The picture above is a copy of a pen and ink sketch of the military camp at the top of Rye Hill in 1779: Commander General Stopes, 13th Regiment

Rye Church can be seen towards the back right, and see how much larger is the harbour, Point Hill Windmill is on the left.

Rye has been involved in the defence of the coast and Channel throughout its history. This has generally been in response to a particular event or crisis and it usually involved naval activities and ferrying soldiers to various theatres of war. The town began to be seriously defended from the C12th onwards, with the building of the tower now known as the Ypres Tower in the mid C13th. It was at this time that the English crown and the dukedom of Normandy began to separate. Before thay had usually been one and the same.

In 1542 Camber Castle began to be built by order of Henry VIII, and in 1541 it had already been arranged to be armed with the necessary artillery and a captain. Later, between 1557 and 1559, Rye bought guns and overhauled the town's ordnance. In 1588 a Watch was appointed in Rye in order to forestal the Armada and again the town was well stocked with munitions. In 1657 Foot soldiers were quartered in Rye. They were men of Colonel Robert Gibbons Regiment.

August 1779 saw the creation of a local armed force in response to the wars with France and Spain, and a member of the Lamb family received a commission and money from the Council to raise company for Rye. The troops were billeted firstly at the Strand and later in a camp at the top of Rye Hill, where the Memorial Care Centre now stands ( see illustration above ). This company was disbanded in 1783.

With the beginning of the Revolutionary Wars with France in October 1794, William Pitt, as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, decided to strengthen the defenses along this coast. This included creating; the Cinque Ports Fencible Cavalry, which lasted until 1814; Rye's First Volunteer Infantry Company 1794 - 1802; and the Troop of Gentlemen and Yeomanry Corps.

The first phase of the wars with France ended with the Peace of Amiens in 1802. The war with France started again in May 1803 and the era of the Napoleonic Wars began. By now Pitt had resigned as Prime Minister but was still the Lord Warden. He raised three Infantry Battalions and Rye was in the third Battalion and became first, second and third of its ten companies. The Third Battalion Cinque Ports Volunteer Corps was re-formed in 1803 and lasted until 1806. A Rye Battery of Artillary was also raised by Pitt in 1804 and probably lasted until 1814. The Third Battalion Cinque Ports Volunteers did not like being disbanded in 1806 and within three months re-formed themselves and lasted until 1808. There were two barracks on Rye Hill and two batteries, one in the Gungarden ( South East Battery ) and one on West Cliff or Green ( South West Battery ). Amongst the Regiments stationed at Rye were the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the East Kent Militia. It was at this time that the Military Canal was constructed, linking Pett Level and Hythe, and also the Martello Towers were built along the coast.