Christiaan de Wet
Boer general, rebel leader, and politician.
Christiaan Rudolf de Wet was born on 7 October 1854 and died on 3 February 1922. He was a Boer general, a rebel leader, and a politician.
He grew up on the Leeuwkop farm in the Smithfield district of the Orange Free State. Later, he lived in Dewetsdorp, a town named after his father, Jacobus Ignatius de Wet. De Wet married Cornelia Margaretha Krüger, and the couple had 16 children. A grandson, Carel de Wet, was born two years after his death.
During the First Boer War (1880–81), de Wet served as a field cornet. He did not participate in the Battle of Majuba Hill, though the Boer victory there helped end the war and restore independence to the Transvaal Republic. Between the two Boer wars, from 1881 to 1896, he lived on his farm. In 1897, he became a member of the Volksraad.
When the Second Boer War began on 11 October 1899, de Wet was called up as an ordinary private burgher. He joined the Heilbron kommando and was ordered to the Natal frontier. On 11 October 1899, he was elected vice-commandant of Heilbron. He fought at Nicholson’s Nek on 30 October, where 954 British troops surrendered, and later took part in the Siege of Ladysmith.
On 9 December 1899, State President M.T. Steyn sent de Wet a telegram appointing him a fighting general and ordering him to the Western frontier. There, he served as second-in-command to General Piet Cronjé, who was entrenched at Magersfontein south of Kimberley, with the British at the Modder River. The British advanced on 11 February 1900. General French outflanked Cronjé at Magersfontein and rode toward Kimberley. De Wet raided an ox wagon convoy at Watervals Drift, capturing 1,600 oxen, but it did not stop the British. Kimberley was relieved on 15 February, and Cronjé surrendered with 4,000 men at Paardeberg on 27 February. Soon after, de Wet was made Commander-in-Chief of the Free State forces. They could not stop the British advance on Bloemfontein, which fell unopposed on 13 March 1900.
His next success came on 31 March 1900 with a surprise attack at Sanna’s Post near Bloemfontein, followed by a victory at Reddersburg on 4 April. De Wet became known as the most formidable Boer guerrilla leader.
Quick Facts
- Order
- State President of the Orange Free State - Acting
- Term Start
- 29 May 1902
- Term End
- 31 May 1902
- Predecessor
- Martinus Theunis Steyn
- Successor
- Position abolished
- Birth Place
- Smithfield, Orange Free State
- Death Place
- Dewetsdorp, Orange Free State Province, Union of South Africa
- Birth Name
- Christiaan Rudolf de Wet
- Spouse
- Cornelia Margaretha Krüger
- Relatives
- Carel de Wet (Grandson) / Piet de Wet (Brother)
- Children
- 16
- Profession
- Farmer, Boer general, Politician
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Christiaan Rudolf de Wet was born on the Leeuwkop farm in the district of Smithfield in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State. He later resided at Dewetsdorp, named after his father, Jacobus Ignatius de Wet. He married Cornelia Margaretha Krüger, and they had 16 children. A grandson, Carel de Wet, was born two years after his death.
De Wet served in the First Boer War as a field cornet. Between the wars, he lived on his farm and became a member of the Volksraad in 1897. During the Second Boer War, he was initially called up as a private burgher, then elected vice-commandant on 11 October 1899, and later appointed a fighting general.
Reader's Guide
Christiaan de Wet's significance lies primarily in his military leadership during the Second Boer War, where his guerrilla tactics made him a persistent threat to British forces. His ability to strike quickly and evade capture earned him a reputation as the most formidable Boer commander in the later stages of the war. His actions, including the capture of isolated British posts and the issuing of orders regarding armed natives, reflect the harsh realities of the conflict. Politically, he was a signatory to the Treaty of Vereeniging and later served in the government of the Orange River Colony. His involvement in the Maritz Rebellion of 1914, for which he was imprisoned, underscores his continued resistance to British authority. His legacy includes a bronze equestrian statue unveiled in Bloemfontein on the 100th anniversary of his birth, and his mention in works by Rudyard Kipling and in Irish folk song. He was also a personal friend of Helene Kröller-Müller, who commissioned a statue of him in the Netherlands.
Did You Know?
- De Wet had 16 children with his wife Cornelia Margaretha Krüger.
- He was a signatory of the Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the Second Boer War.
- During the Maritz Rebellion, he was captured by CMDT Jorrie Jordaan and remarked, 'Thank God it is not an Englishman who captured me after all.'
- Irish republican leader Michael Collins was called 'the Irish de Wet' by the British press in the early 1920s.
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