Maggs Bros.

“The reform of the English militia and the new vigour introduced into its affairs after the passage of the Militia Acts of 1757-8 was reflected in the appearance of drillbooks devoted to that service; but the best of these books were of use to the officers of the regular army in the basic training of their men too, since the militia drills (on paper) tended to differ very little from the practice of the regular army. Without doubt the most useful and popular such work in the army was William Windham’s Norfolk Militia, which dealt at length with all five elements of the drill. Addressing itself especially to the procedures by which men could best be trained, it contained over fifty plates illustrating the manual and manoeuvres; and these were the best plates yet to have appeared in any English drill book.” [Houlding Fit for Service p.207.]

This influence of this revised edition was to spread widely, forming the basis for drill books produced in America for the militia of Massachusetts Bay later in 1768, with further Boston editions down to 1774, and in New Hampshire, Connecticut 1771 and 1772 respectively, see Sabin 104749-104755.