Koos de la Rey
Encyclopedia
General Jacobus Herculaas de la Rey (22 October 1847 - 15 September 1914), known as Koos de la Rey, was a Boer
general
during the Second Boer War
and is widely regarded as being one of the strongest military leaders during that conflict.
He is generally regarded as the bravest of the Boer generals during the Second Boer War and as one of the leading figures of Boer independence. As a guerrilla
, his tactics proved extremely successful. De la Rey opposed the war until the last, but when he was once accused of cowardice during a Volksraad
session by President Paul Kruger
, he replied that if the time for war came, he would be fighting long after Paul Kruger had given up and fled for safety. This proved to be the case.
District of the Orange Free State
, he was the son of Adrianus Johannes Gijsbertus de la Rey and Adriana Wilhelmina van Rooyen. De la Rey was a Boer
of Spanish
, French Huguenot and Dutch
descent. His grandfather, a school teacher and the patriarch of the De la Rey family in South Africa
came from Utrecht
, Netherlands
. After the Battle of Boomplaats
, the family farm was confiscated by the British and the family trekked into the Transvaal
and settled in Lichtenburg
. As a child De la Rey received very little formal education. The De la Rey family moved once again, this time to Kimberley after the discovery of diamonds. As a young man, De la Rey worked as a transport rider on the routes serving the diamond diggings at Kimberley
.
. Later De la Rey bought the farm Elandsfontein. They had twelve children and they looked after another six children who lost their parents. De la Rey was deeply religious and a small pocket Bible was rarely out of his hand. He had formidable looks - a long neatly trimmed brown beard and a high forehead with deep-set eyes that gave him a prematurely patriarchal appearance. His sister Cornelia was married to Pieter Van der Hoff who was a nephew of Dirk Van der Hoff
, founder of the Dutch Reformed church in RSA.
of 1865 and Sekhukhune's
War of 1876. He did not take a very active part in the First Boer War
, but as field cornet in the western Transvaal, he took over Piet Cronje
's Potchefstroom siege (1880 -1881) when Cronjé fell ill. He was elected commandant of the Lichtenburg district, and became a member of the Transvaal Volksraad
in 1883. A supporter of the progressive faction under General Piet Joubert, he opposed Paul Kruger's
policies against the uitlanders, the foreigners who flocked to the Transvaal gold-rush, and warned it would lead to war with Britain.
On the outbreak of war, De la Rey was appointed one of Piet Cronjé
's field generals. De la Rey led an attack that resulted in the first shots of the war being fired at Kraaipan in an attack on a British armored train that was on its way back to Kimberley
from Mafeking. The train was derailed and after a five-hour fight, the British surrendered. This incident made De la Rey famous, but exacerbated his conflicts with the cautious and unimaginative Cronjé, who sent him to block the advance of the British forces moving to relieve the Siege of Kimberley
.
Lieutenant General Lord Methuen, commander of the 1st Division, was tasked with raising the Boer siege of Kimberley
and moved his force by rail to Belmont station in the northern Cape Province. On detraining they came under fire from a small force of Boers led by Commandant J. Prinsloo on Belmont Kopje; by the next morning the British were in position to shell, then charge, the hill, despite some losses. The Boers retreated to their horses at the back of the koppie and fell back to Graspan, rejoining the larger force of Free-Staters and Transvaalers under the command of Prinsloo and De la Rey respectively. Here the Boers occupied several koppies, but with no better luck, as they were similarly forced off by artillery and infantry charges. The way lay open for Methuen's force to the Modder (Mud) River crossing, where the Boers had blown up the railway bridge.
Having realized that the traditional Boer tactic of fighting from higher ground exposed them to the superior British artillery, De la Rey insisted that his men and Prinsloo's Free-Staters dig in on the banks of the Modder and Riet Rivers, the first use of trench warfare
in the war. The plan was to hold fire until the British had approached close enough for the Boers' advantage in rifle fire to take effect, while making it difficult for the full force of the British artillery to be used. In the early hours the British troops advanced across the plain unopposed, but Prinsloo's men opened fire at long range, the troops took cover and the artillery pounded the Boer trenches. A series of British rushes pushed the Free-Staters back across the ford, and only a counter-attack led by De la Rey enabled the Boers to hold the field until dusk, when they slipped away. De la Rey was wounded and his son Adriaan was killed; he blamed Cronjé for failing to send reinforcements.
