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Royal Carmarthen Militia

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213-619: The Carmarthenshire Militia , later the Royal Carmarthen Fusiliers , was an auxiliary regiment reorganised from earlier precursor units in the Welsh county of Carmarthenshire during the 18th Century. Primarily intended for home defence, it served in Britain and Ireland through all Britain's major wars. It was converted into garrison artillery in 1861 and continued until it was disbanded in 1909. The universal obligation to military service in

426-585: A Rifle green uniform with red facings, similar to that of the King's Royal Rifle Corps . On conversion to artillery in 1861 the regiment adopted the blue uniform with red facings of the RA. Around 1800 the badge on the Shako plate was the Prince of Wales's feathers and coronet. About 1804–16 a scroll bearing the regimental title and the precedence number 39 were added to this badge: on

639-492: A pot helmet , back- and breastplates over a buff coat, and often also armoured tassets to protect the upper legs. They carried a sixteen-foot pike, and a sword. The heavily burdened pikeman usually dictated the speed of the Army's movement. They were frequently ordered to discard the tassets, and individual soldiers were disciplined for sawing a foot or two from the butts of their pikes, although senior officers were recommended to make

852-419: A Labour dominance of Welsh politics that continued into the 21st century. After economic growth in the first two decades of the 20th century, Wales's staple industries endured a prolonged slump from the early 1920s to the late 1930s, leading to widespread unemployment and poverty. For the first time in centuries, the population of Wales went into decline; unemployment reduced only with the production demands of

1065-519: A Regiment of Foot) was appointed Lieutenant General of the Ordnance. The establishment of the New Model also included at least two companies of "firelocks" or fusiliers , who wore " tawny coats" instead of red, commanded initially by Major John Desborough . The artillery was used to most effect in sieges , where its role was to blast breaches in fortifications for the infantry to assault. Cromwell and

1278-606: A Scottish invasion force at the Battle of Preston in August. Many of the Army's radicals now called for the execution of the King, whom they called " Charles Stuart, that man of blood ". The majority of the Grandees realised that they could neither negotiate a settlement with Charles I, nor trust him to refrain from raising another army to attack them, so they came reluctantly to the same conclusion as

1491-421: A Welsh constituency at Westminster. Yet by 1906, industrial dissension and political militancy had begun to undermine Liberal consensus in the southern coalfields. In 1916, David Lloyd George became the first Welshman to become Prime Minister of Britain. In December 1918, Lloyd George was re-elected as the head of a Conservative-dominated coalition government, and his poor handling of the 1919 coal miners' strike

1704-662: A feat with neither precedent nor successor." Owain Gwynedd (1100–1170) of the Aberffraw line was the first Welsh ruler to use the title princeps Wallensium (prince of the Welsh), a title of substance given his victory on the Berwyn range , according to Davies. During this time, between 1053 and 1063, Wales lacked any internal strife and was at peace. Within four years of the Battle of Hastings (1066), England had been completely subjugated by

1917-587: A former officer in the Grenadier Guards , was appointed Lt-Col Commandant of its Carmarthen contingent. The Carmarthen batteries assembled for their first training on 19 October 1861. Most of this was carried out at Carmarthen barracks, where two drill guns had been installed, but a battery of 64-pounder rifled muzzle-loaders was being installed at Ferryside on the Tywi Estuary . In future years these were used for live firing practice against targets erected on

2130-587: A fresh attempt to have as many men as possible under arms for home defence in order to release regulars, in 1796 the Government created the Supplementary Militia, a compulsory levy of men to be trained in their spare time, and to be incorporated in the Regular Militia in emergency. Carmarthenshire's new militia quota was fixed at 790 men, ie 590 supplementaries were to be raised. In fact the county's quota

2343-578: A group that included moderates like Sir William Waller as well as radicals like Cromwell. In December 1644, Sir Henry Vane introduced the Self-denying Ordinance , requiring those holding military commissions to resign from Parliament. As members of the House of Lords , Manchester and Essex were automatically removed, since unlike MPs they could not resign their titles, although they could be re-appointed, 'if Parliament approved.' Although delayed by

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2556-464: A heavy price at Clonmel when Cromwell ordered them to attack a well-defended breach. The New Model did not use tents, instead being quartered in whatever buildings (houses, barns etc.) were available, until they began to serve in the less populated areas of the countries of Ireland and Scotland. In 1650, their tents were each for six men, a file, who carried the tents in parts. In campaigns in Scotland,

2769-669: A legal unit in its own right, although it remains part of the single jurisdiction of England and Wales . The Senedd has the authority to draft and approve laws outside of the UK Parliamentary system to meet the specific needs of Wales. Under powers approved by a referendum held in March 2011, it is empowered to pass primary legislation, at the time referred to as an Act of the National Assembly for Wales but now known as an Act of Senedd Cymru in relation to twenty subjects listed in

2982-516: A lower rank. Essex and Manchester raised objections to around 30% of those on the list, for reasons that are still debated, but ultimately only five changes were approved. In addition, several Scots officers refused to take up their appointments, including John Middleton , originally colonel of the Second Regiment of Horse. The standard daily pay was 8 pence for infantry and 2 shillings for cavalry, who also had to supply their own horses, while

3195-797: A night attack on 13 May, in which several mutineers perished, but Captain Thompson escaped, only to be killed in another skirmish near the Diggers community at Wellingborough . The rest were imprisoned in Burford Church until three were shot in the Churchyard on 17 May. Later that year, on 15 August 1649, the New Model Army landed in Ireland to start the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland . At Kilkenny, in March 1650,

3408-474: A rapid expansion of Wales's population. Two-thirds of the population live in South Wales , including Cardiff, Swansea , Newport , and the nearby valleys . The eastern region of North Wales has about a sixth of the overall population, with Wrexham being the largest northern city. The remaining parts of Wales are sparsely populated . Since decline of the country's traditional extractive and heavy industries,

3621-413: A scroll inscribed 'ROYAL CARMARTHEN'. After conversion to rifles, the regiment adopted a shako plate badge of a bugle-horn enclosing the precedence number 24; officers also had the feathers, coronet and motto above. The other ranks' Forage cap badge was in two parts with a stringed bugle-horn above a 'ROYAL CARMARTHEN' scroll. After conversion to artillery the regiment wore a standard RA helmet plate of

3834-458: A series of castles: Beaumaris , Caernarfon , Harlech and Conwy . His son, the future Edward II , was born at Caernarfon in 1284. He became the first English prince of Wales in 1301, which at the time provided an income from northwest Wales known as the Principality of Wales . After the failed revolt in 1294–1295 of Madog ap Llywelyn – who styled himself Prince of Wales in

4047-532: A slow death, as did the New Model Army. For a time, in 1659, it appeared that factions of the New Model army forces loyal to different generals might wage war on each other. Regiments garrisoned in Scotland under the command of General Monck were marched to London to ensure the security of the capital prior to the Restoration , without significant opposition from the regiments under other generals, particularly those led by Charles Fleetwood and John Lambert . Following

4260-600: A system of government with a separate executive, the Welsh Government, drawn from and accountable to the legislature, the National Assembly. Following a successful referendum in 2011, the National Assembly was empowered to make laws, known as Acts of the Assembly, on all matters in devolved subject areas, without requiring the UK Parliament's approval of legislative competence. It also gained powers to raise taxes. In May 2020,

4473-519: A varying degree and (since 2011) Welsh is the only official ( de jure ) language in any part of Great Britain. Wales is a country that is part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom. ISO 3166-2:GB formerly defined Wales as a principality, with England and Scotland defined as countries and Northern Ireland as a province. However, this definition was raised in the Welsh Assembly in 2010 and

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4686-571: A victory for the Celtic Britons at Badon Hill against the Saxons, which was attributed to Arthur by Nennius . Having lost much of what is now the West Midlands to Mercia in the 6th and early 7th centuries, a resurgent late-7th-century Powys checked Mercian advances. Æthelbald of Mercia , looking to defend recently acquired lands, had built Wat's Dyke . According to Davies, this had been with

4899-590: Is Cymry , and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales. These words (both of which are pronounced [ˈkəm.rɨ] ) are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning "fellow-countrymen", and probably came into use before the 7th century. In literature, they could be spelt Kymry or Cymry , regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of these names, Cambrian , Cambric and Cambria , survive as names such as

5112-658: Is a country that is part of the United Kingdom . It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the east , the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the south-west. As of 2021 , it had a population of 3.2 million. It has a total area of 21,218 square kilometres (8,192 sq mi) and over 2,700 kilometres (1,680 mi) of coastline . It is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in

5325-407: Is a generally mountainous country on the western side of central southern Great Britain. It is about 170 miles (270 km) north to south. The oft-quoted " size of Wales " is about 20,779 km (8,023 sq mi). Wales is bordered by England to the east and by sea in all other directions: the Irish Sea to the north and west, St George's Channel and the Celtic Sea to the southwest and

5538-480: Is coal mining which became the industry synonymous with Wales and its people. Initially, coal seams were exploited to provide energy for local metal industries but, with the opening of canal systems and later the railways, Welsh coal mining saw an explosion in demand. As the South Wales Coalfield was exploited, Cardiff, Swansea, Penarth and Barry grew as world exporters of coal. By its height in 1913, Wales

5751-410: Is described as a country rather than a principality.' In the House of Commons – the 650-member lower house of the UK Parliament – there are 32 members of Parliament (MPs) who represent Welsh constituencies . At the 2024 general election , 27 Labour and Labour Co-op MPs were elected, along with 4 Plaid Cymru MPs and 1 Liberal Democrat MP from Wales. The Wales Office is a department of

