camp at Norman Cross Prison There was an outbreak of Luddite machine breaking in the English industrial districts and in May the regiment was marched to Nottinghamshire being quartered at Mansfield In October it was quartered at Manchester with detachments at Bolton Bury and Rochdale After short stays in Birmingham and Somerset in February and March 1813 the regiment marched to Plymouth being quartered in Frankfort Barracks from 31 March 30 British militia units were now permitted to serve in Ireland and most of the Edinburgh Militia volunteered to do so It sailed from Plymouth on 26 June 1813 and disembarked at Monkstown on 12 July It was then marched towards Armagh but diverted to Derry where it arrived on 31 July Most of the duty was to assist revenue officers in seizing illicit whiskey which occasionally led to exchanges of gunfire the militiamen involved in successful seizures received sizeable rewards 4 31 The war having ended with the deposition and exile of Napoleon in 1814 the regiment was relieved in February 1815 and marched to Belfast where it embarked for Scotland It reached Stranraer on 9 March and marched to Dalkeith where the men were given leave before the regiment was disembodied on 3 April 1815 The Regimental Colours were laid up in Newbattle Abbey the Marquess of Lothian s house Unlike some regiments the Edinburgh Militia was not re embodied during the short Waterloo campaign of 1815 17 32 Long peace edit The permanent staff of sergeants and drummers remained at the depot at Dalkeith where they formed a reserve for the civil authorities in cases of disorder However after Waterloo the militia were rarely assembled for training in 1820 1821 1825 and 1831 but not thereafter Although officers continued to be commissioned into the militia the 7th Marquess of Lothian was promoted to the command of the Edinburgh Militia on his father s death in 1824 and when he died in 1841 he was succeeded by the 5th Duke of Buccleuch the ballot was eventually suspended and the permanent staff progressively reduced 33 34 The militia order of precedence balloted for in the Napoleonic War remained in force until 1833 In that year the King drew the lots for individual regiments and the resulting list remained in force with minor amendments until the end of the militia The regiments raised before the peace of 1783 took the first 69 places the Edinburgh regiment was drawn as 126th out of 129 16 24 35 It continued to appear in the Army Lists as the Edinburgh County and City of Militia with HQ at Dalkeith 1852 reform edit The Militia of the United Kingdom was revived 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 Under the Act militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full time home defence service in three circumstances 36 37 38 39 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 1852 Act introduced Artillery Militia units in addition to the traditional infantry regiments Their role was to man coastal defences and fortifications relieving the Royal Artillery RA for active service The Edinburgh City Artillery later the Duke of Edinburgh s Own Edinburgh Artillery was established as a separate regiment in 1854 16 36 38 40 41 42 Queen s Edinburgh Light Infantry editThe outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 gave impetus to organising the reformed militia regiments In September the establishment of the Edinburgh Militia was set at 72 officers and non commissioned officers NCOs and 657 privates in six companies It was still commanded by the 5th Duke of Buccleuch who was also Lord Lieutenant of Midlothian The regiment was embodied for service on 12 February 1852 and the men were billeted throughout Dalkeith with the officers at the Cross Keys Hotel The regiment lined the streets from Edinburgh railway station to Holyrood Palace on 6 September when Queen Victoria visited Edinburgh on her way to Balmoral Castle and again on her return As a result the regiment was given the title Queen s Regiment of Edinburgh County Militia quickly changed to The Edinburgh or Queen s Regiment of Light Infantry Militia 3 17 16 43 44 This