After the Boers were forced back from the Modder River, the British spent some time repairing the Modder River bridge, while De la Rey had his men entrench on flat ground at the base of the Magersfontein hill. His controversial tactic was vindicated on 10 December when the hill was intensively shelled to no effect. Before dawn the following day, the crack Highland regiments were ordered to advance in close order. They alerted the defenders by stumbling across wires hung with tin cans and were soon pinned down. After nine hours taking heavy losses, including the brigade commander, Major General Wauchope
, without managing to advance at all, they finally broke and retreated in disorder. The battle caused public mourning in Scotland and Methuen was sidelined; the relief of Kimberley would be entrusted to Lord Roberts
.
were the nadir of the British campaign and, thereafter, with massive reinforcements from all over the Empire, they gradually fought their way back. At Paardeberg (1900-02-08), while De la Rey was away rallying resistance to Major General French
's advance in the Colesberg area of the Cape, the hapless Cronjé was trapped by Roberts and surrendered with his entire army. Bloemfontein
was taken on 13 March 1900, Pretoria on 5 June; Kruger
fled to Portuguese East Africa
.
and other commanders met near Kroonstad
and laid down a new strategy of guerrilla war. The Western Transvaal fell to De la Rey, and for the next two years he led a mobile campaign, winning battles at Moedwil, Nooitgedacht, Driefontein, Donkerhoek and other places, and inflicting large losses of men and material on the British at Ysterspruit on 25 February 1902, where enough ammunition and supplies were captured to reinvigorate the Boer forces. At Tweebosch
on 7 March 1902, a large part of Methuen's rear-guard was captured, including Methuen himself. Albeit ragged and often hungry, his men roamed at will over vast areas and tied down tens of thousands of British troops. De la Rey had an uncanny knack for avoiding ambush, leading many to believe that he was advised by the 'prophet' Siener van Rensburg
who accompanied him. Despite some reverses, such as the Battle of Rooiwal
in April 1902, De la Rey's commandos, numbering up to 3,000 men, remained in the field until the end of the war.
on 7 March 1902 he captured Lieutenant General Methuen along with several hundred of his troops. The troops were sent back to their lines because De La Rey had no means to support them, and Methuen was also released because he had been gravely wounded and De la Rey believed that he would die without the prompt medical attention which only the British could provide.
counter-insurgency tactic. This involved sweeping the country bare of everything that could give sustenance to the Boer guerrillas, including women and children, and included the destruction of crops, burning down homesteads and farms, poisoning wells, and salting fields, and saw non-combatants (Boer families and sympathisers) interned in concentration camps where mortality among the women and children was so high that 50% of the population of Boer children under 16 died. The will of the Boer fighters still in the field was slowly eroded by such attritional tactics and ultimately they realised that the costs exceeded the cause; there would soon be little left for them to fight for. Many tens of thousands of blacks were interned by the British in appalling conditions in the concentration camps as well, while on the other hand others were suspected by the Boers of sympathising with the British, and betraying the whereabouts of guerillas, leading to harsh reprisals.
The British offered terms of peace on various occasions, notably in March 1901, but were rejected by Botha
. Lord Kitchener
requested that De la Rey meet with him at Klerksdorp on 11 March 1902 for a parley
. The two enemies formed a bond of friendship which gave De la Rey confidence in the sincerity of the British proposals. Diplomatic efforts to find a way out of the conflict continued and eventually led to an agreement to hold peace talks at Vereeniging, in which De la Rey took part and urged peace. The Treaty of Vereeniging
was signed on 31 May 1902. He and General Botha visited England and the United States later in the same year. The Boers were promised eventual self-government (granted in 1906 and 1907 for the Transvaal and Orange Free State respectively) and awarded £3,000,000 compensation, while acknowledging the sovereignty of Edward VII.
After the war De la Rey travelled to Europe with Louis Botha and Christiaan de Wet
to raise funds for the impoverished Boers whose families and farms had been devastated. In 1903 he was in India
and Ceylon, persuading the prisoners of war interned there to take the oath of allegiance and return to South Africa. Finally he returned to his own farm with his wife and remaining children. Jacoba had spent most of the war trekking in the veld with her children and a few faithful servants; she subsequently wrote a book about her wanderings, Myne Omzwervingen en Beproevingen Gedurende den Oorlog (1903), which was translated into English as "A Woman’s Wanderings and Trials During the Anglo-Boer War" translated by Lucy Hotz, and published in London (1903). | title = University of Pretoria: Electronic Theses and Dissertations | URL = http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10122004-102524/ |
in 1910. He became a Senator and supported Louis Botha, the first Prime Minister, in his attempts to unite Boer and British. An opposing faction led by Hertzog
wished to establish republican government as soon as possible and resisted co-operation with the British, while promoting an increasingly bitter racism that would come to fruit in later years.
