 To distinguish them, some military historians describe the first as the "imperial" Cape Mounted Riflemen (originally the ""Cape Regiment""), and the second as the "colonial" Cape Mounted Riflemen.The first, so-called "imperial", unit, was formed by the Dutch administration of the Cape Colony in 1793, to enlarge its garrison because of the threat posed by the war in Europe.It was originally called the "Corps van Pandoeren", i.e.