South African War: Robert Baden-Powell

MAJOR-GENERAL ROBERT S. S. BADEN-POWELL.

The war in South Africa has made and consolidated several notable reputations, but, perhaps, no single officer will have come out of it with a greater accession of both popularity and professional esteem than the gallant cavalryman who is commonly known as, tout court, “B.-P.” A few years ago Baden-Powell was chiefly known as a smart and resourceful Hussar, who had done good work in Zululand in 1888, and was a recognized authority on polo, pig-sticking, and sport generally. The son of a well-known Oxford professor he had entered the 13th Hussars at the age of 19 in 1876, had been adjutant of his regiment, A.D.C. at the Cape, and Assistant Military Secretary at Malta, and had won the Kadir Cup “after pig” at Cawnpore. But he did not come to the front as a campaigner until the Ashanti Expedition of 1896, when he was employed on special duty in charge of native levies, and, incidentally, by the Daily Chronicle as a Correspondent. His letters to the latter were afterwards expanded into a volume entitled "The Downfall of Prempeh," which proved him to possess considerable literary and descriptive power. Indeed his intellectual capacity, apart from soldiering, is very marked, and in singing, painting, and amateur acting, as well as in literature, this versatile sabreur takes keen pleasure when not engaged in the sterner pursuit of hunting men.

In 1896 Baden-Powell was sent to Matabeleland on special duty in connection with the rising in the Matoppo Hills. Here he distinguished himself greatly, both as a scout and as possessing a great influence with the natives, among whom his singular powers of keen observation and accurate deduction soon earned him the title of “He who sees by night.” One has only to read his recently published “Aids to Scouting” to realise that Baden-Powell is truly, as someone has observed, a “prince of scouts” as well as a “prince of good fellows.”

When it was announced early last summer that Colonel Baden-Powell, who in April, 1897, had been given command of the 5th Dragoon Guards, was to be sent out to Rhodesia to organize a local levy, everyone was satisfied that the work would be admirably done. And so it was, but it was soon obscured by a much more brilliant achievement, namely, the defence of Mafeking, which will live for many a long day in the annals of the British Army. It is not too much to say that in the hands of a less resourceful man, however brave, Mafeking would hardly have held out for a month. But, as we all know, the little garrison was stimulated by the indefatigable “B.-P.” to exertions of the most extraordinary description. Time after time it sallied forth and hurled back the enemy with great loss. Time after time, under his cheery supervision, it worked out little surprises which caused Cronje to indignantly exclaim “They are not men, those Mafeking folk-they are devils!” On the details of the siege we need not expatiate here. It is sufficient to say that it brought into strong relief a type of which neither our nor any other Army possesses many samples. Whatever his future career may bring forth, Baden-Powell need hope for no fairer distinction than that of being known as “B.-P. of Mafeking.”

		"This small place, which sprang in the course of a few weeks from obscurity to fame ..." opens Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's retelling of The Siege of Mafeking. Author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Conan Doyle provides an excellent contemporary account of the siege in his history, The Great Boer War.
		Published at the end of the first year of the war, H. W. Wilson's With the Flag to Pretoria devotes portions of three chapters to the Siege and Relief of Mafeking. "Illustrated mainly from photographs and authentic sketches taken in South Africa," it includes several rare photos of Baden-Powell.
		In 1902, Commander Charles N. Robinson, R.N., edited and published Celebrities of the Army, a collection of portraits and short biographies of senior offices and major heroes of the South African War. These include Baden-Powell and several officers with whom he served in India and Africa both before and during the war. The portraits are quite elegant and are presented along with biographical information.
		It was at the Siege and Defense of Mafeking during the South African (Anglo-Boer) War that Baden-Powell made his name and first gained public recognition. 1999-1902 marks the Centennial of the War. Developed as part of that observance, Perspectives on the South African War provides a collection of links to original and contemporary sources on the South African War.
		"The 13th Hussars in the South African War." While B-P was engaged in the Siege of Mafeking and on later Special Duties, his Regiment, the 13th Hussars, served with distinction in South Africa. From the Regimental History, C. R. B. Barrett, History of the XIII Hussars, 1911.
		Robert Baden-Powell, Founder of the World Scout Movement, Chief Scout of the World. A Home Page for the Founder. Links Relating to Baden-Powell on the Pine Tree Web and elsewhere.

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