Andries Petrus Johannes Cronjé (A.P.J. Cronjé, 18 June 1849 – 23 February 1923) was a

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

general, like his older brother Piet Cronjé (1836 – 1911). After surrendering to the British he became a prominent member of the National Scouts Corps, who assisted the British military against the remaining Boer guerrillas in the last years of the Boer War. A.P.J. Cronjé should not be confused with Boer general Andries Petrus Cronjé (A.P. Cronjé, 1833 – 1916), who was captured and sent to

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

by the British.

Family

Andries was born the fourth son of Andries Petrus Cronjé (

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The to ...

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

, 7 April 1811 –

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an college town, academic city in the North West (South African province), North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstro ...

, North West, 19 September 1882) and Johanna Christina Gildenhuijsen (or Geldenhuys, Sergeants River,

Swellendam Swellendam () is the third oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town and Stellenbosch), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them buildings of Cape D ...

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

, 22 December 1814 – Potchefstroom, 13 July 1878), who had seven sons and four daughters. He was a younger brother of general Piet Cronjé (1836 – 1911). Andries married three times, first with Catharina Michelina Basson (23 June 1849 – Transvaal, 1870), then with Johanna Elizabeth Dorothea Steyn (Potchefstroom, 6 April 1849 – Potchefstroom, 6 March 1904), and finally with Isabella Johanna Botha. Cronjé fathered 11 children, at least six daughters and four sons, including his namesake Andries Petrus Johannes, who died at the

Battle of Paardeberg The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain", 18–27 February 1900) was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near ''Paardeberg Ford (crossing), Drift'' on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free St ...

Second Boer War

Potchefstroom Commander

At the outset of the Second Boer War A.P.J. Cronjé was commander of the Potchefstroom Commando and reinforced

Christiaan de Wet Christiaan Rudolf de Wet (7 October 1854 – 3 February 1922) was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician. Life Born on the Leeuwkop farm, in the district of Smithfield in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State, he later resided at ...

at Koedoesberg 40 km southwest of Kimberley on 6 February 1900 with 200 men and a Krupp cannon and reached him near Watervalsdrift/Waterval Drift on the Riet River at Wintershoek with 325 men. Then De Wet sent Cronjé to occupy Koffiefontein.

Battle of Paardeberg

At the

A.P.J. Cronjé and his men fought under the overall command of Orange Free State commander-in-chief general Philip Botha. On 23 February 1900 they tried in vain to extricate A.P.J.'s brother Piet Cronjé from the British encirclement. Andries's son and namesake was killed during a British artillery bombardment of the unfinished bridge at Vandisiedrif over the Modder River, built to rescue Piet Cronjé's troops. After the flight of the failed Boer rescuers before the British, they were scolded at by Orange Free State commander-general De Wet and general Philip Botha. Andries Daniel Wynand Wolmarans (''Danie Wolmarans'', 1857–1928), member of the Executive (Uitvoerende Raad) of the

South African Republic The South African Republic (, abbreviated ZAR; ), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republics, Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result ...

who was present, then decided to place the Transvaal troops under their own combat general and promoted A.P.J. Cronjé to that rank, a nomination that was confirmed by president

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904), better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State Preside ...

. At this point there were, apart from de Wet, six generals: Philip Botha, Christoffel Cornelis Froneman, Andries Petrus Cronjé, C. J. Wessels, Andries Petrus Johannes Cronjé, and W.J. Kolk.

Boshof, National Scouts and aftermath

A.P.J. succeeded together with commander Diedericks to force Methuen's troops near

Boshof Boshof is a farming town in the west of the Free State province, South Africa. The town is 55 km north-east of Kimberley on the R64 road. Established in March 1856 on the farm Vanwyksvlei, which had been named after a Griqua who sowed his ...

to retreat, but without destroying the railways they then retreated themselves to a defensive position on the

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...

. General Sarel du Toit requested A.P.J. to help beating back the British attack at Veertien Strome (Battle of Veertienstrome/Fourteen Streams, 3–5 May 1900, near Warrenton) but the British had won there before A.P.J. could answer. Later A.P.J. surrendered to the British army on 14 June 1900 and became - with generals like Piet de Wet, the brother of General Christiaan de Wet - a leading figure in the British National Scouts Corps, helping them against the Boer guerrilla army for the remainder of the war. In 1903 after the war's conclusion, Cronjé with the same Piet de Wet led a deputation to visit Colonial Secretary

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal Party (UK), Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading New Imperialism, imperial ...

in London.

Literature

* Bossenbroek, M.P. and Yvette Rosenberg (Translator), ''The Boer War'', Seven Stories Press, New York, NY, 2018. ISBN 9781609807474, 1609807472. General reference and pages 273, 325, and 383. * Six volumes in

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

. General reference. ** Pages 60 and 154. ** Pages 135, 173, 176, 178–179, 188, 198, 346, 367, 379, 407, 465, 481, 483, 485, and 489. ** Pages 15, 31, 72, 329, 353–354, 374, 385, 388, 390, 393–394, 411–412, 490–491, 494–495, 497, 520, 524, and 527. Expedition to

, Orange Free State: pp. 379–385. * *De Wet, C.R., ''Three years' war'', New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1902. * Pakenham, Thomas, ''The Boer War'', George Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1979. Abacus, 1992. ISBN 0 349 10466 2. General reference and page 542.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronje, Andries Petrus Johannes South African Republic generals South African Republic military personnel of the Second Boer War 1849 births 1923 deaths