5964-605: Is employed in Wales, of which the most major step was the formation of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament, formerly the National Assembly for Wales) in 1998, responsible for a range of devolved policy matters . At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution , development of the mining and metallurgical industries transformed the country from an agricultural society into an industrial one; the South Wales Coalfield 's exploitation caused

6177-506: The Aberffraw dynasty from Gwynedd and Powys and then codified Welsh law in the 940s. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was the only ruler to unite all of Wales under his rule, described by one chronicler after his death as king of Wales . In 1055 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn killed his rival Gruffydd ap Rhydderch in battle and recaptured Deheubarth . Originally king of Gwynedd, by 1057 he was ruler of Wales and had annexed parts of England around

6390-504: The Battle of the Dunes (1658) , as part of Turenne 's army, the red-coats of the New Model Army under the leadership of Sir William Lockhart , Cromwell's ambassador at Paris, astonished both their French allies and Spanish enemies by the stubborn fierceness with which they advanced against a strongly defended sandhill 50 metres (160 ft) high. After Cromwell died, the Protectorate died

6603-473: The Bristol Channel to the south. Wales has about 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline (along the mean high water mark), including the mainland, Anglesey , and Holyhead . Over 50 islands lie off the Welsh mainland, the largest being Anglesey, in the north-west. New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during

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6816-528: The Cambrian Mountains and the Cambrian geological period. Wales has been inhabited by modern humans for at least 29,000 years. Continuous human habitation dates from the end of the last ice age , between 12,000 and 10,000  years before present (BP) , when Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from Central Europe began to migrate to Great Britain. At that time, sea levels were much lower than today. Wales

7029-510: The Coat of arms of the Lord Lieutenant (at that time their own colonel, George Rice) on a blue silk ground. The regiment ceased to carry colours when it was converted to a rifle corps in 1852; the artillery carry no colours. From 1759 the regiment's uniform was always recorded as a red coat with blue facings even before it became a 'Royal' regiment. When it became a rifle corps in 1852 it adopted

7242-648: The Fifteen Tribes of Wales . The 400-year period following the collapse of Roman rule is the most difficult to interpret in the history of Wales. After the Roman departure in AD 410, much of the lowlands of Britain to the east and south-east was overrun by various Germanic peoples , commonly known as Anglo-Saxons. Some have theorized that the cultural dominance of the Anglo-Saxons was due to apartheid-like social conditions in which

7455-584: The First English Civil War , then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms in that members were liable for service anywhere in the country, rather than being limited to a single area or garrison . To establish a professional officer corps, the army's leaders were prohibited from having seats in either

7668-711: The Government of Wales Act 2006 such as health and education. Through this primary legislation, the Welsh Government can then also enact more specific subordinate legislation . Wales is served by four regional police forces: Dyfed-Powys Police , Gwent Police , North Wales Police , and South Wales Police . There are five prisons in Wales : four in the southern half of the country, and one in Wrexham . Wales has no women's prisons: female inmates are imprisoned in England. Wales

7881-550: The House of Lords or House of Commons . This was to encourage their separation from the political or religious factions among the Parliamentarians. The New Model Army was raised partly from among veteran soldiers who already had deeply held Puritan religious beliefs, and partly from conscripts who brought with them many commonly held beliefs about religion or society. Many of its common soldiers therefore held dissenting or radical views unique among English armies. Although

8094-667: The Lancashire Militia in the Bristol, Garrison, where the duties included guarding prisoners-of-war at Stapleton Prison and manning the Avonmouth forts. By December it was serving at Exeter , but then marched back to South Wales, where in January 802 for companies went to Carmarthen and two to Llandeilo. The Treaty of Amiens was signed in March 1802 and in April warrants were issued to disembody

8307-655: The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 . Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism , exemplified in the early 20th century by David Lloyd George , was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party . Welsh national feeling grew over the century: a nationalist party, Plaid Cymru , was formed in 1925, and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. A governing system of Welsh devolution

8520-548: The Normans . William I of England established a series of lordships, allocated to his most powerful warriors, along the Welsh border, their boundaries fixed only to the east (where they met other feudal properties inside England). Starting in the 1070s, these lords began conquering land in southern and eastern Wales, west of the River Wye . The frontier region, and any English-held lordships in Wales, became known as Marchia Wallie ,

8733-544: The Penmachno Document – and the rising of Llywelyn Bren (1316), the last uprising was led by Owain Glyndŵr , against Henry IV of England . In 1404, Owain was crowned prince of Wales in the presence of emissaries from France, Spain (Castille) and Scotland. Glyndŵr went on to hold parliamentary assemblies at several Welsh towns, including a Welsh parliament ( Welsh : senedd ) at Machynlleth . The rebellion

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8946-607: The Royal Engineers . In May 1894 the Carmarthen, Pembroke and Cardigan Artillery carried out combined night firing from Popton, Hubberstone and South Hook forts respectively, and the following year all three units trained together at Popton. The RA was divided into field and garrison branches in 1899, with all the militia and volunteer units becoming part of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). The RGA's divisional structure

9159-645: The Second World War . The war saw Welsh servicemen and women fight in all major theatres, with some 15,000 of them killed. Bombing raids brought high loss of life as the German Air Force targeted the docks at Swansea , Cardiff and Pembroke . After 1943, 10 per cent of Welsh conscripts aged 18 were sent to work in the coal mines, where there were labour shortages; they became known as Bevin Boys . Pacifist numbers during both World Wars were fairly low, especially in

9372-574: The Shire levy was long established in England and was extended to Wales. King Henry VIII called a 'Great Muster' in 1539, which showed 3865 men available for service in the County of Carmarthenshire, of whom 753 had 'harness' (armour), and 184 had 'nags' (horses). The legal basis of the militia was updated by two acts of 1557 covering musters ( 4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 3) and the maintenance of horses and armour ( 4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 2). The county militia

9585-507: The Trained Bands , who were mustered for regular training. During the Armada crisis of 1588 Carmarthenshire had 300 trained foot in bands under captains, and 404 untrained (of whom 300 served as 'pioneers'), together with 15 light horse and 30 ' petronel 's (the petronel was an early cavalry firearm). In the 16th Century little distinction was made between the militia and the troops levied by

9798-463: The Welsh Marches , in which the Marcher lords were subject to neither English nor Welsh law . The extent of the March varied as the fortunes of the Marcher lords and the Welsh princes ebbed and flowed. Owain Gwynedd 's grandson Llywelyn Fawr (the Great, 1173–1240), received the fealty of other Welsh lords in 1216 at the council at Aberdyfi , becoming in effect the first prince of Wales . His grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd secured

10011-403: The conquest of Wales by King Edward I of England was completed by 1283, though Owain Glyndŵr led the Welsh Revolt against English rule in the early 15th century, and briefly re-established an independent Welsh state with its own national parliament ( Welsh : senedd ). In the 16th century the whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under

10224-412: The north and west , with a total of 538,300 Welsh speakers across the entire country. Wales has four UNESCO world heritage sites , of which three are in the north. The English words "Wales" and "Welsh" derive from the same Old English root (singular Wealh , plural Wēalas ), a descendant of Proto-Germanic * Walhaz , which was itself derived from the name of the Gauls known to

10437-410: The public sector , light and service industries, and tourism play major roles in its economy . Agriculture in Wales is largely livestock-based, making Wales a net exporter of animal produce, contributing towards national agricultural self-sufficiency . Both Welsh and English are official languages . A majority of the population of Wales speaks English. Welsh is the dominant language in parts of

10650-490: The 'Royal Carmarthen', but on 23 April 1804 it along with 11 other Welsh militia regiments was officially granted the 'Royal' prefix, becoming the Royal Carmarthen Fuzileers ( Fusiliers ). In May 1804 the regiment returned to duties in Pembrokeshire, with its HQ at Haverfordwest. At this period it parade with a small train of artillery (probably a pair of 'battalion guns'). In mid-June it marched to Exeter, and then to Bristol, where it provided guards for Stapleton prison. During

10863-507: The 18th century, lawyers, doctors, estate agents and government officials formed a bourgeoisie with sizeable houses. In the late 18th century, slate quarrying began to expand rapidly, most notably in North Wales. The Penrhyn quarry , opened in 1770 by Richard Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn , was employing 15,000 men by the late 19th century, and along with Dinorwic quarry , it dominated the Welsh slate trade. Although slate quarrying has been described as "the most Welsh of Welsh industries", it

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11076-413: The 1st Brigade was composed of Regular RA batteries, the others being a varying number of militia corps. The Royal Carmarthen Artillery joined the Welsh Division , becoming 3rd Brigade, Welsh Division, RA , with six batteries. (All the militia artillery continued to use their old titles unofficially.) On 1 July 1889 the territorial divisions were reorganised into three large divisions of garrison artillery,

11289-450: The Army or send them to fight in Ireland without addressing the issue of back pay. Secondly, the Long Parliament refused to grant the soldiers amnesty from prosecution for any criminal acts they had been ordered to commit in the Civil War. The soldiers demanded indemnity as several soldiers were hanged after the war for crimes such as stealing horses for use by the cavalry regiments. Thirdly, seeing that most Parliamentarians wanted to restore

11502-563: The Army's senior officers did not share many of their soldiers' political opinions, their independence from Parliament led to the Army's willingness to contribute to both Parliament's authority and to overthrow the Crown, and to establish a Commonwealth of England from 1649 to 1660, which included a period of direct military rule. The forces raised in 1642 by both Royalists and Parliamentarians were based on part-time militia known as Trained bands . Founded in 1572, these were organised by county , controlled by Lord-lieutenants appointed by

