Christiaan de Wet, 1900

Christiaan de Wet

Statue of Christiaan de Wet before the old Raadsaal, Bloemfontein

Christiaan Rudolf de Wet (7 October 1854 - 5 February 1922) was a Boer general and politician. October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ... 1854 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Boer is the Afrikaans (and Dutch) word for farmer which came to denote the descendants of the Afrikaans-speaking migrating farmers of the expanding eastern Cape frontier. ... General is a high military rank, used by nearly every country in the world. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics to the extent of holding or running for public office. ...

He was born at Leeuwkop, Smithfield district (Orange Free State), and later resided at Dewetsdorp. He served in the first Anglo-Boer War of 1880-81 as a Field Cornet, and from 1881 to 1896 he lived on his farm, becoming in 1897 member of the Volksraad. Capital Bloemfontein Created 1854 Dissolved 1900 Official language Dutch (Afrikaans more common) The Orange Free State (Afrikaans: Oranje Vrystaat) was an independent country in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a province in South Africa. ... Dewetsdorp is a small town in the Free State Province of South Africa. ... A Field Cornet (Afrikaans: Veldkornet) was a South African term for either a local government official or a military officer. ... The Volksraad was the parliament of the former South African Republic (or Transvaal Republic) which existed from 1857 to 1902 in part of what is now the Republic of South Africa. ...

He took part in the earlier battles of the Boer War of 1899 in Natal as a commandant and later, as a general, he went to serve under Piet Cronje in the west. His first successful action was the surprise of Sanna's Post near Bloemfontein, which was followed by the victory of Reddersburg a little later. Thenceforward he came to be regarded more and more as the most formidable leader of the Boers in their guerrilla warfare. Sometimes severely handled by the British, sometimes escaping only by the narrowest margin of safety from the columns which attempted to surround him, and falling upon and annihilating isolated British posts, De Wet continued to the end of the war his successful career, striking heavily where he could do so and skilfully evading every attempt to bring him to bay. Combatants British Empire Orange Free State, South African Republic Commanders Frederick Roberts later Lord Kitchener Christiaan Rudolf de Wet and Paul Kruger Casualties Military dead:22,000 Civilian dead:N/A Total dead:22,000 Military dead:6,500 Civilian dead:24,000 Total dead:30,500 The Second Boer... KwaZulu-Natal, often referred to as KZN, is a province of South Africa. ... General Piet Arnoldus Cronje (1840?-4 February 1911) was a leader of the Zuid Afrika Republics military forces during the Anglo-Boer wars. ... Combatants Great Britain Boers Commanders Brigadier General Broadwood Christiaan de Wet Strength 2000 12 guns 400 (1600 distantly engaged) Casualties 600 7 guns 8 (eight) {{{notes}}} Sanna’s Post (aka Korn Spruit) was an engagement fought during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) between the British Empire and the Boers... Coat of arms of Bloemfontein Bloemfontein (Dutch for fountain of flowers) is one of South Africas three capital cities, along with Pretoria and Cape Town. ... Reddersburg is a small town in the Free State Province of South Africa. ... Guerrilla War redirects here. ...

He took an active part in the peace negotiations of 1902, and at the conclusion of the war he visited Europe with the other Boer generals. While in England the generals sought, unavailingly, a modification of the terms of peace concluded at Pretoria. De Wet wrote an account of his campaigns, an English version of which appeared in November 1902 under the title Three Years War. In November, 1907 he was, elected a member of the first parliament of the Orange River Colony and was appointed minister of agriculture. In 1908-9 he was a delegate to the Closer Union Convention. City motto: Praestantia Praevaleat Pretoria (May Pretoria Be Pre-eminent In Excellence) Province Gauteng Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ... Flag of Orange River Colony The Orange River Colony was a British colony created by the annexation of the Orange Free State in 1900, after the Boer War. ...

De Wet was one of the leaders in the rebellion which broke out in 1914. He was defeated at Mushroom Valley by General Botha on November 12, 1914, taken prisoner by Colonel Brits on December 1, and sentenced to a term of six years imprisonment and to pay a fine of £2000. He was released after one year's imprisonment, however, giving a written promise to take no further part in politics. The Maritz Rebellion or the Boer Revolt or the Five Shilling Rebellion1, occurred in South Africa in 1914 at the start of World War I, in which men who supported the recreation of the old Boer republics rose up against the government of the Union of South Africa. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Louis Botha Louis Botha (September 17, 1862-August 27, 1919) was an Afrikaner and first Prime Minister of the modern South African state, then called the Union of South Africa. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Publications

• De Wet, Der Kampf zwischen Bur und Brite, (Leipzig, 1902)
• P. J. Sampson, Capture of De Wet and the South African Rebellion of 1914. (London, 1915)

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.