Sea Fencibles
| Sea Fencibles | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1798–1810 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Navy |
| Role | Coastal defence |
| Size | 30,000 men by 1805 |
| United States Sea Fencibles | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1813–1815 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Role | Coastal defence |
| Size | c. 1,000 men |
The Sea Fencibles were a naval militia established to provide a close-in line of defence and obstruct the operation of enemy shipping, principally during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
The earliest recorded use of the term was in 1793, when Royal Navy captain Sir Home Popham organised groups of fishermen to guard against French vessels off the coast of Nieuwpoort, Belgium. At Popham's suggestion the British Admiralty subsequently authorised the formation of co-ordinated Sea Fencible units along the English and Irish coasts, supported by a network of Martello towers. Popham's Sea Fencible companies consisted of merchant seamen using their own private or commercial vessels, but operating under letters of marque that authorised them to capture enemy ships should opportunity arise. The Navy provided the Fencibles with uniforms and weapons; it also protected them from the depredations of navy press gangs.
The British Admiralty disbanded its Sea Fencible units in 1810. However the United States adopted a similar concept during the War of 1812 and the American Civil War (1860-5), as did its adversary in the Civil War, the Confederacy.
Royal Navy captain Sir Home Popham developed the Sea Fencibles concept while serving as Britain's Agent for Transport in Flanders during the French Revolutionary Wars. In July 1793 Popham went to Ostend to oversee the fleet of Navy transports supplying the British Army. In October a French army of 12,000 men laid siege to the British-held town of Nieuwpoort, which was defended by a garrison of 1,300. French capture of Neiuwpoort would have cleared the path for an assault on the British headquarters at Ostend.
In support of the Nieuwpoort garrison, Popham armed and equipped the town's fishing fleet and led it in action against French vessels along the coast. In correspondence with the Admiralty Popham named his impromptu fleet the "Sea Fencibles," drawing an analogy with the land-based Scottish militia of similar name.
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Wikipedia