11715-541: The Britons were at a disadvantage. By AD 500 the land that would become Wales had divided into a number of kingdoms free from Anglo-Saxon rule. The kingdoms of Gwynedd , Powys , Dyfed , Caredigion , Morgannwg , the Ystrad Tywi , and Gwent emerged as independent Welsh successor states . Archaeological evidence, in the Low Countries and what was to become England, shows early Anglo-Saxon migration to Great Britain reversed between 500 and 550, which concurs with Frankish chronicles. John Davies notes this as consistent with

11928-452: The Carmarthen Militia the positions were: The order balloted for on 3 March 1793 at the start of the French Revolutionary War remained in force throughout the war; Carmarthen was 17th. Another ballot for precedence took place in 1803 at the start of the Napoleonic War and remained in force until 1833: Carmarthen was 39th. In 1833 the King drew the lots for individual regiments and the resulting list continued in force with minor amendments until

12141-452: The Carmarthen establishment being set at 385 gunners organised into four batteries. Sir James Williams-Drummond remained joint lt-col-cmdt with Sir Hugh Owen Owen, 2nd Baronet , of the Pembrokes. The infantry adjutant and drill sergeants of the permanent staff were replaced by artillerymen. On 12 August 1861 Lord Dynevor retired from the command to become Honorary Colonel of the combined regiment, and Sir James Williams-Drummond, 3rd Baronet ,

12354-519: The Carmarthens volunteered for service with the RA and a number saw active service in South Africa. The embodiment ended on 6 October 1900. 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 . Some batteries of Militia Artillery were to be converted to field artillery. However, little of Brodrick's scheme

12567-427: The Celtic languages arrived in Britain around 600 BCE. The Brythonic languages ceased to be spoken in England and were replaced by the English language, a Germanic language which arrived in Wales around the end of the eighth century due to the defeat of the Kingdom of Powys . The Bible translations into Welsh and the Protestant Reformation , which encouraged use of the vernacular in religious services, helped

12780-444: The Earl of Essex, Waller's Southern Association and the Eastern Association under the Earl of Manchester. It comprised 6,600 cavalry, divided into eleven units of 600 men, 14,400 foot, comprising twelve regiments of 1,200 men, and 1,000 dragoons . Originally each regiment of cavalry had a company of dragoons attached, but at the urging of Fairfax on 1 March they were formed into a separate unit commanded by Colonel John Okey . Although

12993-418: The Empire. Further Roman influence came through the spread of Christianity, which gained many followers when Christians were allowed to worship freely; state persecution ceased in the 4th century, as a result of Constantine the Great issuing an edict of toleration in 313. Early historians, including the 6th-century cleric Gildas , have noted 383 as a significant point in Welsh history. In that year,

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13206-471: The English Crown, separate from England but under the same monarch. The king ruled directly in two areas: the Statute divided the north and delegated administrative duties to the Justice of Chester and Justiciar of North Wales , and further south in western Wales the King's authority was delegated to the Justiciar of South Wales . The existing royal lordships of Montgomery and Builth Wells remained unchanged. To maintain his dominance, Edward constructed

13419-410: The Grandees in the Army. The much-reduced Rump Parliament passed the necessary legislation to try Charles I. He was found guilty of high treason by the 59 Commissioners and beheaded on 30 January 1649. During 1649, there were three mutinies over pay and political demands. The first involved 300 infantrymen of Colonel John Hewson 's regiment, who declared that they would not serve in Ireland until

13632-537: The King without major democratic reforms or religious freedom. Two representatives, called Agitators, were elected from each regiment. The Agitators, with two officers from each regiment and the Generals, formed a new body called the Army Council . At a meeting ("rendezvous") held near Newmarket, Suffolk on 4 June 1647 this council issued "A Solemne Engagement of the Army, under the Command of his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax" to Parliament on 8 June making their concerns known. Having come into contact with ideas from

13845-572: The Late Bronze Age as part of a maritime trading-networked culture that included other Celtic nations . This "Atlantic-Celtic" view is opposed by others who hold that the Celtic languages derive their origins from the more easterly Hallstatt culture . By the time of the Roman invasion of Britain the area of modern Wales had been divided among the tribes of the Deceangli (north-east), Ordovices (north-west), Demetae (south-west), Silures (south-east), and Cornovii (east). The Roman conquest of Wales began in AD 48 and took 30 years to complete;

14058-426: The Levellers' programme had been realised. They were cashiered without arrears of pay, which was the threat that had been used to quell the mutiny at the Corkbush Field rendezvous. In the Bishopsgate mutiny , soldiers of the regiment of Colonel Edward Whalley stationed in Bishopsgate , in London, made demands similar to those of Hewson's regiment. They were ordered out of London. Less than two weeks later, there

14271-414: The Lords, the Ordinance came into force on 3 April 1645. Since Cromwell was MP for Cambridge , command of the cavalry was initially given to Colonel Bartholomew Vermuyden , a former officer in the Eastern Association who was of Dutch origin and wanted to return home. Fairfax asked that Cromwell be appointed Lieutenant General of the Horse in place of Vermuyden, making him one of two original exceptions to

14484-455: The Militia and other sources were attached to the regiments of horse and foot as required. This was the case at the Battle of Dunbar on 3 September 1650. The Regiments of Foot consisted of ten companies, in which musketeers and pikemen were mixed, at least on the march. Seven companies consisted of one hundred soldiers, plus officers, specialists and so on, and were commanded by captains. The other three companies were nominally commanded by

14697-403: The National Assembly was renamed "Senedd Cymru" or "the Welsh Parliament", commonly known as the Senedd in both English and Welsh. Devolved areas of responsibility include agriculture, economic development, education, health, housing, local government, social services, tourism, transport and the Welsh language. The Welsh Government also promotes Welsh interests abroad. By tradition, Welsh Law

14910-455: The New Model Army were sent to Portugal, to support the Portuguese Restoration War and help Portugal regain its independence after many decades of Spanish rule. The British brigade, which numbered 3,000, arrived in Portugal in August 1662 and proved a decisive factor in winning back Portugal's independence, defeating the Spanish in a major engagement at Ameixial on 8 June 1663, and this forced John of Austria to abandon Évora and retreat across

15123-432: The New Model cavalry could charge, break an enemy force, regroup and charge again at another objective. On the other hand, when required to pursue, they did so relentlessly, not breaking ranks to loot abandoned enemy baggage as Royalist horse often did. The New Model Army contained one regiment of dragoons of twelve companies, each of one hundred men, under Colonel John Okey . Dragoons were mounted infantry, and wore much

15336-599: The Norsemen occupying Northumbria to conquer the north. This alliance later broke down and Anarawd came to an agreement with Alfred , king of Wessex , with whom he fought against the west Welsh. According to Annales Cambriae , in 894, "Anarawd came with the Angles and laid waste to Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi ." The southern and eastern parts of Great Britain lost to English settlement became known in Welsh as Lloegyr (Modern Welsh Lloegr ), which may have referred to

15549-519: The Parliamentarian army in Ireland between 1649 and 1653, in addition to some 9,000 Irish Protestants. The Army generally performed well when storming fortifications, for example at the siege of Drogheda , but paid a heavy price at Clonmel when Cromwell ordered them to attack a well-defended breach. In 1650, while the campaign in Ireland was still continuing, part of the New Model Army was transferred to Scotland to fight Scottish Covenanters at

15762-530: The Regular Army. In October the reduced regiment embarked under Lord Cawdor at Portsmouth as part of a large militia draft aboard the transports Dictator , Diadem Romulus and Stately . By December 1799 the regiment was stationed at Waterford , moving to Dublin in February 1800. In November 1800 it returned to Wales, at Milford Haven with detachments at Haverfordwest and Pembroke Dock . In July 1801 it relieved

15975-645: The Roman general Magnus Maximus , or Macsen Wledig, stripped Britain of troops to launch a successful bid for imperial power, continuing to rule Britain from Gaul as emperor, and transferring power to local leaders. The earliest Welsh genealogies cite Maximus as the founder of several royal dynasties, and as the father of the Welsh Nation. He is given as the ancestor of a Welsh king on the Pillar of Eliseg , erected nearly 500 years after he left Britain, and he figures in lists of

16188-1058: The Romans as Volcae . This term was later used to refer indiscriminately to inhabitants of the Western Roman Empire . Anglo-Saxons came to use the term to refer to the Britons in particular; the plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. Historically in Britain , the words were not restricted to modern Wales or to the Welsh but were used to refer to anything that Anglo-Saxons associated with Britons, including other non-Germanic territories in Britain (e.g. Cornwall ) and places in Anglo-Saxon territory associated with Britons (e.g. Walworth in County Durham and Walton in West Yorkshire). The modern Welsh name for themselves

16401-440: The Romans, Caerwent , is in south east Wales. Both Caerwent and Carmarthen , also in southern Wales, became Roman civitates . Wales had a rich mineral wealth. The Romans used their engineering technology to extract large amounts of gold, copper, and lead, as well as lesser amounts of zinc and silver. No significant industries were located in Wales in this time; this was largely a matter of circumstance as Wales had none of

16614-488: The Royal Arms over a gun, the scroll beneath reading 'MILITIA ARTILLERY', changed to 'WELSH DIVISION' in 1882. An embroidered title reading 'WELSH' was worn on both shoulder straps 1882–89. After 1889 the scroll on the helmet plate read 'CARMARTHEN ARTILLERY'. From 1901 the letter 'M' (for Militia) appeared between the gun and the lower scroll. On khaki service dress (about 1907) the brass shoulder title read 'RGA' over 'CARN' and

