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 enti ...
. It was originally called the ''Corps van Pandoeren'', i.e. "Corps of Pandours", and consisted of
Khoisan
Khoisan , or (), according to the contemporary Khoekhoegowab orthography, is a catch-all term for those indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who do not speak one of the Bantu languages, combining the (formerly "Khoikhoi") and the or ( in ...
and
Coloured
Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. Sout ...
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''.

The unit was deployed in several operations and campaigns: the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th
Cape Frontier Wars
The Xhosa Wars (also known as the Cape Frontier Wars or the Kaffir Wars) were a series of nine wars (from 1779 to 1879) between the Xhosa Kingdom and the British Empire as well as Trekboers in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. The ...
, the
siege of Durban (1842), and the
Basuto War.
The CMR were disbanded in 1870.
In 1915 the earlier name, "
Cape Corps", 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
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 ...
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 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 Suffrage, 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 ...
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 the ...
'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
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 ...
in 1858, against the
Koranna in 1869, in apprehending the
Zulu chief
Langalibalele 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
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 bra ...
" in 1872, its new 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, 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 ...
, 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 The Union Defence Force may refer to a former or current military organization:
* Union Defence Force (South Africa), the predecessor of the South African Defence Force from 1912 to 1957
* Union Defence Force (UAE)
The United Arab Emirates Armed ...
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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
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 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.
See also
*
Cape Colonial Forces
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