Cape Colonial Forces The Cape Colonial Forces ( CCF ) were the official defence organisation of the Cape Colony in South Africa . Established in 1855 , they were taken over by the Union of South Africa 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 . 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 . Although the economy recovered after diamonds were discovered in Griqualand West in 1869 , the Volunteer Force remained dormant . The CCF under responsible government . A degree of independence from Britain was achieved in 1872 , when the Cape Colony attained " Responsible government " under the leadership of its first Prime Minister , John Molteno . 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 of British Imperial troops . 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 Griqualand West units that were taken over when that province was annexed to the colony in 1880 and later amalgamated to form the " Kimberley Regiment " . The " Frontier Armed and Mounted Police " , and burgher and volunteer units fought the Xhosa in the Transkei and the Ciskei 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 . While British regiments were away in Zululand during the Anglo - Zulu War ( 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 , 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 coast defences were upgraded , and the " Cape Town Volunteer Engineers " converted into the " Cape Garrison Artillery " . 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 Cape Colony and Natal – and the Boer republics in the Orange Free State 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 and Ceylon . For a few months in 1900 , a Colonial Division , consisting of the " Cape Mounted Riflemen " and several volunteer units under Brig Gen Edward Brabant , 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 Edward Brabant was commandant - general ( 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 recognised the CCF ' s wartime service by granting its units King ' s Colours in 1904 . Imperial Germany became the new threat to British interests , and the CMR was mobilised in 1906 to 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 Union of South Africa in 1910 , the CCF were placed under the new defence ministry in Pretoria . 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 .