ABSTRACT
In 1639, Philip Skippon was appointed captain-leader of the London Artillery Company, the training establishment for the officer corps of the London Trained Bands (the capital’s citizen militia). This chapter reveals important conclusions about the standard of military practice in England prior to the Civil Wars. Although domestic military training had enjoyed much royal encouragement during Charles I’s Personal Rule, this had produced mixed results throughout the country. However, generous City funding and close proximity to central government meant that the Artillery Company (and consequently the London Trained Bands) achieved a standard whereby they could make a genuine contribution to the battlefields of the Civil Wars. This chapter highlights how members of the Artillery Company demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of Continental military culture and shared many of the values associated with it. Furthermore, it explains how Skippon was specifically sought out by a prominent group within the Company who, although diverse in their beliefs, shared his opposition to Charles’s religious policies. Together, Skippon and his supporters in the Artillery Company played a vital role in bringing the City government and London Trained Bands into the parliamentary camp at the outbreak of the Civil Wars.
