Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 10, 1861 |
| Died | November 7, 1900 (aged 39) |
| Allegiance |  South African Republic (ZAR) |
| Years of service | 1891 - 1900 |
| Rank | Boer commandant |
| Unit | Carolina 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 Commandant of the Carolina Boer Commando whose actions ensured a Boer victory at the Battle of Spioenkop and died in the Battle of Leliefontein (also known as the Battle of Witkloof).
Early years edit
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 edit
Three years after the family's move to Lydenburg he fought under Field Cornet Louis Nel in the First Anglo-Boer War (1880–81) and distinguished himself at Bokgat in the Mapog War that followed (1882–83) by risking his life to bring a wounded burgher to safety.[1]
On 23 December 1896 he became field cornet of Ward I of the Carolina commando under Boer Commandant DJ Joubert and in this capacity took part in the war against Mphephu (1897–98). He succeeded Joubert as commandant on 29 June 1899 and on 4 October he and his commando, numbering about 500 men, left for Oshoek on the Swaziland border.[1]
He was recalled to Natal in December, shortly after the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), to make preparations to withstand Sir Redvers Buller's expected attack on the Tugela line. Under the command of Boer General Schalk Burger, Prinsloo and his men pitched camp near the Tweelingkoppies (Twin Peaks) on 20 January1900. During the night of 23–24 January approximately 1 700 British troops attacked Spioenkop which was near by. Prinsloo was ordered to take the hill by storm. In the hours before daybreak he gave orders for a section of burghers to be deployed to Alwynkoppie. He rode post-haste to General Louis Botha for final instructions. Prinsloo personally supervised the preparation of two guns for the battle. At 06:00 he joined eighty Carolina burghers to begin fighting. His preparations played a decisive part in that day's battle. After a few encouraging words to his men he and a handful of them advanced on the hill which was shrouded in mist. For two hours Prinsloo and his men held out against the British under Major-General ERP Woodgate before Boer reinforcements arrived. With the aid of heliographic messages the Prinsloo's well-placed guns wrought havoc among the Lancashire Fusiliers and Brigadier-General AW Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry and the rifle-fire of the burghers on Alwynkoppie claimed many British lives in the trenches. Some of the Carolina burghers, who had had to charge the enemy without cover of any kind, had taken to flight early in the morning, but Prinsloo's timely intervention and tactical skill transformed their flight into a renewed attack.[1]
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 edit
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 Spioenkop. During the defence along the Tugela River, this small mounted unit was of vital importance. Prinsloo and his 11 year old son supplied fresh horses for the unit. In November 1900 the unit focused on the important Delagoa Bay railway line. Maj-Gen Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien was tasked with stopping them. He referred to them as "brave risk takers who tested us like Cossacks". On 6 November the Smith-Dorrien and his 1400 men and six cannons were on their way to Carolina. General JC Fourie and Prinsloo were top riders, but that morning both their horses were difficult to handle. The two forces clashed at Witkloof. In the final advance, Fourie and Prinsloo decided to take the cannons. Three Canadians risked their lives to save the cannons. Fourie and Prinsloo were killed, and Boer General Grobler was wounded. Of the 95 Colonial troops lost, 31 were Canadian. The day after the battle, Ou Mei, Prinsloo's faithful musket bearer (agterryer), took a letter from Smith-Dorrien dated 7 November (written before the battle), and Prinsloo's bush hat back to Mrs. Prinsloo. The battle took place within sight of Prinsloo's farmhouse, where his wife and children were. The Canadians won three Victoria Crosses and one DSO in this battle. After the war, Smith-Dorrien collected money in London and built a memorial for the two Boer officers.[2]
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 edit
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), Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo (born 18 August 1890), Johannes Petrus Prinsloo (born 8 May 1894) and Johannes Petrus Steyn Prinsloo (born 29 August 1897.[3]
His eldest son, Hendrik Fredrik Prinsloo, was interned in the Barberton concentration camp by the British at the age of 11 for carrying arms to his father's Commando. This son served on the side of the British during World War I and earning the French Croix de Guerre avec Palmes[1] He would later rise to the rank of Colonel in the South African Army and would be recognised by the Italian post-WWII government and the Pope for the humanitarian way in which he ran the Zonderwater Italian POW camp of which he was Commandant.[4]
Conclusion edit
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 general.[1][5] [6]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Prinsloo, Hendrik Frederik". Dictionary of South African Biography. Vol. III. Human Sciences Research Council. 1981. ISBN 0 409 09183 9.
{{cite encyclopedia}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ 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 edit
External links edit
- 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