cumbersome title was usually rendered as the Queen s Edinburgh Light Infantry QELI 45 The Crimean War having ended early in 1856 the regiment was disembodied on 28 May 4 17 46 Militia units that had been embodied were not called up for annual training again until 1859 after which it was held every year the year s recruits attending 14 or 21 days preliminary drill From 1869 the regiment sometimes participated in brigade field days with the regulars and Volunteers in the area 47 Cardwell reforms edit From the late 1860s a number of army reforms affected the militia A Militia Reserve was created in 1867 consisting of present and former militiamen who undertook to serve overseas in case of war 36 48 49 50 In 1869 the War Office began to supply the new breechloading Snider Rifle to selected militia regiments that had most systematically devoted themselves to rifle practice the QELI was one of those chosen 45 nbsp The old gates of Glencorse Barracks in front of the modern buildings Under the Localisation of the Forces scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872 militia regiments were brigaded with their local regular and volunteer battalions for the QELI this was with the two battalions of the Royal Scots Lothian Regiment in Sub District No 62 based at Greenlaw It was intended to raise a second militia battalion in the Lothians but this never happened through the QELI was increased to eight companies in 1874 Increasingly the QELI s permanent staff instructors were drawn from the Royal Scots The militia now came under the War Office rather than their county lords lieutenant and officers commissions were signed by the Queen Around a third of the recruits and many young officers went on to join the Regular Army In 1878 the QELI s headquarters HQ moved from Dalkeith to the brigade depot at the new Glencorse Barracks at Greenlaw 43 50 51 52 53 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 QELI was assigned to 2nd Brigade of 1st Division IV Corps in Ireland 43 The Militia Reserve of the QELI was called out in April 1878 during the period of international tension over the Russo Turkish War that led to the Congress of Berlin They served at the 62nd Brigade Depot until the end of July In 1881 a fire destroyed the old wooden barracks at Glencorse that was occupied by the permanent staff and their families but the involvement of the Fenians was ruled out 3 54 3rd Battalion Royal Scots edit nbsp Cap badge of the Royal Scots based on the star and badge of the Order of the Thistle The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell s reforms further with militia regiments formally joining their linked regular regiments as numbered battalions The QELI therefore became the 3rd Edinburgh Light Infantry Militia Battalion Royal Scots 3 4 17 16 43 Second Boer War edit On the outbreak of the Second Boer War in December 1899 most of the regular army was sent to South Africa and many militia units were embodied to replace them for home defence and to garrison certain overseas stations while other volunteered for active service The 3rd Royal Scots was embodied on 5 December 1899 and volunteered for overseas service 4 17 43 55 The battalion embarked with a strength of 21 officers and 570 other ranks under the command of Colonel Edward Grant It disembarked at East London on 21 March 1900 and was sent to fortify Bethulie in the Orange Free State OFS Next it went to prepare defences at Kaffir River Bridge At this point it formed part of 23rd Brigade under Major General W G Knox alongside the 1st Royal Scots On 10 July the battalion moved to Kroonstad The Boer leader Christiaan de Wet was operating in this area and the battalion was ordered to cover the pioneer corps repairing the railway that he had damaged 4 56 On 1 August Maj Gen Charles Knox was ordered from Kroonstad with a 2000 strong column including the 3rd Royal Scots to operate south of the Vaal River with other columns to block de Wet s access to the OFS This was part of the First de Wet Hunt There were some exchanges of fire in one of which a sergeant of the 3rd Royal Scots was killed and on 9 