Fencibles and Their Role in Britain

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This post is a combination of some great info that used to be available on the Napoleonic Wars Forum (now no longer online), and is a topic that I've tried to research for many years. Thankfully, I had saved some of this and am going to repost a combination of useful facts from an old thread there by this title. Saved text is shown in italics below. Please add to this discussion!

 

Fencible Regiments were raised as an emergency measure after the outbreak of war with France in 1793. Unlike militia and volunteer corps, Fencible regiments were intended to function as regular army regiments; trained, equipped and disciplined as regulars, but only to serve within the borders of the kingdom and for the duration of the war. Their primary role was national defense and to deter social unrest, thereby freeing the regular regiments of the line for service abroad.

 

However, since Fencibles were raised and recruited on a county basis by local worthies and officered by their friends and neighbours, there could at times be something of the patriotic gentleman's club about these regiments. Some Fencibles nonetheless became efficient units and saw action in the Irish rebellion of 1798, having volunteered to serve 'abroad'.

 

As far as martial skills were concerned, all that might have been required of a commanding officer in the Fencible Cavalry was that he could sit a horse well. All gentlemen could ride and most would have had some fencing lessons. Recruited from local volunteers, most Fencibles, officers and men alike were expected to learn their soldiering on the job, aided by former soldiers returning to the colours.

 

Often, the commanding Major could have come from a prominent local family or been a distinguished politician at the national level, and his appointment as Major might be seen as simply as an honorary post, intended to add to the kudos of the Fencibles and perhaps to help recruiting.

However, on paper the Major, (there was only one per regiment in those days) had an important role to play in the training and discipline of the regiment. He was effectively what today is called the Executive Officer in US terms. A more experienced junior officer was presumably assigned to carry out the Major's daily duties in the case of an honorary posting.

 

. . . Referring to the Cornwall Fencible cavalry's time in camp -- when the Regiment was raised, the purpose was to supply within three months a light cavalry unit "fit for active and immediate duty", drilled and trained as regular troops under standard military discipline. In theory, once men had enlisted their movements would have been strictly controlled with harsh penalties for absence without leave or desertion. There were sorry incidents of Fencibles who questioned their terms of service and, having got caught up in violent protest, were then court-martialled for mutiny and shot. Certainly, when the Regiment marched to whatever part of the kingdom it was sent, officers and men were on active service. This was wartime. Of course, for officers matters were rather freer but nonetheless, leave of absence from their duties with the Regiment had to be requested from the Commanding Officer. The reality was that an officer had considerable freedom of movement.

As for uniforms, the Fencible Cavalry were kitted out as Light Dragoons (as light cavalry of the day was known) but wore red coats to differentiate them from the regulars who wore blue. Their uniform consisted of a short red jacket and waistcoat, with white buckskin breeches and light boots, all topped off by a smart, leather 'helmet-cap' with a bearskin crest (this is sometimes referred to as a 'Tarleton' cap). It appears that some Fencible Cavalry kitted themselves out in blue, perhaps to prove they were as good as the Regulars, and had to be ordered to comply with regulations. Fencible Cavalry that agreed to serve in Ireland during the 1798 rebellion were granted the privilege of wearing blue uniforms in recognition of their service.

 

 

 

The terms of service of Fencible regiments only differed from Regular military units in that their men had enlisted for the duration of the war with France rather than for life, could not be sent to serve outside Great Britain and could not be drafted to other regiments without their agreement. They were uniformed and equipped similarly to the line regiments and paid at the same rates and like the line soldier the Fencible received an enlistment bounty, which for Fencibles was three guineas (a guinea was worth 21 shillings or just over one pound sterling).

 

Fencible officers received the King's Commission but this was not open to purchase or sale like a Regular officer's commission. And unlike Regular officers, when Fencibles resigned their commissions, with rare exceptions they were not eligible to take the pension known as 'half-pay.'

 

There was also quite a large organisation called the Sea Fencibles. They were set up under the Navy's auspices as a waterborne defence force for the Martello towers, estuaries and landing places in anticipation of the Napoleonic invasion. Unfortunately the Admiralty created all sorts of problems for itself with its recruitment criteria for this organisation because there were some conflicts with the success of their own Royal Navy press gang recruitment programme and many maritime folks who signed up for it apparently often did so because it presented a softer option than RN impressment.