50-718: The Cape Colonial Forces (CCF) were the official defence organisation of the Cape Colony in South Africa. Established in 1855, they were taken over by the Union of South Africa in 1910, and disbanded when the Union Defence Forces were formed in 1912. The colonial forces were established after Britain granted the Cape Colony "representative government" in 1853. The colony was encouraged to assume some of
100-454: A desire for political independence. In 1853, the Cape Colony became a British Crown colony with representative government. In 1854, the Cape of Good Hope elected its first parliament , on the basis of the multi-racial Cape Qualified Franchise . Cape residents qualified as voters based on a universal minimum level of property ownership, regardless of race. Executive power remaining completely in
150-1023: A few mobile units, which were placed under British Army command. In December 1901, the CDF was merged with the Colonial Forces, which were renamed the Cape Colonial Forces (CCF). The war ended in British victory in 1902. From 1903, the Cape Colonial Forces consisted of the Defence Department under a commandant-general, the Cape Mounted Riflemen , and the Volunteer Force. The post-war commandants-general were Maj Gen Sir Edward Brabant (1903–1904) and Col Henry Lukin (1904–1912). Most of
200-566: A few months in 1900, a Colonial Division, consisting of the Cape Mounted Riflemen and several volunteer units under Brig Gen Edward Brabant , served with the British forces in the Orange Free State. In January 1901, after a second Boer incursion, the government formed the Colonial Defence Force (CDF), under Brig Gen Brabant. It consisted of dozens of town guards and district mounted troops, for local defence, and
250-663: A number of bitter, genocidal conflicts between the colonists and the Khoe-speaking indigenes , followed by the Xhosa , both of which they perceived as unwanted competitors for prime farmland. VOC traders imported thousands of slaves to the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch East Indies and other parts of Africa. By the end of the eighteenth century the Cape's population swelled to about 26,000 people of European descent and 30,000 slaves. In 1795, France occupied
300-545: A single organisation, under a Defence Department headed by a commandant-general. The first two commandants-general were Col Samuel Jarvis (1878–1880) and Brig Gen Charles Mansfield Clarke (1880–1881). The FAMP were fully militarised and renamed the Cape Mounted Riflemen (CMR), with the Cape Mounted Yeomanry as an auxiliary. Legislation authorised the government to call up the burgher and volunteer forces for service outside their home districts. Collectively,
350-423: A small volunteer force. The Cape Colony Government was also of the opinion that small, highly mobile, mounted commandos , recruited from local people (such as the white farmers , Mfengu and Khoi who lived in the border regions) were best suited to the more irregular warfare in the mountainous frontier. For all but the largest conflicts, such mounted gunmen with their local knowledge were thought preferable to
400-597: A trading post and naval victualing station at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Van Riebeeck's objective was to secure a harbour of refuge for VOC ships during the long voyages between Europe and Asia. Within about three decades, the Cape had become home to a large community of vrijlieden , also known as vrijburgers ('free citizens'), former VOC employees who settled in the colonies overseas after completing their service contracts. Vrijburgers were mostly married citizens who undertook to spend at least twenty years farming
450-875: The Cape Town Irish Volunteer Rifles (1885–1891), the Kimberley Volunteers (1887–1890), the Volunteer Medical Staff Corps (later Cape Medical Corps ) (1889– ), the Uitenhage Volunteer Rifles (1892–1913), and several small units in country towns. The Cape Town coast defences were upgraded, and the Cape Town Volunteer Engineers converted into the Cape Garrison Artillery . In 1893,
500-628: The 1820 Settlers . They also began to introduce the first rudimentary rights for the Cape's Black African population and, in 1834, abolished slavery ; however, the government proved unable to rein in settler violence against the San, which continued largely unabated as it had during the Dutch period. The resentment that the Boers felt against this social change, as well as the imposition of English language and culture , caused them to trek inland en masse. This
550-692: The Basuto Gun War (1880–1881), Colonial Forces units were deployed in Basutoland , which was under Cape administration at that time, to enforce a law which prohibited the Basuto from owning firearms. In the concurrent Transkei Campaign, Colonial Forces were deployed against the Mpondomise in the Transkei. Under government direction, the Colonial Forces grew and became more professional during
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#1732772800691600-687: The British Empire , becoming self-governing in 1872. The colony was coextensive with the later Cape Province , stretching from the Atlantic coast inland and eastward along the southern coast, constituting about half of modern South Africa: the final eastern boundary, after several wars against the Xhosa , stood at the Fish River . In the north, the Orange River , natively known as the ǂNūǃarib (Black River) and subsequently called
