The Cape Colonial Forces (CCF) were the official defence organisation 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 ...

in South Africa. Established in 1855, they were taken over by the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tr ...

in 1910, and disbanded when the Union Defence Forces were formed in 1912.

1855–1877

The early CCF under representative government

The colonial forces were established after Britain granted the Cape Colony "representative government" in 1853. The colony was encouraged to assume some of the responsibility for its own defence, and in 1855 three separate military organisations were formed: the para-military '' Frontier Armed and Mounted Police'' (FAMP); the Burgher Force; and the Volunteer Force. The FAMP was responsible for maintaining law and order in the districts along the frontier with the Xhosa territories 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 ...

. 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 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 the '' Cape Rifle Corps'' (later the ''Duke of Edinburgh's Own Volunteer Rifles'') (1855– ); the '' Port Elizabeth Rifles'' (later ''Prince Alfred's Guard'') (1856– ); the '' Cape Town Artillery'' (later ''Prince Alfred's Own Cape Field Artillery'') (1857– ); and the ''Port Elizabeth Volunteer Artillery'' (1860–1879). 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 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 Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, So ...

. Although the economy recovered after diamonds were discovered 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 1869, the Volunteer Force remained dormant.

The CCF under responsible government

A degree of independence from Britain was achieved in 1872, when the

attained "

Responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

" under the leadership of its first Prime Minister,

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...

. 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 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 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 the long, slow and cumbersome

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...

of British Imperial troops. P. A. Molteno: ''The life and times of Sir John Charles Molteno, K. C. M. G., First Premier of Cape Colony, Comprising a History of Representative Institutions and Responsible Government at the Cape.'' London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1900

1877–1881

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 the

units that were taken over when that province was annexed to the colony in 1880 and later amalgamated to form the ''

Kimberley Regiment The Kimberley Regiment is an infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve or United States Army National Guard unit. History Volunteer Forces on the Diamo ...

''. The '' Frontier Armed and Mounted Police'', and burgher and volunteer units fought the Xhosa in the

and the

Ciskei Ciskei (, or ) was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people-located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian O ...

in the 9th Frontier War (1877–1878). After the war, in 1878, the government organised the military forces into 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, 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 The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

. While British regiments were away in Zululand during the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, cou ...

(1879), volunteer units were called up to man the garrisons in the Transkei and elsewhere. In the Basutoland Gun War (1880–1881), Colonial Forces units were deployed in

Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho. Though the Basotho (then known as Basuto) and their territory had been under British control starting in 1868 (and ruled by Cape Colony from 1871), t ...

, which was under Cape administration at that time, to enforce a law which prohibited Africans from owning firearms. In the concurrent Transkei Campaign, Colonial Forces were deployed against the Mpondomise in the Transkei.

1882–1899

Under government direction, the Colonial Forces grew and became more professional during 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 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 Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

coast defences were upgraded, and the ''Cape Town Volunteer Engineers'' converted into the ''

Cape Garrison Artillery A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. T ...

''. In 1893, 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 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.

1899–1902

From 1899 to 1902, South Africa was ravaged by a war between the British Empire – including the

and Natal – and the Boer republics in the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

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 Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constit ...

and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. For a few months in 1900, a Colonial Division, consisting of the ''Cape Mounted Riflemen'' and several volunteer units under Brig Gen

Edward Brabant Major-General Sir Edward Yewd Brabant, (31 May 1839 – 13 December 1914) was a British military commander in colonial South Africa. He served in the 9th Xhosa War (1877–1878), First Matabele War (1893–1894), and other campaigns. During th ...

, 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 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.

1903–1913

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

(1903–1904) and Col Henry Lukin (1904–1912). Most of 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 Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

recognised the CCF's wartime service by granting its units King's Colours in 1904.

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

became the new threat to British interests, and the CMR was mobilised in 1906 to help 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

in 1910, the CCF were placed under the new defence ministry in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...

. They were disbanded when the Union Defence Forces (UDF) were formed in 1912, and in 1913 most of the CCF units were incorporated into the UDF. The remainder were disbanded.