August the column was engaged at Venterskroon A British cavalry brigade contacted the Boers on 17 August and 3rd Royal Scots formed the advanced guard as Knox s column came up to join the engagement However the infantry columns were generally unable to keep up with the mounted Boers and de Wet got away In October Knox s column left Heilbron to relieve a force besieged by de Wet at Frederikstad Knox continued harrying the Boers with his mounted troops while Col Grant was left to command the infantry which was mainly employed in escorting the baggage train Between1 October and 7 November the 3rd Royal Scots had marched 672 miles 1 081 km often on quarter rations 4 57 58 On 10 November 1900 the battalion took over a number of defence posts on the railway south of Kroonstad while its Mounted infantry MI detachment under Capt C P Wood operated as part of Major John Pine Coffin s column in a number of engagements In July 1901 two detachments from the battalion under Capt Edward Strutt and Lieutenant C E Lambert took part in the first organised Drive towards the Modder River attempting to trap the Boers and afterwards in Lieutenant General Sir W Eliot s movement eastwards from Winburg The detachments spent three nights camped at over 9 000 feet 2 700 m and afterwards took part in the night attack that captured Commandant Marais at his Laager 4 59 Meanwhile the rest of the battalion along the railway had seen some action Corporal Cummings and Lance Corporal McKinnan distinguishing themselves in command of small posts that maintained their positions against attacks by much larger groups of Boers In the later part of 1901 and early 1902 the battalion garrisoned about 40 miles 64 km of the blockhouse line between Kroonstad and Klip Drift Major Lord Tewkesbury who had just succeeded his father as Earl of Munster was killed in an accident at Lace Mines on 2 February 1902 4 The 3rd Royal Scots embarked at Cape Town for home on 7 May 1902 shortly before the end of the war It was disembodied on 28 May 1902 having lost 4 officers and 31 other ranks killed or died of wounds or accidents The participants received the Queen s South Africa Medal with clasps for Transvaal Orange River Colony and Cape Colony and the King s South Africa Medal with the South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902 clasps 4 17 Special Reserve edit After the Boer War the future of the Militia was called into question There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces Militia Yeomanry and Volunteers to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed by St John Brodrick as Secretary of State for War However little of Brodrick s scheme was carried out 60 61 Under the sweeping Haldane Reforms of 1908 the militia was replaced by the Special Reserve a semi professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for regular units serving overseas in wartime 38 62 63 64 The battalion became the 3rd Reserve Battalion Royal Scots on 9 August 1908 17 16 World War I edit The battalion was embodied at Glencorse Barracks on the outbreak of World War I under the command of the Earl of Ellesmere and went to its war station at Weymouth Dorset As well as its coast defence duties the battalion s role was to train and form drafts of reservists special reservists recruits and returning wounded for the regular battalions of the Royal Scots While at Weymouth it probably assisted in the formation of the 14th Reserve Battalion from Kitchener s Army volunteers in November 1914 In May 1915 the 3rd Bn returned to Edinburgh until the end of 1917 when it was sent to Ireland There it was stationed at Mullingar until the end of the war 65 66 The battalion was disembodied on 5 July 1919 when the remaining personnel were drafted to the 2nd Bn 17 The battalion s honorary colonel Lord Henry Montagu Douglas Scott was appointed to command the 1st Public Schools Battalion Royal Fusiliers in September 1914 67 and he also commanded service battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment 68 After the war Scott founded the Royal Scots Club Edinburgh in 1921 as a memorial to the fallen