650-622: The Cape , now nominally controlled by the Batavian Republic , was occupied again by the British after their victory in the Battle of Blaauwberg . The temporary peace between the UK and Napoleonic France had crumbled into open hostilities, whilst Napoleon had been strengthening his influence on the Batavian Republic (which Napoleon would subsequently abolish and directly administer later
700-451: The Cape Colony attained " Responsible government " under the leadership of its first Prime Minister, John Molteno . The new administration encouraged the revival of the local Cape forces, and especially the Volunteer Force. The administration foresaw unrest across the border in the Transkei and, in the case of a war with the Xhosa , it hoped to minimise British Imperial interference by resolving any conflicts locally. The volunteer revival
750-615: The Cape Mounted Police fight off the 'Ferreira Raid', a small armed incursion from German South-West Africa . In 1907, a defence plan was prepared in case of a full-scale German invasion. When the Cape Colony became a province of the new Union of South Africa in 1910, the CCF were placed under the new defence ministry in Pretoria . They were disbanded when the Union Defence Forces (UDF) were formed in 1912, and in 1913 most of
800-616: The Cape Province , which existed even after 1961, when South Africa had become a republic, albeit, temporarily outside the Commonwealth of Nations (1961–94). The British colony was preceded by an earlier corporate colony that became an original Dutch colony of the same name , which was established in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) . The Cape was under VOC rule from 1652 to 1795 and under rule of
850-643: The Griqualand West units that were taken over when that province was annexed to the colony in 1880 and later amalgamated to form the Kimberley Regiment . The Frontier Armed and Mounted Police , and burgher and volunteer units fought the Xhosa in the Transkei and the Ciskei in the 9th Frontier War (1877–1878). After the war, in 1878, the government organised the military forces into
900-729: The Griqualand West Brigade , and the field and garrison artillery were combined to form the Cape Artillery . In 1897, the Colonial Forces were deployed in the Bechuanaland Campaign in the northern Cape, to apprehend three fugitive Tswana chiefs. From 1899 to 1902, South Africa was ravaged by a war between the British Empire – including the Cape Colony and Natal – and the Boer republics in
950-566: The Orange Free State and Transvaal . Boer forces invaded the Cape in 1899 and besieged Mafeking and Kimberley . The Cape government mobilised the Colonial Forces to guard railways and other lines of communication, while the British Army struggled to relieve the besieged towns. Later, units were assigned to British formations in the field, and one was detailed to escort Boer prisoners of war to Saint Helena and Ceylon . For
1000-699: The Second Boer War in South Africa in December 1899. He served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1899 until 1903, during which he was promoted to general on 5 August 1902. The following year he became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Malta , serving until he retired in 1907. He succeeded to the title of 3rd Baronet Clarke of Dunham Lodge on 25 April 1899. In 1867 he married Gemma Cecilia Adams (who died in 1922) and they had three sons and three daughters. All his sons predeceased him and he
1050-704: The Seven Provinces of the Dutch Republic , the mother country of the Dutch United East India Company . This prompted Great Britain to occupy the Cape Colony in 1795 as a way to better control the seas in order to stop any potential French attempt to reach India . The British sent a fleet of nine warships which anchored at Simon's Town and, following the defeat of the VOC militia at the Battle of Muizenberg , took control of
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#17327728006911100-533: The eastern-western division was largely laid to rest. The system of multi-racial franchise also began a slow and fragile growth in political inclusiveness, and ethnic tensions subsided. In 1877, the state expanded by annexing Griqualand West and Griqualand East – that is, the Mount Currie district ( Kokstad ). The emergence of two Boer mini-republics along the Missionary Road resulted in 1885 in
1150-445: The 1865, 1875, 1891 and 1904 censuses. Groups marked "nd" are Not Distinguished in the censuses for those years. * Includes both free Coloured people and Whites Sir Charles Clarke, 3rd Baronet General Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke, 3rd Baronet , GCB , GCVO (13 December 1839 – 22 April 1932) was a British Army officer who served as governor of Malta from 1903 to 1907. Educated at Eton College , Clarke
1200-538: The 1880s and 1890s. Maj Gen Charles 'Chinese' Gordon was briefly commandant-general in 1882. He was succeeded by Col Zachary Bayly (1882–1892). Compulsory registration of men for the Burgher Force ended in 1884, effectively disbanding the force. Fears of a British war with Russia stimulated the formation of more than a dozen volunteer units, including the Cape Town Highlanders (1885– )and
