Baden-Powell's preparations at Mafeking, 1899

Background. Baden-Powell, a career cavalryman, returned to South Africa before the Second Boer War. In July 1899, he was tasked by the Intelligence Department to travel to Mafeking to collect intelligence on the Boers at the border. Lord Wolseley also sent him to the Cape Colony to raise mounted rifle regiments from Rhodesia, setting the stage for his defensive preparations.

Recruitment. In August 1899, Baden-Powell began recruiting volunteers in secret to avoid negative political effects. Many recruits were untrained and had never ridden, making them unsuited for a mobile column. He had been tasked with raising two regiments of mounted rifles from Rhodesia, and the recruits' inexperience complicated this aim.

Defenses. Work to build defences around the 6-mile perimeter of Mafeking started on 19 September 1899. The town was eventually equipped with an extensive network of trenches and gun emplacements. These preparations occurred shortly before the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899.