16827-639: The Royalist forces. Once Parliament had established full control in 1648 it passed new Militia Acts that replaced lords lieutenant with county commissioners appointed by Parliament or the Council of State . At the same time the term 'Trained Band' began to disappear in most counties. Under the Commonwealth and Protectorate the militia received pay when called out, and operated alongside the New Model Army to control

17040-572: The Royalists at the Battle of Worcester , the last pitched battle of the English Civil Wars. In England, the New Model Army was involved in numerous skirmishes with a range of opponents, but these were little more than policing actions. The largest rebellion of the Protectorate took place when the Sealed Knot instigated an insurrection in 1655. The major foreign entanglement of this period

17253-535: The Second World War, which was seen as a fight against fascism . Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925, seeking greater autonomy or independence from the rest of the UK. The term " England and Wales " became common for describing the area to which English law applied, and in 1955 Cardiff was proclaimed as Wales's capital. Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language Society) was formed in 1962, in response to fears that

17466-688: The Self-denying Ordinance, the other being Sir William Brereton , commander in Cheshire . They were allowed to serve under a series of three-month temporary commissions that were continually extended. Other Parliamentarian forces were consolidated into two regional armies, the Northern Association under Sydnam Poyntz and Western Association under Edward Massey . Parliament authorised an Army of 22,000 soldiers, most of whom came from three existing Parliamentarian armies; that commanded by

17679-612: The UK government responsible for Wales, whose minister, the Secretary of State for Wales (Welsh secretary), sits in the UK cabinet . Wales has a devolved , unicameral legislature known as the Senedd (Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament) which holds devolved powers from the UK Parliament via a reserved powers model. For the purposes of local government , Wales has been divided into 22 council areas since 1996. These "principal areas" are responsible for

17892-606: The Welsh Militia, but they did not show their hands during the Risings of 1715 and 1745 , and bloodshed was avoided. 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

18105-709: The Welsh militia in 1684, when the Cardiganshire Militia consisted of one Troop of horse and a Regiment of Foot commanded by Colonel Sir Rice Williams. The 1697 militia returns showed the Regiment of Foot as 341 strong under Col Rowland Groyn and the Troop of Horse as 40 men under Captain Thomas Cornwallis. Generally the militia declined in the long peace after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Jacobites were numerous amongst

18318-512: The Welsh militia units joining the Western Division and regaining their county titles (without any 'Royal' prefixes, though these were unofficially retained). The Welsh militia artillery often carried out their annual training at the same time, so the batteries around the Haven could cooperate in live-firing exercises against target vessels, and with the searchlights and defensive mines operated by

18531-465: The actual charging powder, for 3 lbs of lead. They were normally deployed six ranks deep, and were supposed to keep up a constant fire by means of the countermarch —either by introduction whereby the rear rank filed to the front to fire a volley, or by retroduction where the front rank fired a volley then filed to the rear. By the time that they reached the front rank again, they should have reloaded and been prepared to fire. At close quarters, there

18744-422: The administration of the Army was more centralised, with improved provision of adequate food, clothing and other supplies. At the same time, recruits were also supposed to be motivated by religious fervour, as demonstrated in the "Soldier's catechism", written by Robert Ram . On 9 June 1645, Sir Samuel Luke , one of the officers discharged, wrote the Army was "the bravest for bodies of men, horse and arms so far as

18957-611: The agreement of king Elisedd ap Gwylog of Powys, as this boundary, extending north from the valley of the River Severn to the Dee estuary, gave him Oswestry . Another theory, after carbon dating placed the dyke's existence 300 years earlier, is that it was built by the post-Roman rulers of Wroxeter . King Offa of Mercia seems to have continued this initiative when he created a larger earthwork, now known as Offa's Dyke ( Clawdd Offa ). Davies wrote of Cyril Fox 's study of Offa's Dyke: "In

19170-1021: The army marched slowly towards London over the next few months. In late October and early November at the Putney Debates , the Army debated two different proposals. The first was the Agreement of the People ; the other was the Heads of Proposals , put forward by Henry Ireton for the Army Council. The army remained under control and intact, so it was able to take the field when the Second English Civil War broke out in July 1648. The New Model Army routed English royalist insurrections in Surrey and Kent , and in Wales , before crushing

19383-518: The ballot was enforced), but no proper regimental clothing was available and the weapons had been returned to store, so training was ineffective. The permanent staff were called out during the Carmarthen Reform Act riots of 1831 and 1832, being badly stoned by rioters in the latter year. When the Rebecca Riots of 1843–44 reached Carmarthenshire Col Rice-Trevor was threatened, but the situation

19596-437: The barracks at Brecon against a threat of attack by discontented workers from Merthyr Tydfil ; they were stood down after four days. The drummers were armed and held in readiness by the magistrates i 1818 when there were fears of a food riot at Carmarthen quay. However, although officers continued to be commissioned into the militia and ballots were still occasionally held, militia regiments were rarely assembled for training and

19809-417: The battlefield, a regiment was normally formed as two "divisions" of three troops, one commanded by the regiment's colonel (or the major, if the colonel was not present), the other by the lieutenant colonel. Their discipline was markedly superior to that of their Royalist counterparts. Cromwell specifically forbade his men to gallop after a fleeing enemy, but demanded they hold the battlefield. This meant that

20022-457: The beginning of 1799 the regiment again volunteered for service in Ireland, apparently in an attempt to restore its reputation. In May it was ordered to Gosport in Hampshire to await transport. While the regiment was there, detachments did duty at Botley and at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight . In June an Act of Parliament reduced the quotas for Supplementary Militia and encouraged them to volunteer for

20235-413: The border. He ruled Wales with no internal battles. His territories were again divided into the traditional kingdoms. John Davies states that Gruffydd was "the only Welsh king ever to rule over the entire territory of Wales... Thus, from about 1057 until his death in 1063, the whole of Wales recognised the kingship of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn . For about seven brief years, Wales was one, under one ruler,

20448-477: The cap badge was that of the RA with 'M' between the gun and the scroll. In 1759 it had been ordered that militia regiments on service were to take precedence from the date of their arrival in camp. In 1760 this was altered to a system of drawing lots where regiments did duty together. During the War of American Independence the counties were given an order of precedence determined by ballot each year, beginning in 1778. For

20661-502: The cavalry regiments were already up to strength, the infantry was severely understrength and in May 1645 was still 4,000 men below the approved level. By creating fewer but larger regiments, the re-organisation greatly reduced the requirement for officers and senior NCOs . Fairfax had more than double the number of officers available for his 200 vacancies and those deemed surplus to requirements were either discharged or persuaded to re-enlist at

20874-629: The civil power in suppressing bread riots. In April it sent a company to Pembroke to guard prisoners of war and in October a further company went to Tenby, and by May 1794 the whole regiment was in Pembrokeshire with a detachment at Haverfordwest. 1795 saw a wave of food riots across Wales, and in February the Haverfordwest company had to send a detachment to Narberth to assist the magistrates, and on 1 March two companies had to go to Aberystwyth . In August

21087-472: The collar and ends of the sleeves, and generally matched the colours of the regimental and company standards. In time, they became the official " Facing colour ". On some occasions, regiments were referred to, for example, as the "blue" regiment or the "white" regiment from these colours, though in formal correspondence they were referred to by the name of their colonel. Each company had its own standard, 6 feet (180 cm) square. The colonel's company's standard

21300-399: The common soldiers as ever I saw in my life". However, he later complained many soldiers were drunk and their officers were often indistinguishable from enlisted men. The extent to which the Army can be seen as a hotbed of religious and political radicalism is disputed, particularly since many of those now viewed as radicals, like Thomas Horton or Thomas Pride , were not considered such at

21513-614: The conduct of certain senior commanders; in July 1644, a Parliamentarian force under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell secured control of Northern England by victory at Marston Moor . However, this was offset first by defeat at Lostwithiel in September, then lack of decisiveness at the Second Battle of Newbury in October. The two commanders involved, Essex and Manchester , were accused by many in Parliament of lacking commitment,

21726-516: The counties for overseas expeditions. However, the counties usually conscripted the unemployed and criminals rather than send the trained bandsmen. Between 1585 and 1602 Carmathenshire supplied 960 men for service in Ireland and 30 for the Netherlands . The men were given three days' 'conduct money' to get to Chester or Bristol , the main ports of embarkation for Ireland. Conduct money was recovered from

21939-692: The country. By 1651 the militias of the South Welsh counties appear to have been combined, with the 'South Wales Militia' being ordered to rendezvous at Gloucester to hold the city during the Worcester campaign . After the Restoration of the Monarchy , the Militia was re-established by The King's Sole Right over the Militia Act 1661 under the control of the king's lords lieutenant, the men to be selected by ballot. This

22152-418: The creation of a Welsh assembly with an 80 per cent majority. In 1997, a second referendum on the same issue secured a very narrow majority (50.3 per cent). The National Assembly for Wales ( Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru ) was set up in 1999 (under the Government of Wales Act 1998 ) with the power to determine how Wales's central government budget is spent and administered, although the UK Parliament reserved

22365-494: The death of Col Rice in 1779, Thomas Johnes of Hafod , MP, was appointed colonel commandant of the Carmarthen Militia on 1 March 1780, with Capt John Ravenscroft promoted to lieutenant-colonel and second-in-command. In June 1780 the regiment crossed the River Severn , marching via Bristol to join the garrison of Plymouth . In October it moved to Falmouth, Cornwall , but was immediately recalled to Hereford where it spent

