 Bermuda lies east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, south of Cape Sable Island, Canada, and north of Road Town, British Virgin Islands.What would become the headquarters, primary naval base, and dockyard of the North America and West Indies Squadron was established in the colony in 1795, leading to a rapidly growing British Army Bermuda Garrison tasked with protecting the naval base, and keeping the colony out of the hands of an enemy.With the large number of regular soldiers present, the Government of Bermuda allowed the Militia to subside after the American War of 1812, and no amount of cajoling, begging, or threatening by the British Government could move it to replace the military reserve until the 1890s, when the Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) and Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) (amalgamated in 1965 into what is now the Royal Bermuda Regiment) were raised.