The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking (now Mafikeng) in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell into a national hero. The lifting of the Siege of Mafeking was a decisive victory for the British and a crushing defeat for the Boers. Combatants British Empire Orange Free State, South African Republic Commanders Frederick Roberts later Lord Kitchener Christiaan Rudolf de Wet and Paul Kruger Casualties Military dead:22,000 Civilian dead:N/A Total dead:22,000 Military dead:6,500 Civilian dead:24,000 Total dead:30,500 The Second Boer... October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years). ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... Mafikeng is the capital of the North West Province, South Africa, 870 miles NE of Cape Town and 492 miles SSW of Bulawayo by rail, and 162 miles in a direct line W by N of Johannesburg. ... Boer is the Afrikaans (and Dutch) word for farmer which came to denote the descendants of the Afrikaans-speaking migrating farmers of the expanding eastern Cape frontier. ... Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB (February 22, 1857 - January 8, 1941) was a soldier, writer and founder of the world scouting movement. ... General Piet Arnoldus Cronje (1840?-4 February 1911) was a leader of the Zuid Afrika Republics military forces during the Anglo-Boer wars. ... Combatants British Empire Orange Free State, South African Republic Commanders Frederick Roberts later Lord Kitchener Christiaan Rudolf de Wet and Paul Kruger Casualties Military dead:22,000 Civilian dead:N/A Total dead:22,000 Military dead:6,500 Civilian dead:24,000 Total dead:30,500 The Second Boer... Combatants Great Britain Boers Commanders Major General Penn Symons † General Erasmus Lukas Mayer Strength 4000 8000 (c. ... Combatants Great Britain Boers Commanders John French Ian Hamilton General Kock † Strength 4000 2000 Casualties 261 c. ... Modder River - 28 November 1899 British Victory ~ Was a tiring day again with the heat and especially after forming at 430am and being the 3rd battle in a week. ... Combatants Great Britain Boers Commanders William Forbes Gatacre Field Kommandant Olivier Strength 1200 infantry 250 mounted infantry 12 guns 2300 total Casualties 90 killed and wounded 600 missing unknown {{{notes}}} The Battle of Stormberg was the first British defeat of Black Week, in which three successive British forces were defeated... Combatants Great Britain Boers Commanders Lord Methuen Piet Cronje Strength 13,000 8,500 Casualties Nearly 1,000 70 dead 250 wounded Unknown captured and deserted, but believed to be significant {{{notes}}} The Battle of Magersfontein was fought on December 11, 1899 at Magersfontein, on the borders of Cape Colony... Categories: ‪Battle stubs‬ | ‪Boer War battles‬ ... Combatants Great Britain Boers Commanders Charles Warren Alexander Thorneycroft Louis Botha Strength 11,000 infantry 2,200 cavalry 36 field guns 6,000 men Casualties 383 killed 1,000 wounded 300 captured 58 killed 140 wounded The Battle of Spion Kop (Afrikaans: Slag van Spioenkop) was fought about 38 km... Bloody Sunday of February 18, 1900, was a day of high Imperial casualties in the Second Boer War. ... The Battle of Paardeberg was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. ... The Siege of Ladysmith was a famous battle in the Boer War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900. ... Combatants Great Britain Boers Commanders Brigadier General Broadwood Christiaan de Wet Strength 2000 12 guns 400 (1600 distantly engaged) Casualties 600 7 guns 8 (eight) {{{notes}}} Sanna’s Post (aka Korn Spruit) was an engagement fought during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) between the British Empire and the Boers... Combatants British Empire Orange Free State, South African Republic Commanders Frederick Roberts later Lord Kitchener Christiaan Rudolf de Wet and Paul Kruger Casualties Military dead:22,000 Civilian dead:N/A Total dead:22,000 Military dead:6,500 Civilian dead:24,000 Total dead:30,500 The Second Boer... Mafikeng is the capital of the North West Province, South Africa, 870 miles NE of Cape Town and 492 miles SSW of Bulawayo by rail, and 162 miles in a direct line W by N of Johannesburg. ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB (February 22, 1857 - January 8, 1941) was a soldier, writer and founder of the world scouting movement. ... Boer is the Afrikaans (and Dutch) word for farmer which came to denote the descendants of the Afrikaans-speaking migrating farmers of the expanding eastern Cape frontier. ...