soldiers of the Royal Scots making membership of the club open to all ranks 69 Postwar edit The SR resumed its old title of Militia in 1921 but like most militia battalions the 3rd Royal Scots remained in abeyance after World War I By the outbreak of World War II in 1939 the only officer remaining listed for the battalion was its Honorary Colonel Lord Henry Scott though the Royal Scots had a number of Supplementary Reserve Category B officers attached to it The Militia was formally disbanded in April 1953 17 43 63 Uniforms and insignia editFrom its formation in 1798 the regiment wore red uniforms with yellow facings giving rise to its nickname The Duke s Canaries When it became The Queen s in 1855 the facings were changed to the blue appropriate to a Royal regiment 3 16 43 46 The officers oval shoulderbelt plates ca 1800 carried the star of the Order of the Thistle surmounted by a crown Round the top of the plate was the title Edinburgh and at the bottom Militia The officers waistbelt plates 1855 81 carried the star of the Thistle in silver with a green enamel backing to the centre and the regimental title on the circle The officers Coatee button 1820 30 carried the crowned Thistle star with the title Edinburgh below 16 The regiment adopted the light infantry bugle horn as a badge after 1855 but when it became a battalion of the Royal Scots it adopted that regiment s insignia based on the Order of the Thistle and its uniform including the doublet and tartan trews 43 70 New drums were issued to the regiment while it was stationed at Derry in 1813 15 When it returned to Scotland the colonel ordered that they should be painted including the Coat of arms of Derry among other insignia 25 Commanders editThe following were among the commanders of the regiment 22 43 33 71 72 Honorary Colonel Walter Montagu Douglas Scott 5th Duke of Buccleuch former Colonel appointed 21 May 1879 George Grant Gordon former Lt Col appointed 7 March 1900 Lord Henry Montagu Douglas Scott former commanding officer appointed 21 December 1912Colonel Henry Scott 3rd Duke of Buccleuch appointed 10 March 1798 William Kerr 6th Marquess of Lothian appointed 25 March 1811 died 24 April 1824 John Kerr 7th Marquess of Lothian promoted 33 June 1824 died 14 November 1841 Walter Montagu Douglas Scott 5th Duke of Buccleuch appointed 6 January 1842 resigned 20 May 1879Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Lt Col Sir Archibald Hope 12th Baronet of Craighall appointed 28 February 1856 resigned 28 December 1877 Lt Col Schomberg Kerr 9th Marquess of Lothian promoted 23 January 1878 Lt Col Edward J Grant CB appointed 7 December 1898 Lt Col Lord Henry Montagu Douglas Scott promoted 11 November 1905 Lt Col John Egerton 4th Earl of Ellesmere promoted 11 November 1912 Lt Col Edward Lisle Strutt CBE DSO promoted 6 January 1919See also editMilitia Great Britain Militia United Kingdom Duke of Edinburgh s Own Edinburgh Artillery Royal ScotsFootnotes edit It is incorrect to describe the British Militia as irregular throughout their history they were equipped and trained exactly like the line regiments of the regular army and once embodied in time of war they were fulltime professional soldiers for the duration of their enlistment Some sources state that it was designated the Edinburghshire Regiment of Militia or simply the Edinburgh Militia 16 or the Edinburghshire North British Regiment of Militia 17 The cadre equated to the permanent staff of the established English militia regiments Notes edit Phillips pp 46 54 Dudgeon p 16 a b c d e f g h i j Weaver Chapter 18 a b c d e f g h i j k l Hay pp 232 5 Dudgeon p 5 Hay pp 107 9 Scobie Dudgeon pp 16 20 Fortescue Vol III p 294 Money Barnes p 86 Western pp 162 7 208 9 Dudgeon pp 21 2 Western p 219 Dudgeon pp 6 22 3 Western pp 223 252 a b c d e f g h i j Parkyn a b c d e f g h i j k l Frederick p 299 Dudgeon pp 23 4 Dudgeon pp 24 9 Dudgeon pp 29 33 Dudgeon pp 34 5 a b c Dudgeon Table B Dudgeon pp 35 6 a b Baldry a b Dudgeon p 76 Fortescue Vol V pp 167 8 198 203 210 1 229 Knight pp 238 437 47 Dudgeon pp 45 51 59 76 7 Dudgeon pp 36 58 Appendices V amp VI