Timeline
1775-1783 - The American Revolution, in 1779 John Paul Jones sailed three vessels up the Firth of Forth to harass Leith and Kirkcaldy, forcing new defences to be built at Inchcolm and North Queensferry
1789 - The Storming of the Bastille
1791 - Thomas Paine publishes "Rights of Man" (Part I in 1791, Part II in 1792) - The Society of United Irishmen is formed, The Societies of United Scotsmen and United Englishmen also exist at this time
1793 - King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are executed by guillotine - Revolutionary France Declares War with Great Britain
1794 - The Fifeshire Fencible regiments of Infantry and Cavalry are formed
1796 - The French Invasion of Ireland at Bantry Bay is foxed by bad weather and unable to land
1797 - In Ireland Martial Law is declared and William Orr is tried and executed. In England there are Navy Mutinies at Spithead and the Nore over the conditions of men in the navy. In Scotland there are riots against the Militia Act. The United Scotsmen's aim to bring a Dutch Invasion force of 50,000 to Central Scotland is scuppered when the Dutch Fleet is beaten by the British Navy at the Battle of Camperdown. The Fife Militia along with several regiments of Volunteers are formed
1798- The Irish Rebellion erupts but is quickly beaten by the Government Troops
1802 - The Treaty of Amiens, peace declared, disbanding of the Militia, Fencibles and Volunteers begins
1803 - Hostilities resume, raising of the New Fife Militia and Volunteer Regiments
1804 - Invasion fears are rife, masses of troops are held in a state of preparedness all along the South and East coasts. Napoleon becomes Emperor of France
1805 - The combined French and Spanish fleets are defeated at Trafalgar
1808 - The British Army lands in Portugal and enters Spain to assist the Spanish uprising against French domination. The French Army attacks and the small British force under Sir John Moore fights a bitter retreat through the harsh winter back to the Portuguese coast
1809 - Sir Arthur Wellesley (the future Lord Wellington) leads a British Army back to Portugal. Another British force is decimated by disease in the Netherlands in the Walcheren Expedition, the penninsular war rages on for the next 5 years
1814 - Napoleon is defeated and abdicates, the Fife Local Militias are disembodied, they would not be called upon again
1815 - Napoleon returns from Elba and the 100 days campaign begins, he is finally defeated at Waterloo. The Fife Militia serve in Ireland
1816 - The Fife Militia return to Cupar and are disembodied, only NCOs and drummers remain on staff
1820 - The Radical Uprising in Scotland, although most troubles occur at Glasgow, weavers in Fife are vocal. The Yeomanry see themselves as the natural force to help put down riots, some politicians don't agree, especially after the Peterloo Massacre in St. Peters Square, Manchester in 1819
1822 - The King visits Scotland, the Fife Yeomanry parade with other troops for him
1825 - The Fife Militia is assembled and trained in a rare peacetime exercise
1828 - The Fife Yeomanry is disbanded for the 1st time
1830 - The Fife Yeomanry is reformed
1838 - The Fife Yeomanry is disbanded for the 2nd time
1854 - The Crimean War, the Fife Militia existing for many years as a handful of old soldiers, starts to re-enlist troops
1855 - The Fife Militia is re-embodied as an Artillery Regiment, although they have no Cannon to practice with
1857 - The Indian Mutiny, the Fife Militia is called out on service
1859 - Fears of a new invasion by a renewed French Empire, Lord Elcho forms the Volunteer Movement and hundreds of thousands of men volunteer for defensive duties. The Fife Mounted Rifles, Rifle, and Artillery Volunteers would all spring from this movement.
1860 - The 1st Royal Scottish Volunteer Review at Edinburgh
1881 - The Childers Reforms brought wide changes to the Army and Volunteer force, from now on each regiment would have 2 Regular battalions (by the merger of Regiments in most cases) a 3rd Militia battalion and several Volunteer battalions formed from the local Rifle Volunteer regiments
1899-1901 - The Boer War
1908 - The Haldane Reforms create the Territorial Force from the Yeomanry and Volunteers, some Militia battalions formed the Special Reserve, others like the Fifeshire disappeared
1914-1918 - The Great War
1920 - The Territorial Force starts re-enlisting and is retitled the Territorial Army
1939-1945 - The Second World War
1950-1953 - The Korean War
1956 - The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry is combined with the Scottish Horse Regiment
1967 - The TAVR (Territorial and Volunteer Reserve)
1979 - The Territorial Army again
1998 - The Strategic Defence Review