Cape Mounted Riflemen

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.

The first, so-called "imperial", unit, was formed by the Dutch administration of the Cape Colony in 1793, to enlarge its garrison because of the threat posed by the war in Europe. It was originally called the Corps van Pandoeren, i.e. "Corps of Pandours", and consisted of Khoisan and Coloured men under White officers.

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.

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 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.

The Cape Colony government founded the second, so-called "colonial", in 1855, as the para-military Frontier Armed and Mounted Police (FAMP).

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