Prelude

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 (later Lord) Baden-Powell, accompanied by a handful of officers, to the Cape Colony to raise two Regiments of Mounted Rifles from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The aims were to resist the expected Boer invasion of the Natal Colony (now KwaZulu-Natal Province), draw the Boers away from the coasts to facilitate the landing of British troops, and, through a demonstrable British presence, deter the local tribes from siding with the Boers. Combatants British Empire Orange Free State, South African Republic Commanders Frederick Roberts later Lord Kitchener Christiaan Rudolf de Wet and Paul Kruger Casualties Military dead:22,000 Civilian dead:N/A Total dead:22,000 Military dead:6,500 Civilian dead:24,000 Total dead:30,500 The Second Boer... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Field Marshal Lord Wolseley The Right Honourable Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (4 June 1833–25 March 1913) was a British Field Marshal. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB (February 22, 1857 - January 8, 1941) was a soldier, writer and founder of the world scouting movement. ... Official language English and Dutch1 Capital Cape Town Largest City Cape Town Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 1st 569,020 km² (1910) Negligible Population  - Total (1911)  - Density Ranked 1st 2,564,965 4. ... National motto: Sit Nomine Digna (Latin: May she be worthy of the name} Official language English Capital Salisbury Political system Parliamentary system Form of government Republic - Last President John Wrathall - Prime Minister Ian Smith Area  - Total  - % water 390 580 km² 1% Population  - 1978 est. ... KwaZulu-Natal, often referred to as KZN, is a province of South Africa. ...

Like the British government, the local politicians feared that increased military activity might provoke a Boer attack, so Baden-Powell found himself having to obtain many of his own stores, organise his own transport and recruit in secret. With barely trained forces and aware of the Boer's greatly superior numbers, commando tactics and the failure of the earlier Jameson Raid, Baden-Powell decided that the best course of tying down Boer troops would be through defence rather than attack. Consequently he chose to hold the town of Mafeking 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, which he also found to have good stocks of food. The French Navy commando Jaubert storm the Alcyon in a mock assault. ... The Jameson Raid (December 29, 1895 - January 2, 1896) was a raid on Paul Krugers Transvaal Republic carried out by Sir Leander Starr Jameson and his Rhodesian and Bechuanaland policemen over the New Year weekend of 1895-96. ... The City of Bulawayo is highlighted in this map of Zimbabwe. ... Kimberley is a town in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. ...

The Mafeking forces comprised the Protectorate Regiment of around 500 men, around 300 from the Bechuanaland Rifles and the Cape Police, and a further 300 comprising men from the town. A cadet corps of boys aged 12 to 15, later to be one of the inspirations for the Scouting movement, was also formed to act as messengers and orderlies, so releasing men to fight and bringing the total engaged in the military effort to around 2000. The Mafeking Cadets, with their leader Sergeant-Major Warner Goodyear on the right. ... Scouts and Guides from different countries on World Scout Moot 1996 Scouting is a worldwide youth organization. ...

The siege

Work to build defences around the six mile perimeter of Mafeking started on September 19, 1899, and the town would eventually be equipped with an extensive network of trenches and gun emplacements. President Kruger of the Boer Transvaal Republic declared war on October 12, 1899. Under the orders of General Cronje the Mafeking railway (railroad) and telegraph lines were cut the same day, and the town began to be besieged from October 13. Mafeking was first shelled on the October 16 after Baden-Powell ignored Cronje's 9 o'clock deadline to surrender. September 19 is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years). ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Trench Warfare is a form of war in which both opposing armies have static lines of fortifications dug into the ground, facing each other. ... Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paul Kruger (10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904), fondly known as Oom Paul (Afrikaans for Uncle Paul) was a prominent Boer resistance leader against British rule and president of the Transvaal Republic in South Africa. ... The South African Republic (Dutch: Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek), often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, not to be confused with the Republic of South Africa, occupied the area later known as the province of Transvaal, first from 1857 to 1877, and again, after a successful Afrikaner rebellion against British rule... October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... General Piet Arnoldus Cronje (1840?-4 February 1911) was a leader of the Zuid Afrika Republics military forces during the Anglo-Boer wars. ... Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ... October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years). ... A shell is a projectile, which, as opposed to a bullet, is not solid but contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage includes large projectiles without a filling which are properly termed shot. ... October 16 is the 289th day of the year (290th in Leap years). ...