Serious violence broke out in 1914 when white miners on the Rand clashed with police and troops over the use of black miners. De la Rey commanded the government forces and the strikes were put down, but a dangerous atmosphere had formed.
(now Namibia
). Many Boers were opposed to fighting for Britain and against Germany. Also, many were of German descent and Germany had been sympathetic to their struggle so they looked to De la Rey for leadership. In Parliament he advocated neutrality and stated that he was utterly opposed to war unless South Africa was attacked. Nevertheless he was persuaded by Botha and Jan Smuts
not to take any actions which might arouse the Boers. De la Rey appears to have been torn between loyalty to his comrades-in-arms, most of whom had joined the Hertzog faction, and his sense of honour.
Siener van Rensburg
attracted large crowds with accounts of his visions in which he saw the whole world consumed by war and the end of the British Empire. On 2 August he told of a dream in which he saw General De la Rey returning home bare-headed in a carriage adorned with flowers, while a black cloud with the number 15 on it poured down blood. The excited Boers took this as a sign that De la Rey would be triumphant, but van Rensburg himself believed the dream warned of death.
had also resigned. They encountered several police roadblocks but refused to stop, although they had in fact been set to capture the Foster gang
. At Langlaagte the police fired on the speeding car and a bullet struck De la Rey's back, ending his life; his last words were dit is raak ('It hit'). He returned to his Lichtenburg farm as van Rensburg had predicted. Many Boers were convinced he had been deliberately assassinated, while others could not believe that he would have joined a rebellion, breaking his oath. According to Beyers the plan was to co-ordinate the simultaneous resignation of all the senior officers in protest at the attack on South West Africa. The theory of a government assassination holds sway to this day.
Not long after De la Rey's funeral the short-lived Maritz Rebellion
broke out and De Wet; Beyers; General Maritz, commander of a force on the border of the German colony; Kemp; and other Boer veterans took up arms again but most of the army remained loyal and the rebellion was swiftly put down by Botha and Smuts. The rebels were pardoned just two years later by Botha in the interests of national reconciliation. While De la Rey would probably have been quite capable of taking to the field again at 67, it seems unlikely he would have gone against his word, especially as he had played such a leading role in bringing about the peace of Vereeniging.
De la Rey was buried in the Lichtenburg
graveyard, where a bronze bust by sculptor Fanie Eloff adorns his grave. De la Rey's home on Elandsfontein was demolished during the Boer War, but was rebuilt on the same foundation in 1902. The Voortrekkers
movement placed a small memorial to him on his farm. De la Rey's equestrian statue on the De la Rey square of Lichtenburg's city hall, was sculpted by a town resident, Hennie Potgieter.
. The song is about a Boer soldier who, towards the end of the 2nd Boer War, after Lord Kitchener had implemented his scorched earth
policy, and had burned the Boer's farm to the ground and put his wife and child in a concentration camp facing almost certain death, in desperation and contemplating the destruction of the Boer nation, calls for General De La Rey, a powerful figure even amongst other successful Boer Generals, to lead the Boer Volk (people) to victory.
The Department of Arts and Culture responded to a request for a statement on the song's potentially subversive lyrics saying that the song was "in danger of being hijacked by a minority of right-wingers", defending the composers' right to free speech and citizens' right to oppose the government through constitutional means, but warning that "those who incite treason, whatever methods they employ, might well find themselves in difficulties with the law." The Democratic Alliance opposition party responded by saying that the song was not nearly as potentially subversive as ANC
president Jacob Zuma
's song Umshini wami
(Zulu
for "bring me my machine [gun]").
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
during the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
and is widely regarded as being one of the strongest military leaders during that conflict.
He is generally regarded as the bravest of the Boer generals during the Second Boer War and as one of the leading figures of Boer independence. As a guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
, his tactics proved extremely successful. De la Rey opposed the war until the last, but when he was once accused of cowardice during a Volksraad
Volksraad
The Volksraad was the parliament of the former South African Republic , which existed from 1857 to 1902 in part of what is now the South Africa. The body ceased to exist after the British victory in the Second Anglo-Boer War. The Volksraad sat in session in Ou Raadsaal in Church Square, Pretoria...
session by President Paul Kruger
Paul Kruger
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger , better known as Paul Kruger and affectionately known as Uncle Paul was State President of the South African Republic...
