Christiaan de Wet

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christiaan de Wet

Christiaan Rudolf de Wet (also Christiaan De Wet or Christian Dewet; born October 7, 1854 on the Leewkop farm in the Orange Free State ; † February 5, 1922 in Dewetsdorp , Orange Free State) was a South African politician and general during the Second Boer War .

Life

De Wet came from an old Huguenot family and was a member of the People's Council of the Orange Free State between 1889 and 1898 . At the beginning of the Second Boer War he was in command as a commander in Natal , then under Piet Cronjé as a commandant's assistant on the Modder River. When capturing a large British supply convoy at Blauwbank on February 15, 1900, he distinguished himself for the first time and again on April 1, 1900 in an attack on General Broadwood near Koornspruit east of Bloemfontein . In June of the same year he was appointed commander in chief of the forces of the Orange Free State. In the guerrilla warfare that followed against the superior British army, he always evaded the threatening encirclement by clever evasive maneuvers and inflicted heavy losses on the British with carefully prepared ambushes. On November 24, 1900, he forced the 450-strong British garrison of Dewetsdorp , named after his father, to surrender. From January to March 1901 he undertook a campaign through the Cape Colony and on December 25, 1901 he captured a British camp near Tweefontein .

His brother Piet de Wet was also a general of the Boers. After he was captured by British forces in July 1901, he became a member of the National Scouts and so fought against the troops of his brother Christiaan.

Despite his military successes, Christiaan de Wet had to agree to the Treaty of Vereeniging on May 31, 1902 . He then traveled to Europe with Koos de la Rey and Louis Botha to represent the Boer cause there . In 1907 he became Minister of Agriculture in the first cabinet of the Orange River Colony .

During the First World War , de Wet tried with other Boers to spark a pro-German uprising in South Africa. This failed because of the lack of support both by the population and by the relatively weak colonial troops in German South West Africa . De Wet was captured by government forces in early December 1914 and sentenced to six years' imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 pounds, but was released after one year on condition that he would not continue to be politically active.

Works

  • The struggle between Bur and British - The Three Years War. Carl Siwinna, Kattowitz and Leipzig 1903.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wet, Christiaan de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wet, Christiaan De; Dewet, Christian; Wet, Christiaan Rudolf de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician and general of the Boers
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Leewkop , South Africa
DATE OF DEATH February 5, 1922
Place of death Dewetsdorp , South Africa