The siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mahikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of the British prime minister, was in the besieged town, as also was Lady Sarah Wilson, a daughter of the Duke of Marlborough and aunt of Winston Churchill.[1] The siege turned the British commander, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, into a national hero. The Relief of Mafeking (the lifting of the siege), while of little military significance, was a morale boost for the struggling British.[2]
Shortly before the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899, Lord Wolseley, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, who had failed to persuade the British government to send troops to the region, instead sent Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, accompanied by a handful of officers, to the Cape Colony to raise two regiments of mounted rifles from Rhodesia. Their aims were to maintain a mobile cavalry force on the frontier with the Boer republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State.[3]
Like the British government, politicians in South Africa feared that increased military activity might provoke a Boer attack, so the British officers were provided with rifles and ammunition, but no artillery or horses – in those days, generally regarded as quite important for a mobile column. They decided to obtain many of their own stores, organise their own transport and recruit in secret. Although the two regiments were raised in Rhodesia, Baden-Powell chose Mafeking to store supplies for his forces due to its location – both near the border and on the railway between Bulawayo and Kimberley – and because of its status as a local administrative centre. Also, the town had good stocks of food and other necessities. However, Mafeking was isolated, exposed and close to Boer-controlled areas. Baden-Powell, whose orders were to command a highly mobile field force of cavalry, chose to immobilise half his force to hold Mafeking against a Boer attack.[2][1] Many of Baden-Powell's recruits were untrained and he was aware of the Boers' greatly superior numbers, commando tactics and the failure of the earlier Jameson Raid and decided that the best way to tie down Boer troops would be through defence rather than attack. In August 1899, Baden-Powell started recruiting (in secret, to avoid negative political effects) and many of his recruits were untrained, many had never ridden before, so were unsuited for a "mobile column".[1] His forces that remained outside the besieged town were well trained, had their own horses, and they performed remarkably well in their intended mobile role.[2][1]
The forces defending Mafeking totalled about 2,000, including the Protectorate Regiment of about 500 men, about 300 from the Bechuanaland Rifles and the Cape Police and a further 300 men from the town.[1] The British garrison armed 300 African natives with rifles, these were nicknamed the "Black Watch" and used to guard the perimeter.[4] Prior to the siege, Lord Edward Cecil formed the Mafeking Cadet Corps of boys aged 12 to 15 who acted as messengers and orderlies and released men to fight (later claimed to be one of the inspirations for the Boy Scouts).[5]
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Work to build defences around the 6-mile (10 km) perimeter of Mafeking started on 19 September 1899; the town would eventually be equipped with an extensive network of trenches and gun emplacements. President Kruger of the Boer South African Republic declared war on 12 October 1899. Under orders of General Piet Cronje the Mafeking railway and telegraph lines were cut the same day, and the town began to be besieged from 13 October. Mafeking was first shelled on 16 October after the British commanders ignored Cronje's 9 o’clock deadline to surrender.[1]
Although usually considerably outnumbered by Boer troops, the garrison withstood the siege for 217 days, defying the predictions of the politicians on both sides. In reality, the Boers risked little to tie up Baden-Powell's force and stores and for most of the time the number of Boers actively engaged in the siege were few. While at one time the Boer troops numbered over 8,000 and more artillery was briefly brought up, most of these were merely moving through the siege camp. The Boers were able to take control of the railway and roads just outside the town and used the siege camp as a staging post. Baden-Powell remained invested in the town despite repeated orders and, for most of the time until he ate his own horses, having the capacity to break out. But he would still have needed a base from which to operate.[1] With few soldiers, no modern artillery and little risk, the defenders kept as many as 8,000 Boers from deploying to other war fronts in Natal and the Orange Free State.[6] Some authors believe that this has been overattributed to cunning deceptions instituted by Baden-Powell.[2][4][1] Fake landmines were laid around the town in view of the Boers and their spies within the town, and his soldiers were ordered to simulate avoiding barbed wire (non-existent) when moving between trenches; guns and a searchlight (improvised from an acetylene lamp and biscuit tin) were moved around the town to increase their apparent number.[7] A howitzer was built in Mafeking's railway workshops, and even an old cannon (dated 1770, it coincidentally had "B.P. & Co." engraved on the barrel)[4]: 424 was pressed into service. Noticing that the Boers had failed to remove any of the rails, the British commanders had an armoured train from the Mafeking railyard loaded with sharpshooters, armed with the Martini-Henry Mark IV rifle, sent up the rail line in a daring attack right into the heart of the Boer camp, followed by a return to Mafeking. However, the casualties made this Baden-Powell's only attempt at such an attack and, again, it raised questions as to why Baden-Powell did not mount a break-out.[2][1] Often British soldiers had to dress as women just to undertake normal activities such as fetching water and sewing to deceive the enemy.
