The Militia Infantry of the British Army


The county precedence of the Militia of England and Wales in the years 1778 - 1782

flag-GreatBritain-1707-1800

The question of precedence has always been a difficult one in the Militia. In 1759 it was ordered that there was no seniority between regiments when serving together, but their order of precedence was to be according to their date of arrival in camp. In 1760 this was changed to drawing lots for order of precedence whilst doing duty together.

This was changed by giving counties (thus not regiments) an order of precedence determined by ballot and fixed for one year only. This was done in 1778 for the first time and repeated until 1782. The numbering was then valid until 1793.

The names of the counties below are in alphabetic sequence.
Sometimes counties were referenced by different names in different years.
When units were of the size of two companies or smaller, no number was allocated (— in the list).

17781779178017811782
 
Anglesea47
Bedfordshire3721323624
Berkshire3411252920
Brecknockshire
Buckinghamshire104045202
Cambridgeshire3127443425
Cardiganshire
Carmarthenshire517151717
Carnarvonshire
Chester/Cheshire4145163311
Cornwall113743424
Cumberland732202839
Denbighshire204402434
Derbyshire1422193827
Devonshire439392538
Dorsetshire304461442
Durham4430353244
Essex174111119
Flintshire
Glamorganshire3325113930
Gloucestershire2229171845
Hampshire/Southampton14231015
Herefordshire183351525
Hertfordshire321922313
Huntingdonshire272663
Kent1214362723
Lancaster/Lancashire3843301232
Leicestershire151031831
Lincolnshire238342222
Merionethshire
Middlesex62873014
Monmouthshire4523414629
Montgomeryshire26124356
Norfolk28349733
Northamptonshire3618334437
Northumberland2126374146
Nottinghamshire4221395
Oxfordshire81614171
Pembrokeshire
Radnorshire
Rutlandshire
Salop/Shropshire256244041
Somersetshire320292121
Staffordshire4031231910
Suffolk3936423126
Surrey165211635
Sussex2715124512
Warwickshire35318540
Westmoreland242428316
Wiltshire193822379
Worcestershire29358438
Yorkshire, East Riding91338136
Yorkshire, North Riding1339101343
Yorkshire, West Riding41272628
 

Regiments of the Militia for the revolutionary war (1793-1802)

Regiments of the Militia for the Napoleonic wars (1803)

Regiments of the Militia in 1833 and 1855

Regiments of the Militia 1880

From the Militia to the Special Reserve (1881-1908) and beyond

The Special Reserve Battalions in 1914