Piet Cronjé | |
|---|---|
 Cronjé as a prisoner of war onSaint Helena, 1900–1902 | |
| Birth name | Pieter Arnoldus Cronjé |
| Born | (1836-10-04)4 October 1836 |
| Died | 4 February 1911(1911-02-04) (aged 74) |
| Allegiance |  South African Republic |
| Service years | 1880–1902 |
| Rank | General |
| Wars | |
Pieter Arnoldus "Piet"Cronjé (4 October 1836 – 4 February 1911) was a South AfricanBoer general during theAnglo-Boer Wars of 1880–1881 and 1899–1902.
Born in theCape Colony but raised in theSouth African Republic, Cronjé had a distinctive appearance, being short with a black beard and was reputed to have considerable personal courage.[citation needed] He made his reputation in theFirst Boer War, besieging the British garrison atPotchefstroom.[1] He was unable to force their surrender until after the conclusion of the generalarmistice, and was at this time accused of withholding knowledge of this armistice from the garrison.[2]
Cronjé was in command of the force that rounded upLeander Jameson atDoornkop at the conclusion of theJameson Raid on 2 January 1896.[3] During theSecond Boer War, Cronjé was general commanding in the western theatre of war. He began the sieges ofKimberley andMafeking.[4] At Mafeking, with a force between 2,000 and 6,000 he laid siege against 1,200 regular troops and militia under the command of ColonelRobert Baden-Powell.[5]
AfterLord Methuen attempted to relieve the siege of Kimberley, Cronjé fought theBattle of Modder River on 28 November 1899, where the British won aPyrrhic victory over the Boers. Cronjé's novel tactics at the Modder River, where his infantry were positioned at the base of the hills instead of at the tops—to increase the effectiveness of their rifles' flat trajectories—earned him a place in military history. However the tactics ascribed to him were not his own; he was convinced by GeneralKoos de la Rey and PresidentMartinus Theunis Steyn. After Modder River, Cronjé repulsed Methuen's forces at theBattle of Magersfontein on 11 December.[5] This was actually due toDe la Rey's tactics and planning; Cronjé sat idle in camp.[citation needed]
Cronjé was anattritionist and did not see the value inmanoeuvre battles. He was defeated at theBattle of Paardeberg where he surrendered with 4,150 of his commandos on 27 February 1900, after being enveloped byLord Roberts' forces. The commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, theGrenadier Guards, Lieutenant ColonelEyre Crabbe, was surprised to find that Cronjé had been accompanied on the campaign by his wife.[6][citation needed]
After his surrender he and his wife, Hester, were sent to a prison-of-war camp onSaint Helena, where he remained until the conclusion of peace negotiations in 1902.[7] Boer morale sank after his defeat, with the capital of theOrange Free State,Bloemfontein, being taken without a shot being fired. He was aSouth African Freemason.[8]
Cronjé was humiliated and shunned by the other Boer generals, ridiculed in the press, and was not asked to attend the peace talks atVereeniging. He took part in the World Fair reenactments of the Anglo-Boer war atSt. Louis in 1904. Dubbed a "circus general" by the South African press, he failed to return home at the time, instead joining a show onConey Island, Brooklyn.[citation needed] He eventually returned to South Africa and died atKlerksdorp.[9]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cronje, Piet Arnoldus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 502.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922)."Cronje, Piet Arnoldus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 30 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 774.
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