on Britain on 1 February 1793. Middlesex remained the worst 'black spot' for militia recruitment: in November 1793 the Eastern Regiment was 90 men short of the number it should have embodied. David William Murray, 3rd Earl of Mansfield was appointed colonel on 31 July 1798. The French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars saw a new phase for the English militia: they were embodied for a whole generation, and became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in the British Isles), which the Regular Army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits. They served in coast defences, manning garrisons, guarding prisoners of war, and for internal security, while their traditional local defence duties were taken over by the Volunteers and mounted Yeomanry. In a fresh attempt to have as many men as possible under arms for home defence in order to release regulars, the Government created the Supplementary Militia, a compulsory levy of men to be trained in their spare time, and to be incorporated in the Militia in emergency and to keep up the numbers. Middlesex's 's quota was fixed at 5820 men. The suburban subdivisions of Westminster, Holborn and Finsbury provided 4987 of the quota. The number of militia regiments in the county was increased to five. But Middlesex was one of the 'black spots' for militia recruitment: when the first training of the Middlesex Supplementary Militia was held, only 70 came put of 485 summoned. The Earl of Mansfield complained in November 1798 that the Eastern Regiment had only received 120 of the supplementary men instead of over 700 it was due, and half of them were unfit. The war ended with the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802 and all the militia were stood down. However, the Peace of Amiens was shortlived and the regiments, whose training commitment had been increased from 21 to 28 days a year, were called out again in 1803. Thomas Wood was appointed colonel of the Eat Mddlesex on 12 April 1803, and retained the position for 56 years. In 1804 the Middlesex Militia was awarded the prefix 'Royal', when the regiment became the 1st or Royal East Middlesex Militia on 24 April (though in later years it usually left off the '1st'). During 1805 the regiment was at Ipswich, where it took part in a grand review on Rushmere Heath before the Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of York.