New Zealand contributed ten contingents of mounted rifles towards the British Crown's efforts in the Second Boer War (also known as the South Africa War). The British Government accepted the offer by Richard Seddon – the Premier of New Zealand – for troops, and so the country became the first British colony to volunteer forces for the war. A total of ten contingents departed for South Africa between October 1899 and April 1902. The volunteers of the first two contingents were mainly members of New Zealand's existing permanent or voluntary forces and were expected to supply their own equipment and horses. The Third and Fourth Contingents were organised by regional politicians and businesspeople: the Third organised mainly from Canterbury, and the Fourth from Otago. These two Contingents wer