 Coghlan was receptive to the idea, but was compelled to stay in Kimberley by the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899.Kimberley was besieged by Boer forces, cut off by rail and telephone, from 14 October until its relief by General John French on 15 February 1900.After a break in Cape Town, Coghlan and his wife left Kimberley for Bulawayo on 30 July 1900.