, he replied that if the time for war came, he would be fighting long after Paul Kruger had given up and fled for safety. This proved to be the case.
Early life
Born on the family farm Doornfontein in the WinburgWinburg
Winburg is a small mixed farming town in the Free State province of South Africa.It is the oldest proclaimed town in the Orange Free State, South Africa and thus along with Griquatown, one of the oldest settlements in South Africa located north of the Orange River.Winburg is situated midway...
District of the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
, he was the son of Adrianus Johannes Gijsbertus de la Rey and Adriana Wilhelmina van Rooyen. De la Rey was a Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
of Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
, French Huguenot and Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
descent. His grandfather, a school teacher and the patriarch of the De la Rey family in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
came from Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. After the Battle of Boomplaats
Battle of Boomplaats
The Battle of Boomplaas was fought near Jagersfontein at on August 29, 1848, between the British and the Boers. The British were led by Sir Harry Smith, while the Boers were led by Andries Pretorius. The British were victorious.-External links:*...
, the family farm was confiscated by the British and the family trekked into the Transvaal
South African Republic
The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...
and settled in Lichtenburg
Lichtenburg, North West
Lichtenburg is a town situated in North West Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Ditsobotla Local Municipality.The town was established in 1873 and was named by Transvaal President Thomas François Burgers, Lichtenburg...
. As a child De la Rey received very little formal education. The De la Rey family moved once again, this time to Kimberley after the discovery of diamonds. As a young man, De la Rey worked as a transport rider on the routes serving the diamond diggings at Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
.
Marriage
De la Rey married Jacoba Elizabeth (Nonnie) Greeff and the couple settled on Manana, the Greeff family farm. Manana had belonged to Jacoba's father Hendrik Adriaan Greeff, the founder of LichtenburgLichtenburg, North West
Lichtenburg is a town situated in North West Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Ditsobotla Local Municipality.The town was established in 1873 and was named by Transvaal President Thomas François Burgers, Lichtenburg...
. Later De la Rey bought the farm Elandsfontein. They had twelve children and they looked after another six children who lost their parents. De la Rey was deeply religious and a small pocket Bible was rarely out of his hand. He had formidable looks - a long neatly trimmed brown beard and a high forehead with deep-set eyes that gave him a prematurely patriarchal appearance. His sister Cornelia was married to Pieter Van der Hoff who was a nephew of Dirk Van der Hoff
Dirk Van der Hoff
Dirk Van der Hoff was minister of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk, one of the Dutch Reformed Churches in South Africa.-Early life:...
, founder of the Dutch Reformed church in RSA.
Military campaigns
De la Rey fought in the Basotho WarFree State-Basotho War
Free State-Basotho Wars were a series of wars fought between Moshoeshoe I, the ruler of the Basotho kingdom and the Orange Free State of the Boers. These can be divided into the Senekal's War of 1858 and the Seqiti War, which included two conflicts, in 1865−1866 and 1867−1868, separated by a short...
of 1865 and Sekhukhune's
Sekhukhune
Sekhukhune , was king of the Marota , in the current Mpumalanga province, Limpopo province, Gauteng province of South Africa. He became king upon his father's death in September 1861, and lived at a mountain, now known as Thaba Ya Sekhukhune, which he fortified.The Marota lived in the land between...
War of 1876. He did not take a very active part in the First Boer War
First Boer War
The First Boer War also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881-1877 annexation:...
, but as field cornet in the western Transvaal, he took over Piet Cronje
Piet Cronje
Pieter Arnoldus Cronjé, commonly known as Piet Cronjé was a general of the South African Republic's military forces during the Anglo-Boer wars of 1880-1881 and 1899-1902....
's Potchefstroom siege (1880 -1881) when Cronjé fell ill. He was elected commandant of the Lichtenburg district, and became a member of the Transvaal Volksraad
Volksraad
The Volksraad was the parliament of the former South African Republic , which existed from 1857 to 1902 in part of what is now the South Africa. The body ceased to exist after the British victory in the Second Anglo-Boer War. The Volksraad sat in session in Ou Raadsaal in Church Square, Pretoria...
in 1883. A supporter of the progressive faction under General Piet Joubert, he opposed Paul Kruger's
Paul Kruger
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger , better known as Paul Kruger and affectionately known as Uncle Paul was State President of the South African Republic...
policies against the uitlanders, the foreigners who flocked to the Transvaal gold-rush, and warned it would lead to war with Britain.