22578-491: The dominant source of wealth. The emerging industrial period saw the development of copper smelting in the Swansea area. With access to local coal deposits and a harbour that connected it with Cornwall's copper mines in the south and the large copper deposits at Parys Mountain on Anglesey, Swansea developed into the world's major centre for non-ferrous metal smelting in the 19th century. The second metal industry to expand in Wales

22791-559: The earliest use of the phrase "New Model Army" to the works of the Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle in 1845, and the exact term does not appear in 17th- or 18th-century documents. Records from February 1646 refer to the "New Modelled Army"—the idiom of the time being to refer to an army that was "new-modelled" rather than appending the word "army" to "new model". The order of battle was as follows: The New Model Army's elite troops were its Regiments of Horse . They were armed and equipped in

23004-408: The end of November. The war was now ending and on 3 December 1762 the regiment was dispersed, with detachments marching home to the main balloting centres such as Llandeilo and Llanelli to be disembodied. The regiment was kept up to strength by means of the ballot over subsequent years, but it was rarely assembled for training. The American War of Independence broke out in 1775, and by 1778 Britain

23217-454: The end of the 1960s, the policy of bringing businesses into disadvantaged areas of Wales through financial incentives had proven very successful in diversifying the industrial economy. This policy, begun in 1934, was enhanced by the construction of industrial estates and improvements in transport communications, most notably the M4 motorway linking south Wales directly to London. It was believed that

23430-506: The end of the Civil War, although it is not certain that none had iron helmets at the beginning. They wore a bandolier from which were suspended twelve wooden containers, each with a ball and measured charge of powder for their matchlock muskets. These containers are sometimes referred to as the "Twelve Apostles". According to one source, they carried 1 lb of fine powder, for priming, to 2 lbs of lead and 2 lbs of ordinary powder,

23643-649: The end of the militia. The regiments raised before the peace of 1763 took the first 47 places and the Royal Carmarthen Fusiliers became 24th. Most regiments took little notice of the numeral, but the Royal Carmarthen Rifles obeyed an 1855 order to include it in their regimental badge. Wales – in Europe  (green & dark grey) – in the United Kingdom  (green) Wales ( Welsh : Cymru [ˈkəmrɨ] )

23856-730: The establishment of a centralised, professional force. On 30 January 1645, committeemen of the Eastern Association discussed their concerns at the Bury Conference at Bury St Edmunds . On 17 February 1645, the New Model Army Ordinance became law, with Fairfax being appointed Captain General, or commander in chief, and Philip Skippon being appointed Major General of the Foot. The review coincided with increasing dissatisfaction as to

24069-406: The first written evidence of the use of Cymru and y Cymry is found in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan ( Moliant Cadwallon , by Afan Ferddig ) c.  633 . In Armes Prydein , believed to be written around 930–942, the words Cymry and Cymro are used as often as 15 times. However, from the Anglo-Saxon settlement onwards, the people gradually begin to adopt

24282-450: The forests to establish pasture and to cultivate the land, developed new technologies such as ceramics and textile production, and built cromlechs such as Pentre Ifan , Bryn Celli Ddu , and Parc Cwm long cairn between about 5,800 BP and 5,500 BP. Over the following centuries they assimilated immigrants and adopted ideas from Bronze Age and Iron Age Celtic cultures. Some historians, such as John T. Koch , consider Wales in

24495-401: The foundations for stable economic growth had been firmly established in Wales during this period, but this was shown to be optimistic after the recession of the early 1980s saw the collapse of much of the manufacturing base that had been built over the preceding forty years. The Welsh Language Act 1967 repealed a section of the Wales and Berwick Act and thus "Wales" was no longer part of

24708-549: The government, but replacing the weapons issued to the levies from the militia armouries was a heavy cost on the counties. With the passing of the threat of invasion, the trained bands declined in the early 17th Century. Later, King Charles I attempted to reform them into a national force or 'Perfect Militia' answering to the king rather than local control. The Carmarthen Trained Bands of 1638 consisted of 550 men, 220 armed with muskets and 330 ' Corslets ' (body armour, signifying pikemen ). They also mustered 35 horse. Carmarthenshire

24921-717: The highest court of first instance as well as an appellate court . The three divisions are the Court of Appeal , the High Court of Justice , and the Crown Court . Minor cases are heard by magistrates' courts or the County Court . In 2007 the Wales and Cheshire Region (known as the Wales and Cheshire Circuit before 2005) came to an end when Cheshire was attached to the North-Western England Region. From that point, Wales became

25134-469: The inability of many of the recruiting sergeants to speak Welsh . Even after some men were enlisted from outside the county, only 100 men had been raised by the time the regiment was assembled under Lord Dynevor at Carmarthen for training on 24 October 1853. The following year the strength reached 200, who could be accommodated in Carmarthen Barracks rather than being billeted on the town. The regiment

25347-409: The increased diversity of the Welsh economy. Population growth however outpaced economic growth and the standard of living dropped. Prior to the Industrial Revolution in Wales , there were small-scale industries scattered throughout Wales. These ranged from those connected to agriculture, such as milling and the manufacture of woollen textiles , through to mining and quarrying. Agriculture remained

25560-573: The intention of recognizing that the River Wye and its traffic belonged to the kingdom of Gwent." However, Fox's interpretations of both the length and purpose of the Dyke have been questioned by more recent research. In 853, the Vikings raided Anglesey , but in 856, Rhodri Mawr defeated and killed their leader, Gorm. The Celtic Britons of Wales made peace with the Vikings and Anarawd ap Rhodri allied with

25773-549: The king, and constituted the only permanent military force in the country. The muster roll of February 1638 shows wide variations in size, equipment and training; the largest and best trained were based in London with 8,000, later increased to 20,000. When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, many of the largest militia were based in Parliamentarian areas like London, while Royalist counties like Shropshire or Glamorgan had fewer than 500 men. The weakness of this system

25986-519: The kingdom of Mercia originally and which came to refer to England as a whole. The Germanic tribes who now dominated these lands were invariably called Saeson , meaning " Saxons ". The Anglo-Saxons called the Romano-British * Walha , meaning 'Romanised foreigner' or 'stranger'. The Welsh continued to call themselves Brythoniaid (Brythons or Britons) well into the Middle Ages , though

26199-508: The language might soon die out. Nationalist sentiment grew following the flooding of the Tryweryn valley in 1965 to create a reservoir to supply water to the English city of Liverpool . Although 35 of the 36 Welsh MPs voted against the bill (one abstained), Parliament passed the bill and the village of Capel Celyn was submerged, highlighting Wales's powerlessness in her own affairs in the face of

26412-419: The language survive after Welsh elites abandoned it in favour of English in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Successive Welsh Language Acts, in 1942, 1967 and 1993 , improved the legal status of Welsh. The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 modernised the 1993 Welsh Language Act and gave Welsh an official status in Wales for the first time, a major landmark for the language. The Measure also created

26625-527: The large number English people living in Wales. After the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 , the National Assembly was renamed " Senedd Cymru " in Welsh and the "Welsh Parliament" in English, which was seen as a better reflection of the body's expanded legislative powers. The Welsh language ( Welsh : Cymraeg ) is an Indo-European language of the Celtic family ; the most closely related languages are Cornish and Breton . Most linguists believe that

26838-500: The law making powers of the National Assembly it is now able to make laws, known as Acts of the Assembly, on all matters in devolved subject areas, without needing the UK Parliament's agreement. In the 2016 referendum , Wales voted in support of leaving the European Union, although demographic differences became evident. According to Danny Dorling , professor of geography at Oxford University, votes for Leave may have been boosted by

27051-507: The legal definition of England. This essentially defined Wales as a separate entity legally (but within the UK), for the first time since before the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 which defined Wales as a part of the Kingdom of England. The Welsh Language Act 1967 also expanded areas where use of Welsh was permitted, including in some legal situations. In a referendum in 1979 , Wales voted against

27264-400: The legal system of England and Wales since 1536. English law is regarded as a common law system, with no major codification of the law and legal precedents are binding as opposed to persuasive. The court system is headed by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which is the highest court of appeal in the land for criminal and civil cases. The Senior Courts of England and Wales is

27477-416: The lord lieutenant. An adjutant and drill sergeants were to be provided to each regiment from the Regular Army , and arms and accoutrements would be supplied when the county had secured 60 per cent of its quota of recruits. Carmarthenshire was given a quota of 200 men to raise. Some of the Welsh counties were slow to complete their regiments: the problem was less with the other ranks raised by ballot than

27690-480: The male population. Of these, roughly 35,000 were killed, with particularly heavy losses of Welsh forces at Mametz Wood on the Somme and the Battle of Passchendaele . The first quarter of the 20th century also saw a shift in the political landscape of Wales. Since 1865, the Liberal Party had held a parliamentary majority in Wales and, following the general election of 1906 , only one non-Liberal Member of Parliament, Keir Hardie of Merthyr Tydfil , represented

27903-432: The men accustomed to marching with heavy loads by regular route marches. In irregular fighting in Ireland, the New Model temporarily gave up the pike. In battle, the pikemen were supposed to project a solid front of spearheads, to protect the musketeers from cavalry while they reloaded. They also led the infantry advance against enemy foot units, when things came to push of pike . The musketeers wore no armour, at least by

28116-409: 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: The Carmarthenshire Militia was revived in 1852 under the title Royal Carmarthen Rifles , with a new establishment of 547 privates. However, recruitment was difficult in Carmarthenshire because of opposition from the Non-conformist churches and

28329-418: The militia came under the War Office rather than their county lords lieutenant. Around a third of the recruits and many young officers went on to join the regular army. Following the Cardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the Army List from December 1875. This assigned places in an order of battle of the 'Garrison Army' to militia artillery units: the Royal Carmarthen Artillery's war station

