“Baden-Powell got the idea for Boy Scouts when he had boys trying to creep through the lines during the siege of Mafeking in the Boer War.”
That IS interesting.
He got the idea for the Boy Scouts during the war, that it could be a means for preparing youth for military service. However, when he returned to England and began trying to build the concept, he found that there were many boys who needed an organized program of character-building with committed adult leaders, and the pre-military idea was rather left behind.
The “Indian” themes - India-Indian, in Britain, and American Indian in the US - bring in some of the possible military skills, but they’re also a Coolness Factor, and give a framework for teaching outdoor/survival skills. There’s much more Indian-stuff for the little boys in Cub Scouts than for the Boy Scouts (11 and up) in the current program.