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A View of Mafeking in
1899. |
Eileen K. Wade describes the town of Mafeking at the time of the siege:
According to a contemporary description, Mafeking was a "smart little town" less than a mile square, standing about 8 miles from the Transvaal border and some 875 miles from Capetown. It was considered to be the gateway to Rhodesia. The railroad crossed the Molopo River south of the town, and to the west was "a native stadt, a constellation of mushroom huts," where the natives lived. The population of the town consisted of some 2,000 whites, while native refugees raised the population of the Stadt to about 7,000. The perimeter of the defences was about 6 miles. The siege lasted from October 14, 1899 to May 17, 1900. The garrison numbered between 800 and 1,00 men, chiefly of the Protectorate Regiment and the Cape Police.
From: Eileen K. Wade, Baden-Powell, London, 1944
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Baden-Powell
Photo Gallery: Military Career & Final Years, 1899-1937 Thumbnail Graphic Index |
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Baden-Powell provides his own narrative of his assignment to South Africa in 1899, and the defense and relief of Mafeking in 1899-1900 in Chapter VII of Lessons from the Varsity of Life: The South African War |
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E. E. Reynolds tells the story of Mafeking in his biography, Baden-Powell, The Story of His Life. |
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© Lewis P. Orans, 1997
Last Modified: 6:37 PM on July 5, 1997
