The South African War (1899- 1902)

Before it had even begun, both the British and the Boers had started to deploy their forces.  Colonel Robert Baden Powell, who was in overall charge of the only British force in the area, decided to base himself at Mahikeng where, he hoped to tie down a significant number of Boer commandos and thus to weaken them elsewhere. 

The Boers, in turn, moved three of their commandos close to the Transvaal-Protectorate border. The war began October 11, 1899.  The objectives of the Boers were gain control of the railway line to Cape Town and stop British supplies reaching the Northern Cape, to destroy and take control of the railway line at Crocodile Pools and then knock out Baden Powell’s small force, and take Mahikeng.