"Channel Islands Garrison 1803-1815" Topic
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| Lilian | 08 Jan 2026 1:58 p.m. PST |
Hello in what consisted the British Garrison of these strategic islands after the departure of the strong garrison of 6500 Russians of 1799-1800 more 8000 British and Emigrés soldiers with the end of Peace of Amiens? and what about the Militia,
in several documents there are the detailed strength of each British county Yeomanry Volunteer Militia but nothing about Jersey Guernesey Alderney/Aurigny and Sark/Sercq I assume this comes from their particular status under british crown but not part of UK stricto sensu, however the Isle of Man with another special status appears among others counties of England Scotland Ireland probably given a closer geography…(693 militiamen in 1804, 315 c.1812) found that Guernsey Militia
In 1780, the regiment of field artillery, the service in which corps had previously been confined to the batteries, was formed by Colonel Nicholas Dobrée, and the west regiment of infantry by Colonel Peter De Lisle, when the Guernsey militia became divided into four regiments of infantry and one of artillery, as now;
the parish of St. Peter-Port furnishing the 1st or east regiment, facings white, and the regiment of artillery;
the Vale, St. Sampson's, and the Câtel, the 2d or north regiment, facings green;
St. Martin's, St. Andrew's, and the Forest, the 3d or south regiment, facings blue;
and St. Saviour's, St. Peter-in-the-Wood, and Torteval, the 4th or west regiment, facings black.
Until about the year 1835, the three country regiments were usually called by their facings. Jersey Militia seems to have also 5 regiments
1st North West
2nd North
3rd East
4th with Saint Helier Battalion and Saint Laurent (Saint Lawrence) Battalion
5th South West no mention of them
List of the Volunteer and Yeomanry Corps of the United Kingdom 1804
link
Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons Volume 9 – 1812
link
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| Prince of Essling | 08 Jan 2026 2:17 p.m. PST |
From: THE DEFENCE OF THE CHANNEL ISLANDS, 1814-1870
M. S. Partridge
Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. 64, No. 257 (Spring 1986), pp. 34-42 (9 pages)
jstor.org/stable/44224377
Contribution from Society for Army Historical Research
"The defence of the Channel Islands in 1815 rested on two main elements, manpower and fixed fortifications. The manpower element comprised both regular soldiers and the Islands' militias. While the regular garrison varied as circumstances dictated, in their militia the Channel Islands possessed the only military force in the British Empire in which all able-bodied men were required to serve. Military training began for boys aged fourteen or over, and service was obligatory from the age of sixteen. In fact, the militia was only called out for service (or 'embodied') for some three weeks of the year in time of peace, although in war full-time service was required. In 1815 the Royal Jersey Militia comprised 149 officers and 2,236 N.C.O.s and men (infantry) and 83 officers and 1,415 N.C.O.s and men (artillery). In 1820 the total strength of the Alderney militia stood at 18 officers and 248 N.C.O.s and men."
For some brief info on the Militia see:
The Guernsey Militia : A Short History – Part I link
The Guernsey Militia : A Short History – Part II link From: GARRISON, RESERVE AND VETERAN BATTALIONS AND COMPANIES
A. S. White
Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. 38, No. 156 (DECEMBER, 1960), pp. 156-167 (12 pages)
jstor.org/stable/44225024
Contribution from Society for Army Historical Research "ROYAL GARRISON BATTALIONS, 1802-4, afterwards ROYAL VETERAN BATTALIONS, 1804-1814-15 3rd Formed in Jersey on 25th December, 1802.
Establishment : As for 1st Battalion [Ten companies, varying between between 600 and 650 rank and file].
Colonel : Lieut. -General James Lumsdaine, 25th December, 1802.
General William Maxwell, 14th May, 1807.
Remained in Jersey throughout its service.
Disbanded at Chelsea, 15th July, 1814 5th Formed in Guernsey on 25th December, 1802.
Establishment : As for 1st Battalion.
Colonel : Lieut. -General Charles Horneck, 25th December, 1802.
Lieut.-General Honble. Fras. Needham, 16th April, 1804.
Lieut.-General John Manners Kerr, 25th June, 18 10.
Served in Guernsey throughout its service.
Disbanded at Chelsea, 26th July 1814 BATTALIONS OF RESERVE, 1803-4, afterwards GARRISON BATTALIONS, 1804-5
These sixteen Battalions of Reserve were raised under the Additional Force Acts of July 1803, which ordained that 34,000 men for England, 6,000 for Scotland and 10,000 for Ireland should be raised by ballot. Service was for a period of five years and was confined to the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands. Each battalion was to consist of 500 rank and file, divided into ten companies, and they were placed on the stablishment of the Army on 25th December, 1803. On 30th October, 1804, His Majesty approved that the sixteen Battalions of Reserve should in future be styled Garrison Battalions. They were all disbanded on 24th February, 1805, and the N.C.Os. and men were formed into three new Garrison Battalions on the same terms of service. 1st Formed at Chatham from men raised in Middlesex.
Colonel : John Leveson Gower, 9th July, 1803.
Major-General Hildebrand Oakes, 22nd October, 1803.
Served in Jersey.
N.C.Os. and men incorporated into new 2nd Garrison q.v. 6th Formed in Monmouth from men raised in Wales.
Colonel : James Durham, 9th July, 1803.
Served in Guernsey, January 1804 ; Alderney, October 1804.
