The Cape Mounted Riflemen were South African military units. There were two separate successive regiments of that name. To distinguish them, some military historians describe the first as the "imperial" Cape Mounted Riflemen (originally the ''"Cape Regiment"''), and the second as the "colonial" Cape Mounted Riflemen.

Cape Mounted Riflemen (1)

The first, so-called "imperial", unit, was formed by the Dutch administration of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, 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, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

in 1793, to enlarge its garrison because of the threat posed by the war in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. It was originally called the ''Corps van Pandoeren'', i.e. "Corps of Pandours", and consisted of Khoisan and Coloured men under White officers.

Cape Regiment (1795–1827)

The British retained the unit after taking over the colony in 1795, and renamed it the ''Cape Regiment''. When the Dutch resumed the administration in 1803, they changed the name to the ''Corps van Vrye Hottentotten'', i.e. "Corps of Free Hottentots" and again, in 1805, to the ''Hottentot Ligte Infanterie'', i.e. "Hottentot Light Infantry". After British rule was reinstated in 1806, the unit was called the ''Cape Regiment'' again. The regiment had its headquarters at Simonstown and formed a key component of the Cape's frontier defences, repeatedly distinguishing itself in the early frontier wars. In 1817, it was divided into mounted and infantry sections, and was renamed the ''Cape Corps of Cavalry and Infantry'', or "Cape Corps" for short.

Cape Mounted Riflemen (1827–1870)

In 1827, the infantry section was disbanded, leaving only the mixed-race cavalry unit. The resulting exclusively mounted corps was renamed ''Cape Mounted Riflemen''. Cape Mounted Rifleman - T Baines - Cape Colony 1850

Cape Mounted Rifleman - T Baines - Cape Colony 1850

The unit was deployed in several operations and campaigns: the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Cape Frontier Wars, the siege of Durban (1842), and the Basuto War. The CMR were disbanded in 1870. In 1915 the earlier name, "

Cape Corps The Cape Corps and its predecessor units were the main military organisations in which the Coloured members of South Africa's population served. History As one of the military units of South Africa with one of the longest histories, the Cape ...

", was revived for a unit of Coloured soldiers. The name '' Cape Regiment'' was revived for another Coloured unit, in 1986.

Cape Mounted Riflemen (2)

The

government founded the second, so-called "colonial", in 1855, as the para-military Frontier Armed and Mounted Police (FAMP).

Frontier Armed and Mounted Police (1855–78)

The function of this locally recruited multiracial force was to maintain law and order in the districts along the colony's frontier with the

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

kingdoms in the

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...

. A new constitution that prohibited discrimination on the basis of race and instituted the non-racial

Cape Qualified Franchise The Cape Qualified Franchise was the system of non-racial franchise that was adhered to in the Cape Colony, and in the Cape Province in the early years of the Union of South Africa. Qualifications for the right to vote at parliamentary elections ...

partially assuaged some of the

Xhosa people The Xhosa people, or Xhosa-speaking people (; ) are African people who are direct kinsmen of Tswana people, Sotho people and Twa people, yet are narrowly sub grouped by European as Nguni ethnic group whose traditional homeland is primarily t ...

's grievances, leading to a period of relative peace on the frontier. Nevertheless, conflicts did erupt over the following decades, and the FAMP played a central role in policing them. The FAMP was operationally deployed in the

in 1858, against the Koranna in 1869, in apprehending the Zulu chief

Langalibalele Langalibalele ( isiHlubi: meaning 'The scorching sun', also known as Mthethwa, Mdingi (c 1814 – 1889), was king of the amaHlubi, a Bantu tribe in what is the modern-day province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He was born on the eve of the a ...

in 1873, in

Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, wh ...

in 1875, and in the 9th Frontier War (1877–1878). When the Cape attained " Responsible Government" in 1872, its new Prime Minister John Molteno shifted the focus of government policy to internal development, rather than territorial expansion. Nonetheless, his government expanded the FAMP, whose efficiency and military capacity Molteno had a very high opinion of. The new government was also of the opinion that a competent FAMP force would remove the need for any outside British intervention in the region. Consequently, by 1876, the FAMP had grown to have units stationed at Komga, Queenstown, Palmietfontein,

King Williams Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. Qonce, with a population of around ...

, Peddie, Butterworth, Kenhardt, Fort Murray, Ealing Post and Kokstad. An artillery unit was added in 1874. The FAMP were also re-organised for rapid mobility; lightly equipped and possessing considerable local knowledge, they formed a very effective police force for the rough and mountainous frontier terrain.

Cape Mounted Riflemen (1878–1913)

Finally in 1878, the FAMP were fully militarised, as a unit of the Colonial Forces, and renamed ''Cape Mounted Riflemen''. A change in the Cape Government in 1878, and the new Sprigg Government's expansionist policies, led to outbreaks of conflict, both within the Cape Colony, and around its borders. These conflicts were part of a wider surge of warfare across

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

, stemming from the attempt by the London Colonial Office to enforce a system of British-controlled Confederation onto the region. The CMR were involved in several of the more local conflicts, which directly involved the Cape Colony. In 1879, the CMR fought in the Moorosi campaign, where they gained much distinction. They also fought in the Basutoland Gun War (1880–1881), the Matabeleland campaign (1893–1894), the Bechuanaland campaign in 1897, and the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

(1899–1902). During these wars, the CMR came to comprise the dominant portion of the whole of the Cape Forces. As before, during peacetime the CMR served as a police force.

Union Defence Force

1st South African Mounted Riflemen (1913–26)

In 1913, the CMR were incorporated into the new Union Defence Force as the ''1st South African Mounted Riflemen''. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

they fought in the

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

campaign (1914–1915). In 1922, they were deployed in operations to crush the

Rand Revolt The Rand Rebellion ( af, Rand-rebellie; also known as the 1922 strike) was an armed uprising of white miners in the Gauteng#Witwatersrand area, Witwatersrand region of Union of South Africa, South Africa, in March 1922. Jimmy Green (South ...

on the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

. The 1st SAMR were disbanded in 1926, for financial reasons.

Notes

References

* Castle, Ian. (1991) "The Cape Mounted Riflemen" in ''Military Illustrated'' No 38. * Young, P.J. (1955) ''Boot and Saddle''. {{SA Army Units Regiments of South Africa Disbanded military units and formations in Cape Town Military units and formations of the Second Boer War Military units and formations of South Africa in World War I