14. Susceptibility to Enemy Ruses Caused the Boers to Miss an Opportunity to Win an Easy Victory
During the Second Boer War (1899 – 1902), the deck was overwhelmingly stacked against the Boers, who had to contend with the might of the British Empire. However, the Boers got off to a surprisingly good start and beat the odds that had predicted their defeat in a short campaign. Instead, they turned back invading enemy columns with a series of early upset victories that embarrassed the British and put them on the back foot. Then, incredibly, the Boers went on the offensive.
The Boers’ good start would have been even more incredible if they had not let an opportunity for an easy victory slip their grasp. It happened at the South African town of Mafeking, which the Boers besieged. They greatly outnumbered the defenders, but were taken in by a series of ruses and ended up believing that the town’s garrison was far stronger than it actually was. The adversary who gulled them was Colonel (later Lord, and founder of the Boy Scouts) Robert Baden-Powell, commander of Mafeking’s British garrison.