N.C.Os. and men incorporated into new 1st Garrison Battalion q.v. GARRISON BATTALIONS, 1805-1814
On 25th February, 1805, three new Garrison Battalions were ordered to be formed out of the N.C.Os. and men of the sixteen battalions ordered to be disbanded, under the same conditions of service. Six more battalions were added to the establishment on 25th December, 1806, all formed out of the remaining limited service men raised under the late Reserve and Additional Forces Acts. 4th afterwards 2nd. Formed 25th December, 1806, in Jersey from limited service men drafted from the 2nd Battalions of the 3rd, 5th, 18th, 44th, 56th, 57th and 67th Regiments.
Establishment : Varying between ten companies of 1,000 and fourteen companies of 1,680 rank and file.
Colonel : Lieut. -General Sir Charles Hastings, Bt., 25th November, 1806.
Lieut.-General Sir William Houstoun, K.C.B., 1st July, 1811.
Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, K.C.B., 5th April, 1815.
Renumbered 2nd in November 1814.
Served in the Channel Islands ; five companies in Bermuda from May 1813 to August 1815 ; nine companies sent to Flanders, arriving at Ostend on 12th June, 1815, the remaining five companies followed in October ; Ireland, January /February 1816 to September 1816.
Disbanded 1816 ; officers and men who were natives of Ireland at Cork on 25th September, the remainder at Chelsea on 24th October." |
| Lilian | 08 Jan 2026 5:40 p.m. PST |
Many thanks very interesting found also 2nd Battalion 44th Regiment in Guernsey 25th October 1804 to August 1809 then Alderney until 20th March 1810 67th Regiment in Guernsey
1st Battalion from 25th November 1803 to mid-november 1804
2nd Battalion in Guernsey 29th February 1804 to 17th November 1807 then Alderney/Aurigny until july 1810 coming back to Guernsey to embark for Gibraltar and England 58th in Jersey at the end of 1803
whole regiment until january 1805, remaining in Saint Helier only the 2nd Battalion for 3 more years
(its regimental flag was found by French soldiers near the camps of Boulogne-Etaples among the wreckage of a shipwreck in 1804 bearing the title "58th Regiment of the Royal Army of Reserve") |
| Prince of Essling | 09 Jan 2026 1:31 p.m. PST |
Thanks Lilian, An interesting topic. & useful information After some more digging: THE CORPS OF INVALIDS
Michael Mann
Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol.66, No. 265 (Spring 1988), pp. 5-19 (15 pages)
jstor.org/stable/44229751
Contribution from Society for Army Historical Research "In 1801 and 1802 more Invalid Companies were formed and by 1802 the number of Companies had risen from thirty-six, mustering 1,620 men in 1793, to sixty-eight with 7,175 men. The distribution of Invalid Companies in Garrisons in 1801 was:
Channel Islands
Jersey 11 Companies
Guernsey 9 Companies
Alderney 5 Companies. etc etc" |
| Lilian | 09 Jan 2026 7:41 p.m. PST |
Thanks seen the "3158" militiamen mentioned above in one of the links about Guernsey Militia total population 16 155 exclusive of sailors in his Majesty's service privateers and merchants vessels
The militia consists, according to the last estimate, of 3,158 men, and 455 lads' from fourteen to sixteen years of age, which is the age at which they begin to be trained ; and the duty performed by the militia is to keep watch at different posts round the island, and to be ready to attend with their arms and accoutrements at any rendezvous assigned to them by the commander-in-chief and their officers, to be disciplined and reviewed, and on any signal of alarm.
(…)
The successes of the French revolutionary armies on the continent, together with the threats of an invasion of England itself, excited apprehension in the minds of the British government for the safety of the Anglo-Norman Islands, and their garrisons were gradually augmented until about the year 1805, when that for Guernsey was definitively fixed at 4,000 infantry, and one company of artillery. For their accommodation, barracks were successively erected at Amherst, near the New Ground, Delancey Heights, Lancresse Common, Le Ree, Richmond, Grand Rocque, and Jerbourg. Martello towers were also built to protect the principal landing places, and remain now as monuments of the ignorance of the art of military engineering at that day, the wide part of the loop-holes being outside instead of in, so as to give every possible facility to the enemy to throw in his shots.
In 1809, the Duke of Brunswick Oels, son of the ill-fated Duke of Brunswick, who was mortally wounded at the battle of Jena, in 1806, arrived in Guernsey with part of his corps of "Sable Yagers", Their uniform was black, in memory of his father's death, to revenge whose misfortunes and ill-treatment was the determined purpose of the son, so that the lace of the cavalry, and that of the officers of the infantry, was disposed like the ribs of a skeleton, and the chakoes of both cavalry and infantry bore on the front a death's head, with the cross bones underneath. These troops were stationed at Delancey barracks, and the duke himself resided here some time"
(…)
A large local trade was created by the supply of the garrison, which usually consisted of about four thousand men, with two general officers and a numerous staff", and of the squadron, composed occasionally of some twenty pendants, under a rear-admiral, who resided in St. Peter-Port, and had his flag flying in the roadstead.
Even Alderney was governed by a general officer, and garrisoned by a whole regiment. The history of Guernsey and its bailiwick; with occasional notices of Jersey
by Tupper, Ferdinand Brock
1854
there is chapter about the Militia but no more datas than already posted |
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