28542-495: The militia. However, the Peace of Amiens was short-lived and the Carmarthen militia were re-embodied in March 1803 before marching off to Hampshire to do duty at Winchester . In July it was part of a militia brigade in camp at Stokes Bay , Gosport, where it was joined by a draft of supplementary militiamen from Carmarthen to increase its strength. The duties included boat and hospital guards round Gosport and Haslar , guarding prisoners-of-war, and manning Fort Blockhouse . In August

28755-482: The mud flats or moored on the water. The strength of the Carmarthen batteries, 220 effectives in 1862, slowly increased to complete establishment in 1867, and had reached 497 in 1870. In 1871 the Carmarthen contingent regained its independence as the Royal Carmarthen Artillery , with 509 effectives out of a new establishment of 600 men. The Militia Reserve introduced in 1867 consisted of present and former militiamen who undertook to serve overseas in case of war. From 1871

28968-399: The mutineers were tried by Court-martial . The 'Old Militia's' tour of duty in Ireland had to be cut short and it re-embarked for Liverpool at the end of July, though every man was given a gilt medal on an orange ribbon by the City of Dublin as a mark of appreciation for having volunteered. The regiment marched from Liverpool to Warrington , where the supplementaries came in from Wigan and

29181-480: The name Cymry over Brythoniad . From 800 onwards, a series of dynastic marriages led to Rhodri Mawr 's ( r. 844–77) inheritance of Gwynedd and Powys . His sons founded the three dynasties of Aberffraw for Gwynedd , Dinefwr for Deheubarth and Mathrafal for Powys . Rhodri 's grandson Hywel Dda (r. 900–50) founded Deheubarth out of his maternal and paternal inheritances of Dyfed and Seisyllwg in 930, ousted

29394-419: The necessary materials in suitable combination, and the forested, mountainous countryside was not amenable to industrialisation. Latin became the official language of Wales, though the people continued to speak in Brythonic. While Romanisation was far from complete, the upper classes came to consider themselves Roman, particularly after the ruling of 212 that granted Roman citizenship to all free men throughout

29607-445: The north and central areas, including Snowdon ( Yr Wyddfa ), its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate . Its capital and largest city is Cardiff . A distinct Welsh culture emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales was briefly united under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1055. After over 200 years of war,

29820-445: The numerical superiority of English MPs in Parliament. Separatist groupings, such as the Free Wales Army and Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru were formed, conducting campaigns from 1963. Prior to the investiture of Charles in 1969, these groups were responsible for a number of bomb attacks on infrastructure. At a by-election in 1966, Gwynfor Evans won the parliamentary seat of Carmarthen , Plaid Cymru's first Parliamentary seat. By

30033-458: The occupation lasted over 300 years. The campaigns of conquest were opposed by two native tribes: the Silures and the Ordovices . Caractacus or Caradog , leader of the Ordovices, had initial success in resisting Roman invasions of north Wales but was eventually defeated. Roman rule in Wales was a military occupation, save for the southern coastal region of south Wales , where there is a legacy of Romanisation. The only town in Wales founded by

30246-407: The officers' shoulderbelt plate the numerals 3 and 9 were placed either side and the scroll beneath read 'ROYAL CARMARTHEN FUSILIERS'; on the other ranks' crossbelt plate the 39 appeared beneath the coronet and the scroll was misspelled 'ROYAL CAERMARTHEN FUSIL.'. About 1825 the officers' shako bore an eight-rayed star with the Prince of Wales's feathers, coronet and 'ICH DIEN' motto in the centre above

30459-432: The other commanders of the Army were not trained in siege warfare and generally tried to take fortified towns by storm rather than go through the complex and time-consuming process of building earthworks and trenches around it so that batteries of cannon could be brought close to the walls to pound it into surrender. The Army generally performed well when storming fortifications, for example at the siege of Drogheda , but paid

30672-471: The permanent staffs of sergeants and drummers were progressively reduced. The band of the Royal Carmarthen Fusiliers was maintained at the expense of the officers. The Hon George Rice-Trevor, MP for Carmarthenshire, (later 4th Baron Dynevor ), grandson of Col George Rice, was appointed Lt-Col Commandant of the regiment on 28 January 1831. In view of civil disturbances in Wales, the regiment had just been called out for training to begin in February (the last time

30885-418: The planning of it, there was a degree of consultation with the kings of Powys and Gwent. On the Long Mountain near Trelystan , the dyke veers to the east, leaving the fertile slopes in the hands of the Welsh; near Rhiwabon , it was designed to ensure that Cadell ap Brochwel retained possession of the Fortress of Penygadden." And, for Gwent, Offa had the dyke built "on the eastern crest of the gorge, clearly with

31098-532: The post of Welsh Language Commissioner , replacing the Welsh Language Board. Following the referendum in 2011, the Official Languages Act became the first Welsh law to be created in 600 years, according to the First Minister at the time, Carwyn Jones . This law was passed by Welsh Assembly members (AMs) only and made Welsh an official language of the National Assembly. Starting in the 1960s, many road signs have been replaced by bilingual versions. Various public and private sector bodies have adopted bilingualism to

31311-459: The provision of all local government services. Following devolution in 1997, the Government of Wales Act 1998 created a Welsh devolved assembly, the National Assembly for Wales , with the power to determine how Wales's central government budget is spent and administered. Eight years later, the Government of Wales Act 2006 reformed the National Assembly for Wales and allowed further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act also created

31524-484: The radical movement called the Levellers , the troops of the Army proposed a revolutionary new constitution named the Agreement of the People , which called for almost universal male suffrage, electoral boundary reform, power to rest with a Parliament elected by the people every two years, religious freedom, and an end to imprisonment for debt. Increasingly concerned at the failure to pay their wages and by political manoeuvrings by King Charles I and by some in Parliament,

31737-405: The radicals: they would have to execute him. After the Long Parliament rejected the Army's Remonstrance by 125 to 58, the Grandees decided to reconstitute Parliament so that it would agree with the Army's position. On 6 December 1648, Colonel Thomas Pride instituted Pride's Purge and forcibly removed from the House of Commons all those who were not supporters of the religious independents and

31950-423: The recognition of the title Prince of Wales from Henry III with the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267. Subsequent disputes, including the imprisonment of Llywelyn 's wife Eleanor , culminated in the first invasion by King Edward I of England . As a result of military defeat, the Treaty of Aberconwy exacted Llywelyn 's fealty to England in 1277. Peace was short-lived, and, with the 1282 Edwardian conquest ,

32163-402: The regiment had to support the magistrates at Carmarthen, and there was a serious outbreak at Haverfordwest on 18 August, where a cordon of 50 men of the regiment prevented miners and their wives from looting a food ship. The reading of the Riot Act had no effect, and the rioters only dispersed after the militia loaded their muskets and made ready to fire. The detachment remained on duty until it

32376-415: The regiment marched to Barnstaple in north Devon where it took up winter quarters, with detachments at Bideford and other places. In February 1782, men who had completed their five-year terms of service were released and replaced by men freshly balloted or their paid substitutes. In June the regiment returned to Plymouth for a short period of duty before moving into Dorset . By November it was quartered for

32589-432: The regiment moved across Portsmouth Harbour to the Portsmouth side, where it camped on Southsea Common , with detachments in Fort Cumberland and guarding prisoners-of-war at Portchester Castle . It then moved into winter quarters in Hilsea Barracks , providing sentries for Portsmouth town and the naval dockyard and arsenal, as well as manning Southsea Fort . Since 1799 the regiment had been unofficially calling itself

32802-407: The regiment moved to Monmouth where it was reinforced by a draft of freshly-balloted men. Three months later it was increased by the arrival of a company of volunteers, recruited by means of a bounty paid for by public subscription. This brought the full strength of the regiment up to 360. In February 1780 the main body of the regiment moved to Chepstow , leaving a detachment at Monmouth. Following

33015-416: The regiment's colonel, lieutenant colonel and major, and were stronger (200, 160 and 140 ordinary soldiers respectively). The regiments of foot were provided with red coats . Red was chosen because uniforms were purchased competitively from the lowest bidder, and Venetian red was the least expensive dye. Those used by the various regiments were distinguished by differently coloured linings, which showed at

33228-449: The regiments were assembled for their 28 days' annual peacetime training, but to save money only two-thirds of the men were actually mustered each year. The militia was already being embodied when Revolutionary France declared war on Britain on 1 February 1793. The Carmarthen Militia was assembled at Carmarthen under Col Johnes on 11 January. The strength of the regiment had reverted to its establishment of 200 men in three companies, which

33441-400: 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 . On the outbreak of war the regiment was under orders for Bristol, but these were cancelled and it was sent to Swansea to aid

33654-406: The right to set limits on its powers. The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c 32) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the National Assembly for Wales and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system of government with a separate executive drawn from and accountable to the legislature. Following a successful referendum in 2011 on extending

33867-435: The riots led by Thomas Venner in 1661, which were quelled with the aid of soldiers from Monck's Regiment of Foot and the Regiment of Cuirassiers, the New Model Army was ordered disbanded, with the large arrears of pay financed by a poll tax . Monck's Regiment of Foot, upon the end of the New Model Army, was incorporated into the army of Charles II as the Coldstream Guards . Some of the demobilized soldiers and officers of

34080-399: The rule of the Welsh princes permanently ended. With Llywelyn 's death and his brother prince Dafydd 's execution, the few remaining Welsh lords did homage to Edward I of England . The Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 provided the constitutional basis for a post-conquest government of the Principality of North Wales from 1284 until 1535/36. It defined Wales as "annexed and united" to

