The Glamorgan Yeomanry was a Welsh auxiliary cavalry regiment of the British Army originally raised in the late 18th century as a result of concern over the threat of invasion by the French. It was used for aiding the civil powers in South Wales in the early part of the 19th Century until it was disbanded in 1831. Re-raised in the Second Boer War it saw service in both World War I and (as artillery) World War II. The lineage is maintained by C (Glamorgan Yeomanry) Troop, 211 (South Wales) Battery, 104th Regiment Royal Artillery.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars After Britain was drawn into the French Revolutionary Wars, Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger proposed on 14 March 1794 that the counties should form a force of Volunteers that could be called on by the King to defend the nation against invasion or by the Lord Lieutenant to subdue any civil disorder within the county. The government was particularly interested in units of Gentlemen and Yeoman Cavalry (Yeomanry) both for their mobility and their political reliability as landowners and their tenant farmers. By the end of the year 27 counties had raised Yeomanry, but Glamorgan was backward, only one infantry unit being formed by 1796. However, the attempted French landing in South Wales in February 1797 (the Battle of Fishguard) gave renewed impetus to the recruitment of yeomanry.Owen, Gentlemen & Yeomanry, p. 13.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, pp. 19–22.Rogers, p. 145.Talbot. The following units were raised in Glamorgan:Owen, Gentlemen & Yeomanry, pp. 11–13.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, pp. 27–41. Neath Troop of Gentlemen and Yeomanry, raised by Captain John Nathaniel Miers, accepted May 1797 (1 Troop of about 40 men) Swansea Troop of Gentlemen and Yeomanry, first proposed 1792; raised 1 May 1797 by Capt John Llewelyn of Penllergaer but not accepted until May 1798 when commanded by Capt Thomas Morgan (1 Troop of 40–50 men) Cardiff Troop of Gentlemen and Yeomanry, raised 26 June 1798 by Capt William Vaughan (1 Troop of 47 men) Fairwood Troop of Gentlemen and Yeomanry, raised in the Gower Peninsula 27 June 1798 by Capt Sir Gabriel Powell (1 Troop of 30–50 men)
In April 1800 the Swansea Troop was called out in aid of the civil power when corn riots broke out in Neath and Swansea, and its arrival on the scene was sufficient to persuade the rioters to disperse. There was more trouble at Merthyr Tydfil, and here the Cardiff Troop used the flats of their swords and assisted other military units in arresting 50 rioters with no loss of life.Owen, Gentlemen & Yeomanry, pp. 14–5.
On 25 July 1800 the Swansea Troop was combined with three companies of infantry volunteers in the area to form the Swansea Legion, with Capt Morgan being promoted to lieutenant-colonel to command it, handing over the yeomanry troop to Capt Edward Hughes.
The Treaty of Amiens signed on 25 March 1802 appeared to have ended the war, and the yeomanry and volunteers were stood down, though shortly afterwards the government offered new terms to yeomanry units that were prepared to continue. All the volunteer infantry units in Glamorgan disbanded. Amongst the yeomanry, the Neath Troop disbanded in April 1802 but the Swansea Legion Cavalry continued in service, as did the Cardiff and Fairwood Troops.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, pp. 22–3, 42.
When the Peace of Amiens broke down and the war was resumed in 1803, new volunteer infantry were formed and the three yeomanry units continued as the Cardiff Cavalry (Capt John Wood), Fairwood Cavalry (Sir Gabriel Powell) and the Swansea Cavalry (two troops under Capt Edward Hughes) in the reformed Swansea Legion. Lieutenant-Col Morgan died in March 1804 and the Legion broke up into its constituent units.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, pp. 43–54.War Office, 1805 List.
Over the following years the yeomanry carried out paid training or 'permanent duty' most years. In 1804 the Swansea Legion (which now also included artillery) combined with the West Glamorgan Infantry Volunteers and the Glamorgan Riflemen in a realistic anti-invasion exercise at Swansea, exchanging blank fire with a landing force provided by Royal Navy warships in the bay. In 1808 the volunteer infantry were replaced by the Glamorgan Local Militia, leaving the yeomanry troops as the only entirely volunteer force in the county. In the round of annual inspections and training the two Swansea troops and the neighbouring Fairwood cavalry tended to act together. In 1813 the government encouraged smaller yeomanry corps to amalgamate into larger regiments and the Swansea & Fairwood Troops under Major Edward Hughes combined with the Cardiff Troop to form the Glamorgan Yeomanry Cavalry, though the three captains-commandant exercised almost total autonomy.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, pp. 72–86.
19th Century The Volunteers and Local Militia were stood down after the Battle of Waterloo, but the Yeomanry continued. Although they generally allowed to decline, some units were still occasionally used in support of the civil power.Spiers, p. 79.
In mid-October 1816 a series of strikes at the ironworks of the eastern valleys of South Wales led to violence when the master of the Dowlais Ironworks together with special constables and loyal workers was besieged in Dowlais House. After a magistrate was injured the besieged opened fire on the attacking mob, killing one and wounding others. They were relieved by the arrival at Merthyr Tydfil of the permanent staff of the Royal Glamorgan Light Infantry Militia (RGLI), and the mob dispersed. The Cardiff Troop and a detachment of the Swansea & Fairwood Cavalry arrived shortly after, together with a detachment of 120 men of the 55th Foot. However, attempts to re-light the ironworks furnaces led about 8000 strikers to gather outside the Castle Inn at Merthyr to confront the military. When they refused to disperse after the Riot Act had been read, the magistrates ordered the Yeomanry to disperse them. This they accomplished without bloodshed using only the flat of their swords, and around 30 arrests were made. Two days later the Swansea Cavalry moved to the north Monmouthshire valleys where with the Monmouthshire Yeomanry they were able to prevent the workers assembling. Later the Swansea detachment moved to Newport, where their presence kept the peace.Owen, Gentlemen & Yeomanry, pp. 20–1.Owen, Glamorgan Militia, pp. 67–9.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, pp. 86–8.