Battles of the Second Boer War
- Battle of KraaipanBattle of KraaipanThe Battle of Kraaipan was the first engagement of the Second Anglo-Boer War, fought at Kraaipan, South Africa on 12 October 1899.On 12 October 1899 President Paul Kruger of the South African Republic in alliance with the Orange Free State declared war on the British...
, 12 October 1899.
On the outbreak of war, De la Rey was appointed one of Piet Cronjé
Piet Cronje
Pieter Arnoldus Cronjé, commonly known as Piet Cronjé was a general of the South African Republic's military forces during the Anglo-Boer wars of 1880-1881 and 1899-1902....
's field generals. De la Rey led an attack that resulted in the first shots of the war being fired at Kraaipan in an attack on a British armored train that was on its way back to Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
from Mafeking. The train was derailed and after a five-hour fight, the British surrendered. This incident made De la Rey famous, but exacerbated his conflicts with the cautious and unimaginative Cronjé, who sent him to block the advance of the British forces moving to relieve the Siege of Kimberley
Siege of Kimberley
The Siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony , when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try to capture the British enclave when war broke out between the British and the two...
.
- Graspan on 25 November 1899.
Lieutenant General Lord Methuen, commander of the 1st Division, was tasked with raising the Boer siege of Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
and moved his force by rail to Belmont station in the northern Cape Province. On detraining they came under fire from a small force of Boers led by Commandant J. Prinsloo on Belmont Kopje; by the next morning the British were in position to shell, then charge, the hill, despite some losses. The Boers retreated to their horses at the back of the koppie and fell back to Graspan, rejoining the larger force of Free-Staters and Transvaalers under the command of Prinsloo and De la Rey respectively. Here the Boers occupied several koppies, but with no better luck, as they were similarly forced off by artillery and infantry charges. The way lay open for Methuen's force to the Modder (Mud) River crossing, where the Boers had blown up the railway bridge.
- Battle of Modder RiverBattle of Modder RiverThe Battle of Modder River was an engagement in the Boer War, fought at Modder River, on 28 November 1899...
, 28 November 1899.
Having realized that the traditional Boer tactic of fighting from higher ground exposed them to the superior British artillery, De la Rey insisted that his men and Prinsloo's Free-Staters dig in on the banks of the Modder and Riet Rivers, the first use of trench warfare
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
in the war. The plan was to hold fire until the British had approached close enough for the Boers' advantage in rifle fire to take effect, while making it difficult for the full force of the British artillery to be used. In the early hours the British troops advanced across the plain unopposed, but Prinsloo's men opened fire at long range, the troops took cover and the artillery pounded the Boer trenches. A series of British rushes pushed the Free-Staters back across the ford, and only a counter-attack led by De la Rey enabled the Boers to hold the field until dusk, when they slipped away. De la Rey was wounded and his son Adriaan was killed; he blamed Cronjé for failing to send reinforcements.
- MagersfonteinMagersfonteinThe MagersfonteinMisspelt "Maaghersfontein" in some British texts battlefield is a site of the Battle of Magersfontein , part of the Second Boer War in South Africa. The battlefield is located at south of Kimberley, Northern Cape Province, South Africa and can be reached either via the airport...
, 11 December 1899.
After the Boers were forced back from the Modder River, the British spent some time repairing the Modder River bridge, while De la Rey had his men entrench on flat ground at the base of the Magersfontein hill. His controversial tactic was vindicated on 10 December when the hill was intensively shelled to no effect. Before dawn the following day, the crack Highland regiments were ordered to advance in close order. They alerted the defenders by stumbling across wires hung with tin cans and were soon pinned down. After nine hours taking heavy losses, including the brigade commander, Major General Wauchope
Andrew Gilbert Wauchope
Major-General Andrew Gilbert Wauchope was a British Army officer, killed commanding a brigade at the Battle of Magersfontein in the South African War....
, without managing to advance at all, they finally broke and retreated in disorder. The battle caused public mourning in Scotland and Methuen was sidelined; the relief of Kimberley would be entrusted to Lord Roberts
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...
.
Boer defeat
Nevertheless, Magersfontein and the disasters on the Tugela RiverTugela River
The Tugela River is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The river originates in the Drakensberg Mountains, Mont-aux-Sources, and plunges 947 metres down the Tugela Falls...
were the nadir of the British campaign and, thereafter, with massive reinforcements from all over the Empire, they gradually fought their way back. At Paardeberg (1900-02-08), while De la Rey was away rallying resistance to Major General French
John French, 1st Earl of Ypres
Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC , known as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a British and Anglo-Irish officer...
