Andries Hendrik Potgieter

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Andries Hendrik Potgieter (1851/1852)

Andries Hendrik Potgieter (born December 19, 1792 in Graaff-Reinet , Cape Colony ; † December 16, 1852 in Zoutpansbergdorp ) was a Voortrekker leader. He was the head of state of the Boer republics Republic Potchefstroom and Republic Winburg-Potchefstroom and from 1845 until his death leader of the Boers in the Zoutpansberg area .

Life

Potgieter was born in Graaff-Reinet in the Cape Colony as the second child of Petronella Margaretha and Hermanus Potgieter. He fought against the British in the fourth and fifth border wars and later lived as a wealthy farmer in the area around Tarkastad . In 1835 Potgieter and a group of Voortrekkers left the Cape Colony under his leadership. Other treks under Louis Tregardt and Johannes Hendrik Janse van Rensburg had already preceded him. The spiritual leader of the Voortrekkers, Sarel Arnoldus Cilliers , later joined the Potgieter trek.

His trek moved inland to what would later become the Orange Free State , where he signed a contract with the leader of the Barolong , Moroka II, in Thaba Nchu . The contract stipulated that Potgieter should protect the Barolong against the pillaging Matabele and receive land in return.

The then Matabele king, Mzilikazi , felt threatened by the invasion of the European settlers in his sphere of influence, so that in October 1836 he led an attack by the Matabele on Potgieter's camp near Vegkop, near today's city of Heilbron . The attack was repulsed, but the Matabele captured most of the trekker's oxen, essential draft animals of their wagons. The joint trek by Piet Retief and Gerrit Maritz came to Potgieter's aid. Moroka helped out with oxen. Potgieter's group met with Retief and Maritz at Thaba Nchu, where they formed a Voortrekker government and decided to move to Natal , where they founded the Republic of Natalia . Potgieter was against it and stayed in Thaba Nchu. After Piet Retief and his companions were killed by Dingane in 1838 and other Voortrekkers were ambushed at Bloukrans River and Bushman River , Potgieter and another leader, Pieter Lafras Uys , rushed to their aid. A larger military force was formed. In order to avoid disagreements among the new Voortrekker leaders in Natalia and to prevent a split, Maritz decided that both Uys and Potgieter should give orders. Nevertheless, a power struggle arose between Uys and Potgieter, which resulted in a split in the troops. The split troops were lured into an ambush by the Zulu at Italeni . Pieter Lafras Uys and his son Dirkie Uys were killed. The surrounded and outnumbered troops fled. Potgieter was criticized for his decisions and titled the troop with Die Vlugkommando ("Das Fluchtkommando"). He was further accused of causing the Uys to die. He left Natal for good and moved to the Transvaal .

He founded the place Mooiriviersburg there in 1838 , later named Potchefstroom after him , and served as the first head of state of the Republic of Potchefstroom and subsequently of the Republic of Winburg-Potchefstroom. In 1843 he first traveled to Delagoa Bay in what is now Mozambique to explore the possibility of access to trade routes beyond the British sphere of influence.

In 1845 Potgieter founded Ohrigstad (originally Andries-Ohrigstad named after Potgieter himself and George Ohrig ) as a trading office. The Voortrekkers had to leave the city because of malaria . They moved north, including Potgieter, to the Soutpansberg area , where he founded the town of Zoutpansbergdorp, later renamed Schoemasdal.

After the annexation of Natalia by Great Britain in 1843, many of the trekkers residing in Natal moved to the areas later known as the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. These newcomers and their leader Andries Pretorius refused to recognize Potgieter's authority, so a new power struggle broke out. A military conflict could be avoided and in 1848 a peace treaty was signed in Rustenburg . Potgieter died on December 16, 1852 in Zoutpansbergdorp.

Web links

Individual evidence

Commons : Andries Hendrik Potgieter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  1. ↑ a b c d biography at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on December 5, 2012
  2. ↑ Battle of Italeni at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on December 6, 2012
  3. ↑ Article at samilitaryhistory.org , accessed December 7, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Potgieter, Andries Hendrik
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Voortrekker leader
DATE OF BIRTH December 19, 1792
PLACE OF BIRTH Graaff-Reinet , Cape Colony
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1852
Place of death Schoemasdal