The State Artillery Regiment (formerly the Transvaalse Staatsartillerie) is a reserve artillery regiment of the South African Army. History The original Transvaalse Staatsartillerie The first attempt by the South African Republic (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek or ZAR) to form a professional full-time artillery unit was Batterij Dingaan (Dingaan Battery), which could be seen as the forerunner of the Transvaalse Staatsartillerie. The use of artillery pieces was not completely foreign to the Boers and that they had used the few that they had to great effect during some battles that occurred during the Great Trek. However, prior to the formation of Batterij Dingaan, all artillery units of the ZAR were part-time volunteers, organised under its commando system. In 1874, President Thomas Francois Burgers purchased some artillery pieces, for the intended permanent artillery corps of the ZAR, in Europe and also recruited a number of European officers in order to assist in the organisation and development of this corps, due to the lack of adequately trained and experienced artillery officers in the ZAR. The first artillery pieces purchased were 4 Krupp 6,5 cm mountain guns and one obsolete French Mitrailleuse. The unit was commanded by Captain Otto Riedell, a former Austrian artillery officer. However, after the British annexation of the ZAR on 12 April 1877, Batterij Dingaan was disbanded. The members of the battery, most of who were not citizens of the ZAR, joined the three British volunteer corps, which had been created in order to assist the garrison with the defence of Pretoria. Shortly after the British occupation of the ZAR ended in 1881, the executive council of the ZAR mandated the formation of the Artillerie Korps van de Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Artillery Corps of the South African Republic). During the same year the executive council also mandated the formation of the Transvaalsche Rijdende Politie Korps (Transvaal Mounted Police Corps). This police force was amalgamated with the artillery corps in 1882 under the name of Transvaalsche Artillerie Corps (Transvaal Artillery Corps). However, this amalgamation was found to be unfeasible and the artillery and policing functions were subsequently separated again. The artillery formation was named the Staatsartillerie van de Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (State Artillery of the South African Republic) and had a strictly military function and structure. Batteries of the Staatsartillerie went on to serve in the Malaboch War (1894) and the Mahoeba War (1894–1895). After the Jameson Raid After the Jameson Raid, the government of