The morale of the civilian population was given attention, and Sunday ceasefires were negotiated so that sports, competitions and theatrical performances could be held. Notable were the cricket matches held on a Sunday. Initially, the religious sensibilities of General Jacobus Philippus Snyman (in command after Cronje departed) were offended, and he threatened to fire upon the players if they continued. Eventually Snyman relented and even invited the British to a game. Baden-Powell replied that first he had to finish the present match, in which the score was "200 days, not out"![8]
As in the case of the nearby siege of Kimberley, the Boers decided that the town was too heavily defended to take. On 19 November 1899, 4,000 Boers were redeployed elsewhere, although the siege remained and shelling of Mafeking continued. Aware of the approaching British relief columns, the Boers launched a final major attack early in the morning of 12 May that succeeded in breaching the perimeter defences and setting fire to some of the town, but were finally beaten back.[9]
On 12 May, at about 4 a.m., Field Cornet S. Eloff led a force of 240 Boers in a daring assault on Mafeking. Covered by a feint attack on the east side of the town, the attackers slipped between the Hidden Hollow and Limestone forts on the western face of the defences. Guided by a British deserter, they followed a path beside the Molopo River to where it enters the stadt, the village where the native Africans lived. Eloff's party burst into the stadt unopposed and set fire to the huts in order to signal the attack's progress to Snyman. By about 5:30 a.m., the Boers seized the police barracks on the outskirts of Mafeking, killing one and capturing the garrison's second-in-command, Colonel C. O. Hore and 29 others. Eloff picked up the telephone connected with the British garrison headquarters and boasted to Baden-Powell of his success.[4]: 434
The fire had, however, already alerted Mafeking's garrison, which responded rapidly to the crisis. The African police (of the Barolong tribe) had wisely stayed out of the way when Eloff's party roared through the stadt. As soon as the Boers moved on, the 109 armed Barolong cut off Eloff's escape route.[4]: 436 Snyman, "the most stolid and supine of all the Boer generals in the war", failed to support Eloff.[4]: 434 Meanwhile, the elaborate telephone network of the town defences provided timely and accurate information. Major Alick Godley and B Squadron (Protectorate Regiment) were sent to smother the attack and along with D Squadron, some armed railway employees and others. Eloff's men were soon isolated into three groups.[4]: 435–436
With two squadrons, Godley first surrounded a group of Boers holed up in a stone kraal in the stadt. These men surrendered after a sharp fusillade. Godley drove the second group off a kopje and they mostly managed to escape. All day long, Eloff and the third group held out in the police barracks, finally capitulating in the night. The British lost 12 dead and 8 wounded, mostly Africans. Boer losses were 60 dead and wounded, plus a further 108 captured.[4]: 437–438
One curious factor that was unexpected was that the Post Office ran out of stamps, and there was a shortage of bank notes for the people to use in everyday dealings. The Postmaster suggested to Baden-Powell that he commission the local printer to print stamps, for use within the town. Baden-Powell agreed to this, but the printer, not wishing to encroach on the Royal Mail's prerogative, decided to use a picture of the Commanding Officer, Baden-Powell, instead of that of Queen Victoria. This was the first occasion where a non-royal's picture was used on a British postage stamp. Two stamps were issued,[10][11]