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Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo | |
---|---|
Boer Commando | |
Commands held | Carolina Boer Commando |
Battles/wars | First Anglo-Boer War (1880-81) Mapog War (1882-83) Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) |
Relations | Cecilia Maria Steyn (wife), 3 daughters & 2 sons |
Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo was the
Early years
Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo was born at Mirabou, Kroonstad, Orange Free State on 10 May 1861 to Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo and his wife, Christina Johanna Dreyer. At the age of seventeen he trekked with his parents to the Lydenburg area in the Transvaal Republic.[1]
Military activities
Three years after the family's move to Lydenburg he fought under
On 23 December 1896 he became field cornet of Ward I of the Carolina commando under Boer
He was recalled to
Because he was ill Prinsloo left for home immediately after the battle.[1]
On 16 April 1900 he was back on commando to give an inspiring message from the Boer women to the burghers.[1]
When the war came to an end in Natal, Prinsloo joined General JC Fourie who led the campaign against the British in the Middelburg-Komati area.[1]
Battle of Witkloof
The Battle of Witkloof is also known as the Battle of Leliefontein
On the morning of 24 January 1900, Cmdt. Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo, led the small Carolina Commando to the top of
Their guerrilla tactics hampered General Buller's advance on Barberton and in October General JDP French's advance on Heidelberg, but their efforts did not thwart the British plans. P. aimed at wrecking the railway line to Komati, and towards the end of 1900 the British found his activities there so harassing that on 2.11.1900 General HL Smith-Dorrien left Belfast with two columns and a great deal of artillery to drive the Boers out of the area. On 6 November he succeeded in forcing them to retreat, but on 7 November P. and General Fourie decided to attack the 200-strong 19th Brigade at Witkloof near Carolina, and to carry off the light guns of the Royal Canadian Dragoons. The British hid in a pan and the unsuspecting Boers charged straight into their line of fire. Both General Fourie and P. died within minutes of each other, leaving a stunned commando to mourn them. Twenty-five years later General Smith-Dorrien was at the head of a fund-raising campaign in Britain which collected a sum of £213 for the monument erected in memory of the two burgher officers at Witkloof.
On 7 November 1951 the Battle of Leliefontein was remembered with an annual service and parade in Ottawa, Canada. A memorial service was also held at Witkloof in South Africa each year until 7 November 1964.[2]
Family life
In 1884 he married Cecilia Maria Steyn, daughter of Boer General JP Steyn, and they had three daughters and two sons:[1] Cecilia Maria Johanna Prinsloo (born 21 July 1885), Christina Johanna Prinsloo (born 15 March 1887),
His eldest son,
Conclusion
According to the biographer Neil Orpen, it remains a mystery why Prinsloo, who "was extraordinarily well-liked, imperious but always dignified and calm, even in deadly peril", was never promoted
[6]References
- ^ )
- ^ a b Routes and Roots - discovering South Africa, past and present
- ^ Genview
- ^ "Forty-seven Years after Spion Kop". Military History Journal. 1 (1). Johannesburg: The South African Military History Society. December 1967. SA ISSN 0026-4016. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
- ^ "No. 31514". The London Gazette. 19 August 1919.
- ^ "No. 31560". The London Gazette. 20 September 1919.
See also
External links
- Canada & The South African War, 1899-1902 (Battle of Leliefontein)
- Royal Canadian Dragons (Photographs)
- Photographs of Leliefontein Memorial
Category:1900 deaths Category:Afrikaner people Category:People of the Second Boer War Leliefontein Leliefontein Category:Conflicts in 1900 Category:Military history of South Africa
Category:1861 births Category:1900 deaths