34293-440: The ruler. Other than in the Marches , where March law was imposed by the Marcher Lords, Welsh Law remained in force in Wales until the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. Edward I of England annexed the Principality of Wales following the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , and Welsh Law was replaced for criminal cases under the Statute. Marcher Law and Welsh Law (for civil cases) remained in force until Henry VIII of England annexed

34506-495: The same uniform as musketeers although they probably wore stout cloth gaiters to protect the legs while they rode. They were armed with flintlock " snaphaunces ". On the battlefield, their major function was to clear enemy musketeers from in front of their main position. At the Battle of Naseby , they were used to outflank enemy cavalry. In 1650, Okey's dragoons were converted into a regiment of horse. It appears that after that date, unregimented companies of dragoons raised from

34719-464: The shortage of men qualified to be officers, even after the requirements were lowered for Welsh counties. Nevertheless, the Carmarthenshire regiment was the first to be formed in Wales, receiving its arms on 3 July 1759 and assembling at Llandeilo for a short training period. It was embodied for permanent service on 8 December that year under the command of Col George Rice , of Llandeilo fawr , MP and Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire . The regiment

34932-425: The start of the Third English Civil War . The Covenanters, who had been allied to the Parliament in the First English Civil War, had now crowned Charles II as King. Despite being outnumbered, Cromwell led the Army to crushing victories over the Scots at the battles of Dunbar and Inverkeithing . Following the Scottish invasion of England led by Charles II, the New Model Army and local militia forces soundly defeated

35145-423: The story of Cantre'r Gwaelod 's drowning and tales in the Mabinogion , of the waters between Wales and Ireland being narrower and shallower, may be distant folk memories of this time. Neolithic colonists integrated with the indigenous people, gradually changing their lifestyles from a nomadic life of hunting and gathering, to become settled farmers about 6,000 BP – the Neolithic Revolution . They cleared

35358-514: The style known at the time as harquebusiers , rather than as heavily armoured cuirassiers . They wore a back-and-front breastplate over a buff leather coat , which itself gave some protection against sword cuts, and normally a lobster-tailed pot helmet with a movable three-barred visor. Regiments were organised into six troops, of one hundred troopers plus officers, non-commissioned officers and specialists ( drummers , farriers etc.). Each troop had its own standard, 2 feet (61 cm) square. On

35571-499: The summer of 1805, when Napoleon was massing his 'Army of England' at Boulogne for a projected invasion, the Royal Carmarthens, with 508 men in eight companies under Lt-Col William Owen Brigstocke, were still stationed at Bristol as part of a brigade under Maj-Gen Josiah Champagné . In May 1806 the regiment returned to Haverfordwest to relieve the Rutland Militia , leaving one company at Bristol. By January 1807 it had detachments at Tenby, Narberth, Milford Haven, and Aberystwyth, and

35784-434: The supplementaries declared that they were not prepared to cross to Ireland. While the main body of the regiment embarked for Dublin on 30 June with 404 privates (178 of them supplementaries), the rest of the Carmarthen supplementaries were marched to Ormskirk . However, en route to Ormskirk some 200 of the supplementaries mutinied. They were overawed when the garrison was drawn up, with cavalry and artillery, but several of

35997-425: The then Counsel General for Wales , John Griffiths , stated, 'Principality is a misnomer and that Wales should properly be referred to as a country.' In 2011, ISO 3166-2:GB was updated and the term 'principality' was replaced with 'country'. UK Government toponymic guidelines state that, 'though there is a Prince of Wales, this role is deemed to be titular rather than exerting executive authority, and therefore Wales

36210-444: The throne of England from Richard III of England in 1485, uniting England and Wales under one royal house. The last remnants of Celtic-tradition Welsh law were abolished and replaced by English law by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 during the reign of Henry VII's son, Henry VIII . In the legal jurisdiction of England and Wales , Wales became unified with the kingdom of England; the " Principality of Wales " began to refer to

36423-483: The time. It is generally agreed that Fairfax, himself a moderate Presbyterian, sought to achieve a balance, while Essex and Manchester tried to remove those they viewed as unsuitable. What is debated is whether they did so for military reasons, favouring the retention of established officer cadres, or to eliminate personal enemies and those considered too radical. Ultimately they failed and Fairfax successfully achieved his objective. The Oxford English Dictionary dated

36636-551: The town's defenders skilfully beat back numerous Parliamentarian assaults before being forced to surrender. Shortly afterwards, about 2,000 soldiers of the New Model died in abortive assaults against a breach defended by veteran Ulstermen in the siege of Clonmel . These bloody scenes were repeated during the siege of Charlemont Fort later that year. The Army was also constantly at risk of attack by Irish guerrillas called tóraithe ("tories" in English), literally meaning "pursuer". Overall, around 43,000 English soldiers fought in

36849-524: The traditional infantry regiments. Their role was to man coastal defences and fortifications, relieving the Royal Artillery (RA) for active service. One of the regiments converted in 1853 had been the Royal Pembroke Rifles, Now the decision was made to convert the Royal Carmarthen Rifles to artillery and amalgamate it with the Royal Pembroke Artillery. In June 1861 the Royal Carmarthen and Pembroke Artillery Militia came into being. The two contingents retained their HQs and stores at Carmarthen and Haverfordwest,

37062-421: The trained bands beyond securing the county armouries for their own full-time troops. Most of Wales was under Royalist control for much of the war, and was a recruiting ground for the King's armies. In October and November 1642 the Earl of Carbery and his Vaughan relatives seized the Carmarthenshire Trained Bands arms for the Royalists and levied 15 shillings from each trained bandsmen to pay for volunteer foot for

37275-408: The troops carried with them seven days' rations, consisting exclusively of biscuit and cheese. The Army took the field in late April or May, 1645. After an attempt to raise the siege of Taunton was abandoned, the Army began a siege of Oxford , sending a detachment of one regiment of cavalry and four of infantry to reinforce the defenders of Taunton. After the Royalists captured Leicester , Fairfax

37488-452: The united regiment, now 20 officers and 830 other ranks strong, continued its march to Chelmsford in Essex . It spent the winter in East Anglia , with regimental HQ at Chelmsford and detachments widely spread. Colonel Johnes had been succeeded in command by Col Lord Cawdor from the Pembrokeshire Yeomanry , who had defeated the French at the Battle of Fishguard the previous year, with Lt-Col Ravenscroft remaining as second-in-command. At

37701-455: The west and south of England. The last fortress in the west surrendered in early 1646, shortly before Charles surrendered himself to a Scottish army and hostilities ended. Having won the First Civil War , the soldiers became discontented with the Long Parliament , for several reasons. Firstly, they had not been paid regularly – pay was weeks in arrears – and on the end of hostilities, the conservative MPs in Parliament wanted to either disband

37914-444: The whole country, though it remained a "principality" only in a ceremonial sense. The Marcher lordships were abolished, and Wales began electing members of the Westminster parliament. In 1536 Wales had around 278,000 inhabitants, which increased to around 360,000 by 1620. This was primarily due to rural settlement, where animal farming was central to the Welsh economy. Increase in trade and increased economic stability occurred due to

38127-461: The whole of Wales under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 (often referred to as the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543), after which English law applied to the whole of Wales. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 provided that all laws that applied to England would automatically apply to Wales (and the Anglo-Scottish border town of Berwick ) unless the law explicitly stated otherwise; this Act was repealed with regard to Wales in 1967. English law has been

38340-450: The whole regiment was sent back, taking up quarters in Lampeter , Aberystwyth and Milford Haven, with HQ at Kidwelly . In December the regiment concentrated at Carmarthen and Aberystwyth, and was disembodied on 31 January 1816 (21 February for the Aberystwyth detachment). After Waterloo there was another long peace. The permanent staff of the Royal Carmarthen Fusiliers were called out in October 1816 and issued with live ammunition to defend

38553-411: The winter with detachments at Poole , Wimborne , and later at Christchurch in Hampshire . Here it was reinforced by a draft of recruits for the volunteer company. The Treaty of Paris ended hostilities in 1783, and the militia was stood down in February. The regiment marched back to Carmarthen where it was disembodied in March. From 1784 to 1792 the militia ballot was used to keep up the numbers and

38766-408: The winter. In February 1781 it was reinforced to 320 strong by a further draft from Carmarthen and the following month began a march via Tiverton, Devon to east Cornwall where it spent the summer as part of a militia brigade camped on Maker heights overlooking Plymouth Sound . While there the Carmarthens provided men to assist the gunners in the Maker Batteries then under construction. In October

38979-436: Was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain. The militia were embodied, and the Carmarthens were called out on 27 March. They mustered by companies at the main balloting centres, then concentrated at Carmarthen before marching off to Hereford on 17 and 19 June. A company was detached to Swansea on 31 July, then the whole regiment marched to join the Bristol garrison in August 1778. In December 1779

39192-408: Was a key factor in destroying support for the Liberal party in south Wales. The industrial workers of Wales began shifting towards the Labour Party . When in 1908 the Miners' Federation of Great Britain became affiliated to the Labour Party, the four Labour candidates sponsored by miners were all elected as MPs. By 1922, half the Welsh seats at Westminster were held by Labour politicians—the start of

39405-410: Was a larger mutiny involving several regiments over pay and political demands. After the resolution of the pay issue, the Banbury mutineers , consisting of 400 soldiers with Leveller sympathies under the command of Captain William Thompson , continued to negotiate for their political demands. They set out for Salisbury in the hope of rallying support from the regiments billeted there. Cromwell launched