Dudgeon pp 58 67 Dudgeon pp 67 71 Dudgeon pp 71 76 a b Dudgeon pp 77 81 Hay p 154 Hay pp 154 5 a b c Dunlop pp 42 52 Grierson pp 27 8 a b c Litchfield pp 1 7 Spiers Army amp Society pp 91 2 Frederick p 982 Hay pp 205 6 Litchfield pp 78 83 a b c d e f g h i Army List various dates Dudgeon pp 82 86 a b Cardwell reply to Parliamentary Question 23 March 1869 a b Dudgeon pp 87 9 Dudgeon pp 89 98 Grierson 84 5 113 120 Spiers Late Victorian Army pp 97 102 a b Spiers Late Victorian Army pp 126 7 Dudgeon pp 8 9 100 6 Spiers Army amp Society pp 195 6 Spiers Late Victorian Army pp 4 15 19 Dudgeon pp 107 19 Spiers Army and Society p 239 Amery Vol IV Appendix to Chapters I XIV Amery Vol IV pp 421 8 Amery Vol V pp 13 14 Amery Vol V pp 303 9 323 4 Dunlop pp 131 40 158 62 Spiers Army amp Society pp 243 2 254 Dunlop pp 270 2 a b Frederick pp vi vii Spiers Army amp Society pp 275 7 James pp 42 3 Royal Scots at Long Long Trail No 28937 The London Gazette Supplement 13 October 1914 p 8222 No 30128 The London Gazette Supplement 12 June 1917 p 5837 History of the Private Members Club Edinburgh The Royal Scots Club Retrieved 28 August 2019 Dudgeon p 120 Dudgeon Table C Hart s References editL S Amery ed The Times History of the War in South Africa 1899 1902 London Sampson Low Marston 6 Vols 1900 09 W Y Baldry Order of Precedence of Militia Regiments Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research Vol 15 No 57 Spring 1936 pp 5 16 Maj R Money Barnes The Uniforms and History of the Scottish Regiments London Seeley Service 1956 Sphere 1972 Maj R C Dudgeon History of the Edinburgh or Queen s Regiment Light Infantry Militia now Third Battalion The Royal Scots Edinburgh Blackwood 1882 Bibliolife nd ISBN 978 1 10368643 8 Col John K Dunlop The Development of the British Army 1899 1914 London Methuen 1938 Sir John Fortescue A History of the British Army Vol III 2nd Edn London Macmillan 1911 Sir John Fortescue A History of the British Army Vol V 1803 1807 London Macmillan 1910 J B M Frederick Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660 1978 Vol I Wakefield Microform Academic 1984 ISBN 1 85117 007 3 Lt Col James Moncrieff Grierson Col Peter S Walton ed Scarlet into Khaki The British Army on the Eve of the Boer War London Sampson Low 1899 London Greenhill 1988 ISBN 0 947898 81 6 Lt Col H G Hart The New Annual Army List and Militia List various dates from 1840 Col George Jackson Hay An Epitomized History of the Militia The Constitutional Force London United Service Gazette 1905 Ray Westlake Military Books 1987 ISBN 0 9508530 7 0 Brig E A James British Regiments 1914 18 London Samson Books 1978 Uckfield Naval amp Military Press 2001 ISBN 978 1 84342 197 9 Roger Knight Britain Against Napoleon The Organization of Victory 1793 1815 London Allen Lane 2013 Penguin 2014 ISBN 978 0 141 03894 0 Norman E H Litchfield The Militia Artillery 1852 1909 Their Lineage Uniforms and Badges Nottingham Sherwood Press 1987 ISBN 0 9508205 1 2 H G Paryn Scottish Militia Regiments 1798 1881 Their Badges and Buttons Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research Vol 26 No 106 Summer 1948 pp 49 56 Gervase Phillips The Anglo Scots Wars 1513 1550 Woodbridge Boydell Press 1999 ISBN 0 85115 746 7 Maj I H Mackay Scobie The Argyll or Campbell Militia 1745 6 Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 1946 Vol 24 No 97 Spring 1946 pp 12 29 Edward M Spiers The Army and Society 1815 1914 London Longmans 1980 ISBN 0 582 48565 7 Edward M Spiers The Late Victorian Army 1868 1902 Manchester Manchester University Press 1992 Sandpiper Books 1999 ISBN 0 7190 2659 8 Sir Lawrence Weaver The Story of the Royal Scots The Lothian Regiment London Country Life Military Histories 1915 J R Western The English Militia in the Eighteenth Century The Story of a Political Issue 1660 1802 London Routledge amp Kegan Paul 1965 External sources edit Chris Baker The Long Long Trail Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Queen 27s Edinburgh Light Infantry Militia amp oldid 1161210937, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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