1250-447: The British colonists and the Boers. Rhodes also brought in the first formal restrictions on the political rights of the Cape of Good Hope's black African citizens. The Cape of Good Hope remained nominally under British rule until the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when it became the province of the Cape of Good Hope, better known as the Cape Province . The districts of the colony in 1850 were: Population figures for
1300-474: The CCF units were incorporated into the UDF. The remainder were disbanded. Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( Dutch : Kaapkolonie ), also known as the Cape of Good Hope , was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope . It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa , then became
1350-754: The CMR, the CMY, the burghers, and the volunteers, were referred to as the "Colonial Forces". In the Northern Border Rebellion (1878), Colonial Forces were deployed against the Koranna in the districts along the Orange River . While British regiments were away in Zululand during the Anglo-Zulu War (1879), volunteer units were called up to man the garrisons in the Transkei and elsewhere. In
1400-665: The Cape of Good Hope . South Africa became a sovereign state in 1931 by the Statute of Westminster . In 1961, it became the Republic of South Africa . Following the 1994 creation of the present-day South African provinces , the Cape Province was partitioned into the Eastern Cape , Northern Cape , and Western Cape , with smaller parts in North West province. An expedition of the VOC led by Jan van Riebeeck established
1450-490: The Cape's Prime Minister in 1890, he instigated a rapid expansion of British influence into the hinterland. In particular, he sought to engineer the conquest of the Transvaal, and although his ill-fated Jameson Raid failed and brought down his government, it led to the Second Boer War and British conquest at the turn of the century. The politics of the colony consequently came to be increasingly dominated by tensions between
1500-408: The Dutch language. Many of the colonists who settled directly on the frontier became increasingly independent and localised in their loyalties. Known as Boers , they migrated beyond the Cape Colony's initial borders and had soon penetrated almost a thousand kilometres inland. Some Boers even adopted a nomadic lifestyle permanently and were denoted as trekboers . The VOC colonial period had
1550-585: The Gariep River, served as the boundary for some time, although some land between the river and the southern boundary of Botswana was later added to it. From 1878, the colony also included the enclave of Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands , both in what is now Namibia . It united with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa in 1910, and was accordingly renamed the Province of
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1600-626: The Napoleonic Batavia Republic from 1803 to 1806. The VOC lost the colony to Great Britain following the 1795 Battle of Muizenberg , but it was ceded to the Batavia Republic following the 1802 Treaty of Amiens . It was re-occupied by the British following the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806, and British possession affirmed with the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 . The Cape of Good Hope then remained in
1650-571: The Netherlands upon the Edict of Fontainebleau . This so-called "Huguenot experiment" was deemed a failure by the colonial authorities a decade later, as many of the Huguenot arrivals had little experience with agriculture and had become a net burden on the colonial government. There was a degree of cultural assimilation due to Dutch cultural hegemony that included the almost universal adoption of
1700-632: The Warren Expedition, sent to annex the republics of Stellaland and Goshen (lands annexed to British Bechuanaland ). Major-General Charles Warren annexed the land south of the Molopo River as the colony of British Bechuanaland and proclaimed a protectorate over the land lying to the North of the river. Vryburg , the capital of Stellaland, became capital of British Bechuanaland, while Mafeking (now Mahikeng ), although situated south of
1750-534: The Whites disappear. The Volunteer Force collapsed in the early 1860s, during an economic recession which made part-time soldiering unaffordable. By 1867, only a handful of units were left, in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth . Although the economy recovered after diamonds were discovered in Griqualand West in 1869, the Volunteer Force remained dormant. A degree of independence from Britain was achieved in 1872, when
1800-450: The authority of the British governor did not relieve tensions in the colony between its eastern and western sections. In 1872, after a long political battle, the Cape of Good Hope achieved responsible government under its first Prime Minister, John Molteno . Henceforth, an elected Prime Minister and his cabinet had total responsibility for the affairs of the country. A period of strong economic growth and social development ensued, and
1850-514: The government of the Cape Colony as well as Boer settlers finally died down when the Xhosa took part in a mass destruction of their own crops and cattle , in the belief that this would cause their ancestors to wake from the dead. The resulting famine crippled Xhosa country and ushered in a long period of stability on the border. Peace and prosperity, in addition to the Convict crisis of 1849, led to