's advance in the Colesberg area of the Cape, the hapless Cronjé was trapped by Roberts and surrendered with his entire army. Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
was taken on 13 March 1900, Pretoria on 5 June; Kruger
Kruger
Krüger, Kruger or Krueger without the Umlaut Ü are German surnames originating from Krüger, meaning tavern-keeper in Low Saxon or potter in High German.Notable people with the surname include:- People :* Alan B. Krueger, American economist...
fled to Portuguese East Africa
Portuguese East Africa
Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa was the common name by which the Portuguese Empire's territorial expansion in East Africa was known across different periods of time...
.
Guerrilla war
Only a hard core of Boers were willing to remain in the field. De la Rey, Louis BothaLouis Botha
Louis Botha was an Afrikaner and first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa—the forerunner of the modern South African state...
and other commanders met near Kroonstad
Kroonstad
Kroonstad is the third-largest town in the Free State province of South Africa, and lies two hours drive from Gauteng. In the 1991 census it had a population of 110,963...
and laid down a new strategy of guerrilla war. The Western Transvaal fell to De la Rey, and for the next two years he led a mobile campaign, winning battles at Moedwil, Nooitgedacht, Driefontein, Donkerhoek and other places, and inflicting large losses of men and material on the British at Ysterspruit on 25 February 1902, where enough ammunition and supplies were captured to reinvigorate the Boer forces. At Tweebosch
Battle of Tweebosch
In the Battle of Tweebosch or De Klipdrift on 7 March 1902, a Boer commando led by Koos de la Rey defeated a British column under the command of Lieutenant General Lord Methuen during the final months of the Second Boer War.-Background:...
on 7 March 1902, a large part of Methuen's rear-guard was captured, including Methuen himself. Albeit ragged and often hungry, his men roamed at will over vast areas and tied down tens of thousands of British troops. De la Rey had an uncanny knack for avoiding ambush, leading many to believe that he was advised by the 'prophet' Siener van Rensburg
Siener van Rensburg
Nicolaas Pieter Johannes Janse van Rensburg was a Boer from the South African Republic - also known as the Transvaal Republic - and later a citizen of South Africa who was considered by some to be a prophet of the Boere...
who accompanied him. Despite some reverses, such as the Battle of Rooiwal
Battle of Rooiwal
The Battle of Rooiwal was an engagement of the Second Boer War. It took place on 11 April 1902 and resulted in a victory by a British force commanded by Colonel Robert Kekewich over a Boer commando led by Generals Ferdinandus Jacobus Potgieter and Jan Kemp....
in April 1902, De la Rey's commandos, numbering up to 3,000 men, remained in the field until the end of the war.
Chivalry
De la Rey was noted for chivalrous behaviour towards his enemies. For example, at TweeboschBattle of Tweebosch
In the Battle of Tweebosch or De Klipdrift on 7 March 1902, a Boer commando led by Koos de la Rey defeated a British column under the command of Lieutenant General Lord Methuen during the final months of the Second Boer War.-Background:...
on 7 March 1902 he captured Lieutenant General Methuen along with several hundred of his troops. The troops were sent back to their lines because De La Rey had no means to support them, and Methuen was also released because he had been gravely wounded and De la Rey believed that he would die without the prompt medical attention which only the British could provide.
Peace
To counter the guerilla campaign the British under first Roberts and then Kitchener adopted a scorched earthScorched earth
A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
counter-insurgency tactic. This involved sweeping the country bare of everything that could give sustenance to the Boer guerrillas, including women and children, and included the destruction of crops, burning down homesteads and farms, poisoning wells, and salting fields, and saw non-combatants (Boer families and sympathisers) interned in concentration camps where mortality among the women and children was so high that 50% of the population of Boer children under 16 died. The will of the Boer fighters still in the field was slowly eroded by such attritional tactics and ultimately they realised that the costs exceeded the cause; there would soon be little left for them to fight for. Many tens of thousands of blacks were interned by the British in appalling conditions in the concentration camps as well, while on the other hand others were suspected by the Boers of sympathising with the British, and betraying the whereabouts of guerillas, leading to harsh reprisals.
The British offered terms of peace on various occasions, notably in March 1901, but were rejected by Botha
Louis Botha
Louis Botha was an Afrikaner and first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa—the forerunner of the modern South African state...
. Lord Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
requested that De la Rey meet with him at Klerksdorp on 11 March 1902 for a parley
Parley
Parley is a discussion or conference, especially one between enemies over terms of a truce or other matters. The root of the word parley is parler, which is the French verb "to speak"; specifically the conjugation parlez "you speak", whether as imperative or indicative.Beginning in the High Middle...