39618-477: Was abolished in 1902, when the unit became the Carmarthen Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia) . On the outbreak of the Second Boer War in November 1899 the brigade's Militia Reservists were called up for active service with the RA. The regiment was embodied for garrison duty in May 1900, when it assembled at Carmarthen before entraining for Fort Popton, leaving No 5 Company to mount two 12-ton RML guns that had been supplied to Carmarthen for drill purposes. Many of

39831-416: Was at Pembroke, including Stack Rock Fort , South Hook Fort , Popton Fort , Fort Hubberstone , West Blockhouse Fort , Thorne Island , Scoveston Fort , Mumbles (Swansea) and St Catherine's Fort (Tenby). The Royal Artillery and Militia Artillery were reorganised on 14 April 1882, when 11 territorial divisions of garrison artillery were formed, each consisting of a number of brigades. In each division

40044-444: Was back in the Bristol Garrison, then in July 1809 it was ordered to the north of England, first at Darlington , then alternating between Sunderland and Tynemouth Barracks in 1810–12. In October 1812 the regiment moved to Manchester , where it again volunteered for service in Ireland. In May 1813 it marched to Liverpool for the crossing, and was then stationed at Mullingar . In December it moved to Granard , then in March 1814 it

40257-474: Was called out for training in April. Meanwhile, an Act of Parliament had been passed to allow English and Welsh militia regiments to serve in Ireland . In Col Johnes's absence (and to his later disapproval), Lt-Col Ravenscroft volunteered the Carmarthens, which were thus one of the first 13 militia regiments to serve there. The regiment marched from Whitehaven to Liverpool to await embarkation. However, on arrival from training at Llandovery and Llandeilo many of

40470-401: Was carried out. 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. Although the Carmarthen RGA (M) accepted transfer to the Special Reserve Royal Field Artillery on 31 May 1908 as the Carmarthen Royal Field Reserve Artillery , it

40683-437: Was compiled during an assembly held at Whitland around 930 by Hywel Dda , king of most of Wales between 942 and his death in 950. The ' law of Hywel Dda ' ( Welsh : Cyfraith Hywel ), as it became known, codified the previously existing folk laws and legal customs that had evolved in Wales over centuries. Welsh Law emphasised the payment of compensation for a crime to the victim, or the victim's kin, rather than punishment by

40896-406: Was considered a major 's command; however, in common with a number of other militia colonels, Johnes was commissioned as a Brevet Colonel in the Army on 18 March 1794. 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

41109-470: Was dealt with by police and regular troops. 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

41322-408: Was disbanded on 21 October 1909. The following officers commanded the unit: The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit: When the regiment was inspected in 1684 its Company colours each had the Cross of St George in the canton canton while the fields were divided gyronny between two colours. The cornet of the troop of horse was black. The Regimental Colour issued in 1759 bore

41535-405: Was diverted to Bristol by sea, arriving by December. The regiment had still not been disembodied when Napoleon escaped from Elba in March 1815 and hostilities were resumed. In May the Royal Carmarthen Fusiliers had to send a recruiting party to Carmarthenshire to try to find men to replace those who had transferred to the regulars or were time-expired. Soon after Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo

41748-442: Was eventually defeated by 1412. Having failed Owain went into hiding and nothing was known of him after 1413. The penal laws against the Welsh of 1401–02 passed by the English parliament made the Welsh second-class citizens. With hopes of independence ended, there were no further wars or rebellions against English colonial rule and the laws remained on the statute books until 1624. Henry Tudor (born in Wales in 1457) seized

41961-514: Was first posted to neighbouring Pembrokeshire , where detachments were stationed at Pembroke Town and Tenby . On 26 May 1761 it moved to north Devon , where from its headquarters (HQ) at Bideford it was employed with other militia regiments in guarding and escorting French prisoners-of-war . On 24 October it marched back from Torrington to Carmarthen , where it stayed until June 1762. On 12 June it marched to Haverfordwest , with detachments across Pembrokeshire until it returned to Carmarthen at

42174-453: Was free of glaciers by about 10,250 BP, the warmer climate allowing the area to become heavily wooded. The post-glacial rise in sea level separated Wales and Ireland, forming the Irish Sea . By 8,000 BP the British Peninsula had become an island. By the beginning of the Neolithic ( c.  6,000 BP ) sea levels in the Bristol Channel were still about 33 feet (10 metres) lower than today. The historian John Davies theorised that

42387-420: Was in Cavan with detachments in nearby towns and villages. It moved on to Longford in September, and then to Newry . Napoleon had abdicated in April and the war ended, so the militia were being stood down. The regiment embarked for Liverpool on 2 October aboard the transports Mary , Conrad and Albion , disembarking on 12 October and beginning the march to Wales. Having reached Milford Haven in November it

42600-436: Was iron smelting, and iron manufacturing became prevalent in both the north and the south of the country. In the north, John Wilkinson 's Ironworks at Bersham was a major centre, while in the south, at Merthyr Tydfil , the ironworks of Dowlais , Cyfarthfa , Plymouth and Penydarren became the most significant hub of iron manufacture in Wales. By the 1820s, south Wales produced 40 per cent of all Britain's pig iron . By

42813-406: Was less burdensome than the average county: in 1796 only one man in 30 was required, whereas most counties had to supply one in 12–18. Part of the Carmarthen Supplementary Militia was embodied at Carmarthen on 20 February 1798: 263 muskets were delivered, additional officers were commissioned, and a number of serving militiamen were promoted to provide the non-commissioned officers. A second 'division'

43026-460: Was manning invasion warning beacons along the coast. In May that year it called in its detachments and was sent to Swansea to embark for crossing the Bristol Channel to Devon, reaching Kingsbridge Barracks on 24 June. In September newly balloted men arrived from Carmarthento replace those who had volunteered for regiments of the line. In October it marched to Plymouth where it spent the winter on prisoner-of-war duties at Mill Prison. By March 1808 it

43239-428: Was not embodied during the Crimean War , but carried out an extended (56 day) training period in 1855 and supplied a number of volunteers to the regular army. The strength had fallen to 170 men by the time of the 1856 training, and 150 by 1858. In 1861 the War Office decided to amalgamate the small Welsh county militia contingents into larger regiments. The 1852 Act had introduced Artillery Militia units in addition to

43452-411: Was now under the Lord Lieutenant , assisted by the Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace (JPs). The entry into force of these Acts in 1558 is seen as the starting date for the organised Militia of England and Wales . Although the militia obligation was universal, it was clearly impractical to train and equip every able-bodied man, so after 1572 the practice was to select a proportion of men for

43665-426: Was often no time for musketeers to reload, and they used their musket butts as clubs. They carried swords , but these were often of inferior quality, and ruined by use for cutting firewood. The establishment of the New Model Army's artillery varied over time, and the artillery was administered separately from the Horse and Foot. At the Army's formation, Thomas Hammond (brother of Colonel Robert Hammond who commanded

43878-413: Was ordered to leave Oxford and march north to confront the King's army. On 14 June, the New Model destroyed King Charles' smaller but veteran army at the Battle of Naseby . Leaving the Scots and locally raised forces to contain the King, Fairfax marched into the West Country , where they destroyed the remaining Royalist field army at Langport on 10 July. Thereafter, they reduced the Royalist fortresses in

44091-436: Was ordered to send 250 men overland to Newcastle upon Tyne for the Second Bishops' War of 1640. However, substitution was rife and many of those sent on this unpopular service would have been untrained replacements. Control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between Charles I and Parliament that led to the English Civil War . When open war broke out between the King and Parliament, neither side made much use of

44304-455: Was plain, the lieutenant colonel's had a cross of Saint George in the upper corner nearest the staff, the major's had a "flame" issuing from the cross, and the captains' standards had increasing numbers of heraldic decorations, such as roundels or crosses to indicate their seniority. The New Model Army always had two musketeers for each pikeman, though depictions of battles show them present in equal numbers. Pikemen, when fully equipped, wore

44517-414: Was popularly seen as the 'Constitutional Force' to counterbalance a 'Standing Army' tainted by association with the New Model Army that had supported Cromwell's military dictatorship. The militia forces in the Welsh counties were small, and were grouped together under the direction of the Lord President of the Council of Wales . As Lord President, the Duke of Beaufort carried out a tour of inspection of

44730-445: Was producing almost 61 million tons of coal. Historian Kenneth Morgan described Wales on the eve of the First World War as a "relatively placid, self-confident and successful nation". The output from the coalfields continued to increase, with the Rhondda Valley recording a peak of 9.6 million tons of coal extracted in 1913. The First World War (1914–1918) saw a total of 272,924 Welshmen under arms, representing 21.5 per cent of

44943-521: Was relieved by the Fishguard and Newport Volunteers next day. Later in the year the two companies at Aberystwyth were deployed to assist Revenue officers in suppressing smuggling. In May 1796 the regiment was ordered to Whitehaven in Cumberland to relieve the Cardigan Militia : the detached companies were concentrated at Welshpool and began the march on 16 May. By the following May it was billeted in inns and lodging houses with regimental HQ at Whitehaven and detachments at Ulverston and elsewhere. In

45156-427: Was the Anglo-Spanish War . In 1654, the English Commonwealth declared war on Spain, and regiments of the New Model Army were sent to conquer the Spanish colony of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. They failed in the conflict and sustained heavy casualties from tropical disease. They took over the lightly defended island of Jamaica . The English troops performed better in the European theatre of the war in Flanders . During

45369-456: Was the reluctance of locally raised troops to serve outside their "home" areas, a problem for both sides during the war. On 19 November 1644, the Parliamentarian Eastern Association announced that they could no longer meet the cost of maintaining their forces, which then comprised about half the field force available to Parliament. In response, the Committee of Both Kingdoms conducted a wide-ranging review of further military needs and recommended

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