Although wholly outnumbered by over 8,000 Boer troops, the garrison withstood the siege for 217 days, defying the predictions of the politicians on both sides. Much of this was attributable to some of the cunning military deceptions instituted by Baden-Powell. 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. A howitzer was built in Mafeking's railway workshops, and even an old cannon was pressed into service. The morale of the civilian population was also given attention, and Sunday ceasefires were negotiated so that sports, competitions and theatrical performances could be held. Various anti-tank and anti-personnel land mines A land mine is a type of self-contained explosive device which is placed onto or into the ground, exploding when triggered by a vehicle or person. ... Acetylene (IUPAC name: ethyne) is the simplest alkyne hydrocarbon, consisting of two hydrogen atoms and two carbon atoms connected by a triple bond. ... Biscuit tins are rectangular or square tins originally designed to contain biscuits but the term is also used for similar shaped tins containing a variety of products. ... Loading a WW1 British 15 in (381 mm) howitzer A howitzer or hauwitzer is a type of field artillery. ...

Having decided that the town was too heavily defended to take, on November 19 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 on the evening of May 11, succeeded in breaching the perimeter defences and setting light to some of the town, but were finally beaten back. November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (132nd in leap years). ...

The relief of Mafeking

The siege was finally lifted on May 17, 1900, when British forces commanded by Colonel B T Mahon of the army of Lord Roberts relieved the town after fighting their way in. Among the relief forces was one of Baden-Powell's brothers, Major Baden Fletcher Smyth Baden-Powell. May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, Pretoria and Waterford, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, PC (September 30, 1832 - November 14, 1914) was a distinguished British soldier and one of the most successful commanders of the Victorian era. ...

Impact and aftermath

Until reinforcements landed in February 1900, the war was going poorly for the British. The resistance to the siege was one of the positive highlights, and it and the eventual relief of the town excited the liveliest sympathy in Britain. There were immense celebrations in the country at the news of its relief (briefly creating the verb to maffick, meaning to celebrate both extravagantly and publicly). "Maffick" was a back-formation from Mafeking, a place-name that was treated humorously as a gerund or participle. Promoted to the youngest Major-General in the army, and awarded the CB, Baden-Powell was also treated as a hero when he finally returned to Britain in 1903. In etymology, the process of back-formation is the creation of a neologism by reinterpreting an earlier word as a compound and removing the spuriously supposed affixes. ... In geography and cartography, a toponym is a place name, a geographical name, a proper name of locality, region, or some other part of Earths surface or its natural or artificial feature. ... In linguistics, a gerund is a kind of verbal noun that exists in some languages. ... In linguistics, a participle is a verbal adjective. ... Military Badge of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Three Victoria Crosses were awarded as a result of acts of heroism during the siege, to Sergeant Horace Martineau and Trooper Horace Ramsden for acts during an attack on the Boer Game Tree Fort, and to Captain Charles FitzClarence for Game Tree and two previous actions. Victoria Cross medal, ribbon, and bar. ... Charles Fitzclarence was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. ...

In September 1904 Lord Roberts unveiled an obelisk at Mafeking bearing the names of those who fell in defence of the town. In all, 212 people were killed during the siege, with over 600 wounded. Boer losses were significantly higher. 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, Pretoria and Waterford, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, PC (September 30, 1832 - November 14, 1914) was a distinguished British soldier and one of the most successful commanders of the Victorian era. ...

The best known impact of the siege is non-military. By establishing Baden-Powell as a celebrity in Britain, it enabled him to start the Scout movement a few years later, his fame contributing to its rapid initial growth. Scouts and Guides from different countries on World Scout Moot 1996 Scouting is a worldwide youth organization. ...

See also

• British military history
• British Empire
• History of South Africa

British military history is a long and varied topic, extending from the prehistoric and ancient historic period, through the Roman invasions of Julius Cæsar and Claudius and subsequent Roman occupation; warfare in the Mediaeval period, including the invasions of the Saxons and the Vikings in the Early Middle Ages... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... The history of South Africa encompasses over three million years. ...

External links

• Trooper William Fuller's Mafeking diary
• McGonagall on the Relief of Mafeking - William McGonagall's poem and a brief history of the siege.
• The Little Princess - Shirley Temple film which briefly depicts celebration after the relief of Mafeking.