. The two enemies formed a bond of friendship which gave De la Rey confidence in the sincerity of the British proposals. Diplomatic efforts to find a way out of the conflict continued and eventually led to an agreement to hold peace talks at Vereeniging, in which De la Rey took part and urged peace. The Treaty of Vereeniging
Treaty of Vereeniging
The Treaty of Vereeniging was the peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the South African War between the South African Republic and the Republic of the Orange Free State, on the one side, and the British Empire on the other.This settlement provided for the end of hostilities and...
was signed on 31 May 1902. He and General Botha visited England and the United States later in the same year. The Boers were promised eventual self-government (granted in 1906 and 1907 for the Transvaal and Orange Free State respectively) and awarded £3,000,000 compensation, while acknowledging the sovereignty of Edward VII.
After the war De la Rey travelled to Europe with Louis Botha and Christiaan de Wet
Christiaan De Wet
Christiaan Rudolf de Wet was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician.He was born on the Leeuwkop farm, in the district of Smithfield in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State...
to raise funds for the impoverished Boers whose families and farms had been devastated. In 1903 he was in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Ceylon, persuading the prisoners of war interned there to take the oath of allegiance and return to South Africa. Finally he returned to his own farm with his wife and remaining children. Jacoba had spent most of the war trekking in the veld with her children and a few faithful servants; she subsequently wrote a book about her wanderings, Myne Omzwervingen en Beproevingen Gedurende den Oorlog (1903), which was translated into English as "A Woman’s Wanderings and Trials During the Anglo-Boer War" translated by Lucy Hotz, and published in London (1903). | title = University of Pretoria: Electronic Theses and Dissertations | URL = http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10122004-102524/ |
Political career
In 1907 De la Rey was elected to the new Transvaal Parliament, and he was one of the delegates to the National Convention which led to the Union of South AfricaUnion of South Africa
The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...
in 1910. He became a Senator and supported Louis Botha, the first Prime Minister, in his attempts to unite Boer and British. An opposing faction led by Hertzog
James Barry Munnik Hertzog
James Barry Munnik Hertzog, better known as J. B. M. Hertzog was a Boer general during the second Anglo-Boer War who later went on to become Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1924 to 1939...
wished to establish republican government as soon as possible and resisted co-operation with the British, while promoting an increasingly bitter racism that would come to fruit in later years.
Serious violence broke out in 1914 when white miners on the Rand clashed with police and troops over the use of black miners. De la Rey commanded the government forces and the strikes were put down, but a dangerous atmosphere had formed.
Opposition to South Africa's involvement in World War I
With the outbreak of the First World War, a crisis ensued when Louis Botha agreed to send troops to take over the German colony of South West AfricaSouth West Africa
South-West Africa was the name that was used for the modern day Republic of Namibia during the earlier eras when the territory was controlled by the German Empire and later by South Africa....
(now Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
). Many Boers were opposed to fighting for Britain and against Germany. Also, many were of German descent and Germany had been sympathetic to their struggle so they looked to De la Rey for leadership. In Parliament he advocated neutrality and stated that he was utterly opposed to war unless South Africa was attacked. Nevertheless he was persuaded by Botha and Jan Smuts
Jan Smuts
Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS, PC was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts, he served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and from 1939 until 1948...
not to take any actions which might arouse the Boers. De la Rey appears to have been torn between loyalty to his comrades-in-arms, most of whom had joined the Hertzog faction, and his sense of honour.
Siener van Rensburg
Siener van Rensburg
Nicolaas Pieter Johannes Janse van Rensburg was a Boer from the South African Republic - also known as the Transvaal Republic - and later a citizen of South Africa who was considered by some to be a prophet of the Boere...
attracted large crowds with accounts of his visions in which he saw the whole world consumed by war and the end of the British Empire. On 2 August he told of a dream in which he saw General De la Rey returning home bare-headed in a carriage adorned with flowers, while a black cloud with the number 15 on it poured down blood. The excited Boers took this as a sign that De la Rey would be triumphant, but van Rensburg himself believed the dream warned of death.
