The Sussex Yeomanry is a yeomanry regiment of the British Army dating from 1794. It was initially formed when there was a threat of French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. After being reformed in the Second Boer War, it served in the First World War and the Second World War, when it served in the East African Campaign and the Siege of Tobruk. The lineage is maintained by 1 (Sussex Yeomanry) Field Troop, 579 Field Squadron (EOD), part of 101 (London) Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) (Volunteers).
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 Volunteer Yeoman Cavalry (Yeomanry) that could be called on by the King to defend the country against invasion or by the Lord Lieutenant to subdue any civil disorder within the county. By the end of the year, 27 counties had raised Yeomanry, including Sussex. A unit of four troops under the designation of Sussex Troops of Gentlemen and Yeomen Cavalry was formed on 23 June 1794, with its headquarters (HQ) at Petworth House, the estate of George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, who took command of the force as Colonel, as well as commanding the Petworth Troop: Petworth Cavalry Henfield Cavalry West Hoathly Cavalry Forest Row Cavalry, with a detachment at Ashdown
Other Troops were soon added: Hastings Cavalry, raised 26 July 1794 as an independent troop, regimented by 1802 Rye Cavalry, raised 31 July 1794 as an independent troop, regimented by 1802 Midhurst Cavalry, raised 24 November 1794, with a detachment at Cowdray Lewes Cavalry, raised 3 June 1795, with a detachment at Coombes Parham Cavalry, raised 8 October 1795 by Sir Cecil Bisshopp, 8th Baronet. It usually exercised at his estate at Parham Park, drilling in the gallery of the house when the weather was wet. The troop reached a strength of 80 officers and men. Rape of Chichester Cavalry, raised 17 June 1797, with a detachment at Watergate Eastbourne Cavalry, raised 20 June 1798, with a detachment at Willingdon Ashburnham Cavalry, raised 27 June 1798 Brightling Cavalry, raised 27 June 1798 with a detachment at Rose Hill
In 1794, the Churchwardens of the Lewes Visitation pledged to raised the 'Sussex Churchwardens' Corps' with blue uniforms, but in the event the troop was never formed.
A Yeomanry artillery troop, the Duke of Richmond's Light Horse Artillery was raised by Field Marshal Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond on 15 June 1797 at his estate at Goodwood House. The Duke was a proponent of Horse artillery, and the troop was equipped with his own design of Curricle gun carriage, pulled by four horses (two of which were ridden), with three gunners sitting on the carriage. The troop consisted of two sections and was armed with two 3-pounder guns and two 4.5-inch Coehorn mortars.
The Treaty of Amiens in 1802 saw most of the Yeomanry disbanded, leaving six troops in Sussex (Petworth, West Hoathly, Midhurst, Lewes, Parham and Chichester). The peace was short-lived and Britain declared war on France again in May 1803, beginning the Napoleonic Wars. The Sussex Yeomanry Cavalry was quickly reformed, including the following additional troops: Firle Cavalry, raised 28 July 1803 Ringmer Cavalry, raised 2 September 1803 Rye Cavalry, reformed 1 October 1803 Goodwood Artillery Troop, reformed 15 October 1803 Ashburnham Cavalry, reformed 17 November 1803
By 1806, there was also a cavalry troop forming part of the North Pevensey Legion, but this was raised under the Volunteer Act of 1804 and did not form part of the Yeomanry. The Sussex Cavalry (three troops) and Sussex Guides were raised in 1803, but these were probably also Volunteers. For a while, the Yeomanry and infantry volunteers were combined to form the Sussex Legion, but the Volunteers were disbanded at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and the Yeomanry reverted to their previous title.
19th Century
The Yeomanry declined in importance and strength after the end of the French wars, and by 1817 only three of the original troops (Petworth, Lewes and Midhurst) survived, joined by a new West Coast Troop raised at Yapton on 30 July 1816. However, a new Goodwood Troop of Yeomanry Artillery was raised on 19 October 1817 by Charles Gordon-Lennox, Earl of March and Darnley (later 5th Duke of Richmond). The unit consisted of four detachments, each of one gun with two pairs of horses, two sergeants and eight gunners. At an inspection in Goodwood Park in 1824, the troop marched past with four 3-pounders (possibly the same guns laid up by the earlier troop) and an ammunition wagon. The troop was disbanded in December 1827.