ABSTRACT
One of the great questions in dispute between Charles I and the Long Parliament had been that of the control of the Militia, which he had always claimed as his alone. Charles II likewise claimed that he was the head of all the forces. The Cavalier Parliament was ready to concede that the command of all the forces rested with the Crown, and an Act was passed in 1661 which gave expression to that view. The enacting part of the statute shows that the Cavalier Parliament did not intend to leave Charles’s power over the Militia undefined. The organization of the Militia was determined by two Acts, of 1662 and 1663 respectively. The Militia were not the subject of much controversy after these regulating Acts; for it was generally recognized that they were needed for the defence of the realm, while their officers were country gentlemen, who were loyal to the good old constitution.