Death
On 15 September 1914 an old comrade General C.F. Beyers, Commandant-General of the armed forces, resigned his commission and sent his car to fetch De la Rey from Johannesburg to Pretoria as he wished to consult with him. The two generals then set out that evening for Potchefstroom military camp where General JCG KempJan Kemp (South African)
Jan Christoffel Greyling Kemp was a South African Boer officer, rebel general and South African politician.-Early life:...
had also resigned. They encountered several police roadblocks but refused to stop, although they had in fact been set to capture the Foster gang
Foster gang
The Foster gang were a group of criminals who operated in South Africa, around Johannesburg and the Rand, during 1914. The gang, led by William Foster, committed various acts of robbery and murder...
. At Langlaagte the police fired on the speeding car and a bullet struck De la Rey's back, ending his life; his last words were dit is raak ('It hit'). He returned to his Lichtenburg farm as van Rensburg had predicted. Many Boers were convinced he had been deliberately assassinated, while others could not believe that he would have joined a rebellion, breaking his oath. According to Beyers the plan was to co-ordinate the simultaneous resignation of all the senior officers in protest at the attack on South West Africa. The theory of a government assassination holds sway to this day.
Not long after De la Rey's funeral the short-lived Maritz Rebellion
Maritz Rebellion
The Maritz Rebellion or the Boer Revolt or the Five Shilling Rebellion, 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...
broke out and De Wet; Beyers; General Maritz, commander of a force on the border of the German colony; Kemp; and other Boer veterans took up arms again but most of the army remained loyal and the rebellion was swiftly put down by Botha and Smuts. The rebels were pardoned just two years later by Botha in the interests of national reconciliation. While De la Rey would probably have been quite capable of taking to the field again at 67, it seems unlikely he would have gone against his word, especially as he had played such a leading role in bringing about the peace of Vereeniging.
De la Rey was buried in the Lichtenburg
Lichtenburg, North West
Lichtenburg is a town situated in North West Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Ditsobotla Local Municipality.The town was established in 1873 and was named by Transvaal President Thomas François Burgers, Lichtenburg...
graveyard, where a bronze bust by sculptor Fanie Eloff adorns his grave. De la Rey's home on Elandsfontein was demolished during the Boer War, but was rebuilt on the same foundation in 1902. The Voortrekkers
Voortrekkers (youth organization)
The Voortrekkers is an Afrikaans language youth organisation founded in South Africa in 1931.-Mission, values and principles:In the words of its mission statement, "Die Voortrekkers empowers the Afrikaner to be successful as positive citizens and dependable Christians."Its Values are encapsulated...
movement placed a small memorial to him on his farm. De la Rey's equestrian statue on the De la Rey square of Lichtenburg's city hall, was sculpted by a town resident, Hennie Potgieter.
Pop culture - Bok van Blerk song
Interest in the life and career of De La Rey has recently made a resurgence in South Africa as a result of a song entitled "De la Rey", by the Afrikaans folk singer Bok van BlerkBok van Blerk
Bok van Blerk, born Louis Pepler March 30, 1978, is a South African musician who sings in Afrikaans. He became famous in 2006 for his rendition of "De la Rey" by Sean Else and Johan Vorster.- Early life and career :...
. The song is about a Boer soldier who, towards the end of the 2nd Boer War, after Lord Kitchener had implemented his scorched earth
Scorched earth
A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
policy, and had burned the Boer's farm to the ground and put his wife and child in a concentration camp facing almost certain death, in desperation and contemplating the destruction of the Boer nation, calls for General De La Rey, a powerful figure even amongst other successful Boer Generals, to lead the Boer Volk (people) to victory.
The Department of Arts and Culture responded to a request for a statement on the song's potentially subversive lyrics saying that the song was "in danger of being hijacked by a minority of right-wingers", defending the composers' right to free speech and citizens' right to oppose the government through constitutional means, but warning that "those who incite treason, whatever methods they employ, might well find themselves in difficulties with the law." The Democratic Alliance opposition party responded by saying that the song was not nearly as potentially subversive as ANC
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
president Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is the President of South Africa, elected by parliament following his party's victory in the 2009 general election....
's song Umshini wami
Umshini wami
Umshini wami, also known as Awuleth' Umshini Wami , is a popular Zulu language "struggle song" used formerly by members of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the African National Congress during the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa...
(Zulu
Zulu language
Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...
for "bring me my machine [gun]").
Biographies
- De La Rey - Lion Of The West, A Biography. Johannes Meintjes. Hugh Keartland Publishers. Johannesburg 1996.
External links
- Bok van Blerk sings De la Rey
- Battle of Modder River - The Boer War at www.britishbattles.com
- Battle of Magersfontein - The Boer War at www.britishbattles.com
- Jacobus Herculaas de la Rey at www.sahistory.org.za
- Analysis of reaction to de la Rey song