1900-413: The land within the fledgling colony's borders; in exchange they received tax exempt status and were loaned tools and seeds . Reflecting the multi-national nature of the early trading companies, the VOC granted vrijburger status to Dutch, Swiss, Scandinavian and German employees, among others. In 1688 they also sponsored the immigration of nearly two hundred French Huguenot refugees who had fled to
1950-484: The long, slow and cumbersome columns of British Imperial troops . The Cape forces were deployed in six of the nine wars and campaigns that were fought in South Africa between 1877 and 1881. Dozens of volunteer units were formed, but most disbanded once hostilities were over. Those that continued included the Cape Town Volunteer Engineers (later Cape Garrison Artillery ) (1879–1958); and
2000-417: The pre-war volunteer units continued, but none of the wartime units was retained. A few new units were formed, including the Cape Peninsula Rifles (1903–1926), and the Cape Naval Volunteers (1905–2005). King Edward VII recognised the CCF's wartime service by granting its units King's Colours in 1904. Imperial Germany became the new threat to British interests, and the CMR was mobilised in 1906 to help
2050-451: The protectorate border, became the protectorate's administrative centre. The border between the protectorate and the colony ran along the Molopo and Nossob rivers. In 1895, British Bechuanaland became part of the Cape Colony. However, the discovery of diamonds around Kimberley and gold in the Transvaal led to a return to instability, particularly because they fuelled the rise to power of the ambitious imperialist Cecil Rhodes . On becoming
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2100-400: The responsibility for its own defence, and in 1855 three separate military organisations were formed: The FAMP was responsible for maintaining law and order in the districts along the frontier with the Xhosa territories in the Transkei . The Burgher Force was a district-based militia, whose units could be mobilised when necessary to maintain order in their home districts. The Volunteer Force
2150-411: The same year). The British , who set up a colony on 8 January 1806, hoped to keep Napoleon out of the Cape, and to control the Far East trade routes. The Cape Colony at the time of British occupation was three months' sailing distance from London . The White colonial population was small, no more than 25,000 in all, scattered across a territory of 100,000 square miles. Most lived in Cape Town and
2200-401: The small country units were grouped together as the Western Rifles . Command of the Colonial Forces was divided in 1892, between a Colonial Military Secretary (Col Philip Homan-ffoliiott) who controlled the CMR and the headquarters staffs, and a Commandant of Volunteers (Col Richard Southey ), in charge of the part-time forces. In 1896, the volunteer units in Griqualand West were formed into
2250-433: The surrounding farming districts of the Boland , an area favoured with rich soils, a Mediterranean Climate and reliable rainfall. Cape Town had a population of 16,000 people. In 1814 the Dutch government formally ceded sovereignty over the Cape to the British , under the terms of the Convention of London . The British started to settle the eastern border of the Cape Colony, with the arrival in Port Elizabeth of
2300-433: The territory. The United East India Company transferred its territories and claims to the Batavian Republic (the Revolutionary period Dutch state) in 1798, and went bankrupt in 1799. Improving relations between Britain and Napoleonic France , and its vassal state the Batavian Republic , led the British to hand the Cape of Good Hope over to the Batavian Republic in 1803, under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens . In 1806,
2350-403: Was commissioned into the 57th Regiment of Foot in 1856. He rose to become Commandant-General of the Colonial Forces of the Cape of Good Hope between 1880 and 1882. He held a series of administrative roles before becoming Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army in 1893 (renamed "the Madras Command of the Indian Army" in 1895). He was appointed to the command of the Sixth Army Corps in
2400-405: Was also district-based, but consisted of privately formed and self-financed units which placed their services at the government's disposal. About three dozen volunteer units were formed between 1855 and 1861. They included: In 1858, the FAMP was mobilised to restore order in the Transkei, after a wave of cattle-killing and crop-destruction by the Xhosa , following a prophecy that this would make
2450-403: Was known as the Great Trek , and the migrating Boers settled inland, eventually forming the Boer Republics . British Immigration continued in the Cape, even as many of the Boers continued to trek inland, and the ending of the British East India Company 's monopoly on trade led to economic growth. At the same time, the long series of Xhosa Wars fought between the Xhosa people in the east and
2500-426: Was particularly marked in the eastern districts closest to the frontier, where more than two dozen units were formed between 1875 and 1877. They included the First City of Grahamstown Volunteers (1875– ); and the Buffalo Corps of Rifle Volunteers (later the Kaffrarian Rifles ) (1876– ), and Grahamstown Volunteer Horse Artillery (1876–1895). The neighbouring British-ruled province of Griqualand West also raised
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