General Pieter Arnoldus (Piet) Cronje

Date: 4 October, 1836

Pieter Arnoldus (Piet) Cronje, politician and military leader in the ZAR and general during  Second Anglo-Boer War, was born in Colesberg, Cape Colony on the 4th October 1836. From his eighth year he lived in the Orange Free State, but moved with his parents to the Transvaal Republic (ZAR)  in 1848. He rebelled against British rule in November 1880 and was the commander at Potchefstroom where he fought against the British battalion and pushed them to surrender. He led the Boer commando, which foiled the Jameson Raid, and was appointed to command the western front during Anglo-Boer War 2. Cronje surrendered with a force of 4 000 at Paardeberg on 28 February 1900 and was banished to St. Helena.

References:

1. Pieter Arnoldus (Piet) Cronje from Encyclopedia Britannica [online], avalable at:http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9027975/Pieter-Arnoldus-Cronje [accessed September 2008]
2. Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.
3. Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 3, p. 505.