Quote Originally Posted by cajunscot
The myth of the Boer War is that the Boers were all farmers in civilian clothing, but the Boers had their professional para-military forces that wore uniforms (The Transvaal Stats-Artillery) and foreign volunteers from Europe and the US (Blakes Irish Brigade) who wore uniforms as well.
I believe that many of the Boers' paramilitary forces came from the old Natal Native Contingents that were active during the 1879 Zulu War (for example). These were Boers who were serving under the British, but naturally went with their heritage when push came to shove.