For this service the Glamorgan Yeomanry received praise from the Home Secretary, Viscount Sidmouth, but he warned that the county's force was too small. The Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan, the Marquess of Bute, sought proposals for the formation of two new troops, one in central Glamorganshire and one at Llantrisant. The Central Glamorgan Troop was soon recruited, under the command of John Nicholl of Merthyr Mawr, and Nicholl went in to raise a second, both troops assembling for their first training on Ogmore Down on 19 October 1820. Captain Richard Fowler Rickards of Llantrisant House raised the troop there before the end of the year. By September 1824 the Glamorgan Yeomanry was organised as follows:Owen, Gentlemen & Yeomanry, pp. 21–32.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, pp. 93–6, 99. Swansea & Fairwood Corps (3 Trps) – Maj Hughes Central Glamorgan & Llantrisant Corps (3 Trps, headquarters at Bridgend) – Maj Rickards Cardiff Troop – Capt Whitlock Nicholl
In December 1824 the western troops of the Central Glamorgan & Llantrisant Corps provided detachments to prevent looting of a shipwreck on Sker Beach. In May 1825 a detachment of the same corps was called out in aid of the civil power in Bridgend, but their presence was enough to deter trouble. From October 1824 a dispute arose between Capt Nicholls of the 1st Central Trp and Maj Rickards over the latter's drawing pay for his son as a cornet in the corps despite him being in India and never present for training. This dispute escalated and in 1827 Rickards offered to resign but was supported by the Marquess of Bute; Nicholls resigned instead and was later succeeded by . In February 1828 the Llantrisant Trp separated from the Central Glamorgan Trps and instead amalgamated with the and Cardiff Trp as the Eastern Corps, Glamorgan Yeomanry, under the command of Maj Rickards, who attempted unsuccessfully to raise a third troop. The three 'divisions' of the regiment, Eastern, Western and Central, trained separately.Owen, Gentlemen & Yeomanry, pp. 32–41.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, pp. 99–104.
A serious outbreak of rioting (the Merthyr Rising) arose in June 1831. Starting in Aberdare on 1 June it spread to Merthyr next day, bringing all iron production to a standstill. The magistrates appealed for military assistance and on the morning of 3 June a detachment of the 93rd Highlanders arrived from Brecon at the Cyfarthfa Ironworks. A confrontation had followed outside the Castle Inn, where rioters tried to disarm the Highlanders, who opened fire, killing and wounding many in the crowd, while suffering several wounded themselves. Reinforced by the permanent staff and a few recruits of the RGLI rushed up in coaches from their training, the Highlanders withdrew to Pen y Darren House and formed a perimeter. The three divisions of the Glamorgan Yeomanry had been called out and ordered to proceed to Merthyr with all speed. On 4 June Capt Moggeridge of the Eastern Division with 40 troopers attempted to escort in the Hghlanders' ammunition waggons from Brecon but was confronted by rioters in the steep valley at Cefn-coed-y-cymmer. Having just reached Pen y Darren with the Central Division, Lt-Col Thomas Morgan ordered Maj Rickards with 100 troopers to rescue the convoy. Unable to deploy his men in the valley and under a barrage of stones and a few musket shots, Rickards was forced to withdraw, but Moggeridge had got the waggons through to Merthyr by a different route at the expense of one man wounded and one disarmed. A more serious setback occurred on the road from Hirwaun to Merthyr, where Maj Penrice with a half-troop of 36 men acting as the advance guard of the Western Division was ambushed by armed rioters. His men were disarmed and allowed to withdraw, warning the main bod of the Westen Division, which reached Merthyr by a longer route on 6 June. The mob had approached Pen y Darren but found it too well defended. Sunday 5 June passed quietly, but the rioters approached again on 6 June. Lieutenant-Col Morgan moved out and deployed to meet them at Dowlais Pond. The rioters having ignored the reading of the Riot Act and appeals to disperse, Lt-Col Richard Morgan of the RGLI, giving the words of command slowly and clearly, ordered the Highlanders and Militia to load, and the Yeomanry to draw sabres. At this the rioters gave way and were dispersed by the Yeomanry without further casualties. Regular cavalry arrived on 7 June as the ringleaders were hunted, and the Glamorgan Yeomanry returned home, the Swansea & Fairwood Troops being urgently required to deal with trouble among coal miners in the Clydach and Cwm Tawe valleys. The yeomanry were dismissed to their homes on 10 June.Owen, Gentlemen & Yeomanry, pp. 41–7.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, pp. 71–2.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, pp. 104–7.
The growing civil unrest of 1830–31 persuaded the government to support a revival of the militia. The Marquess of Bute proposed to disband the existing Glamorgan Yeomanry and re-raise it as three troops (Western, Central and Eastern). This clumsy arrangement alienated the officers, and having disbanded their troops on or about 5 September as ordered, Bute could find none who were prepared to raise the replacement troops. His proposal was dropped in 1832, and Glamorgan had no further yeomanry presence for a generation.Owen, Gentlemen & Yeomanry, pp. 47–9.Owen, Militia & Volunteers, p. 108.
Light Horse Volunteers