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Pieter Willem Charles Leibbrandt

Prisoner of War - Fouriesburg, 30 July 1900

Burger, Harrismith Commando – Anglo Boer War

- Anglo Boere Oorlog Medal to BURGER P.W.C. LEIBBRANDT

Piet Leibbrandt was born in Tulbagh in the western part of the Cape Colony on 5 August 1854, the son of Pieter Willem Heideman Leibbrandt, a farmer, and his wife Johanna Maria, born De Bruyn. As was often the case among farming communities, the families were, of necessity, large one and a young Piet would have had an abundance of playmates in his siblings Abraham Johannes Ulrich, Jacob Philippus, Sophia Johanna Maria, Sebastiaan Johannes, Hendrik Albertus Jacobus, Charles Gert Jacobus, and Johanna Charlotta Dorothea.


Piet Leibbrandt is on the extreme right, middle row of this Diyatalawa POW camp photo

On 17 September of that year, he was baptized in the Dutch Reform Church in Tulbagh, a sleep little village in the wine-producing area not far from Cape Town. Having been born, and whilst resident in the Cape Colony, the Leibbrandt family were subjects of the Crown, something which didn’t sit well with a number of Dutch speakers – they were faced with a choice – either pack up and travel north and take up citizenship in either the Orange Free State or the Transvaal – both independent Boer Republics or tow the line and accept their lot as British subjects.

Many chose the former option and, being pastoral by nature, trekked into the Orange Free State where they were among like-minded people. Here they bought farms and took up the business of eking out an existence in the harsh and forbidding flatlands of the interior. Pieter, the subject of this work, had made the trek to Winburg in the east of the Orange Free State at some point in the early 1880’s – having settled down as a cattle farmer in the Eden district, he wed 20 year old Martha Maria Magdalena Stapelberg in the Dutch Reform Church in Winburg on 13 February 1883. He was a young man aged 21 at the time.

The couple set about the making of a family and proof that they were still resident in the Winburg area in 1889 came via the Dutch Reform Church Baptismal register which recorded the baptism of their son Abraham Johannes Ulrich in June of that year. The baby would have been baptised in one of the family names, in the Boer tradition, in this case in the name of an uncle.

As life went on little thought would have been given to the impending war between the Orange Free State and the Transvaal on one side and the might of the British Empire on the other. Leibbrandt, camped on the Market Square in Winburg when he brought his family into town to attend the monthly “Nagmaal” service, would have heard of the tensions that were starting to escalate between the two parties. It would have been a subject of discussion as the men gathered around their wagons, smoking their pipes and drinking their coffee as they caught up with the local gossip and news from afar.

Both the local Veld Kornet and the Magistrate would have been the ones to turn to for the latest and the V.K. would have used the opportunity to remind those in his Wijk (Ward) that they must keep their rifles clean and at the ready, with enough ammunition should the word go out for them to assemble as a Commando. As they drifted back to their farms, the admonition would have faded from their minds as the business of making a living resumed centre stage.

Towards the end of September 1899, this all changed. The aforementioned tensions had escalated to fever pitch and war was now regarded as imminent. The men were summonsed into town and briefed that, the moment word was received from the High Command, they would be off on Commando – the Orange Free State men were to cross the Drakensberg mountain range from Harrismith and head for Dundee and Ladysmith. The Transvaal men were to cross over into Northern Natal from Utrecht and Volksrust. Both were to fight there way to the coast with the Port of Durban being the prize.

What lay before them? On the Eastern Front, the Natal Theatre, were the garrison of 8000 men at Ladysmith under Sir George White with another 4000 men further north at Dundee, under Penn-Symons. Frankly, even with the hastily mustered Colonial volunteers from Natal, their numbers were hopelessly inadequate to stem the Boer tide.


Leibbrandt's completed Vorm B

Thanks to Leibbrandt’s completed Vorm B – the application for an Anglo Boer War medal – we know where he served. The form is designed in such a way that the combatant has to declare under who he served, in what capacity and name the battles in which he fought. Leibbrandt, when he completed his form, claimed to have served with the Harrismith Commando as a Burger. He went further and claimed to have been “Bevelvoerder Offisier oor ammunisie waens” – this translates to Officer Commanding over the ammunition wagons. The veracity of this last statement we will be unable to verify but each Commando did have at least one man deployed in this capacity.

As to the question of where he served – Leibbrandt, like so many of his comrades, named the first few battles and then laped into “ens.” (etc.) – the kiss of death to any researcher hungry to know more. In his instance he claimed service at Ladysmith, Platrand (Ladysmith), Colenso and Spioenkop under, variously, General Wessels and Veld Kornet M.C.F. De Jager (Michael Cornelis Frans De Jager), Harrismith Commando.

At 17h00 on the afternoon of 11 October 1899 war began, but it was not until the early hours of the 12th that the Boers started to move. Five days later some 2 200 Free Staters had entered Natal through various Drakensberg passes, Leibbrandt among them. Their mission was to destroy the bridge over the Tugela River at Colenso. The English-speaking group from Harrismith were sent to Oliviershoek Pass or were committed to serving in the ranks of the Town Guard.

The invasion of Natal during the first few days was unopposed. The first clash occurred when a detachment of the Harrismith commando became engaged with a force of Natal Carbineers near Bester's Station. The ensuing skirmish resulted in the first casualty of the war in Natal when Fred Johnson, of Harrismith, was killed.

As the invasion progressed it was the Transvaal commandos who took the brunt of the fighting with actions at Talana Hill (20 October 1899) and Elandslaagte (21 October 1899). It was at Elandslaagte that the Boers under Gen Kock, were defeated. At the request of President M T Steyn, all the Free State forces, then under the command of General A P Cronjé, were ordered to advance in the direction of Elandslaagte. The arrival of the Free State Boers on the heights north of Ladysmith increased Sir George White's anxiety for the safety of the British column retreating from Dundee.

This rendered it imperative that the troops in Ladysmith should be used to prevent the enemy from attacking the column on its exposed flank. The clash came on 24 October near the Rietfontein farmstead. A heavy artillery bombardment and long range rifle fire halted the Boer advance that day. In fact the Harrismith commando had to evacuate its position from Ndwatshana hill owing to the grass having been set alight. The Boer casualties, according to Commandant Prinsloo, were 9 killed and 21 wounded while C R de Wet states that 11 were killed and 21 were wounded, of whom two later died. The British losses amounted to 12 men killed and 104 wounded.

The skirmish at Rietfontein allowed the British force from Dundee to reach Ladysmith unscathed. However, the Transvaal and Free State Boers, now unopposed, continued their advance on Ladysmith.

A British reconnaissance to the east of Ladysmith on 29 October established the presence of a Boer encampment in that area. The information gained seemed to Sir George White to furnish the reasons he desired for assuming the offensive. The battle of Modder Spruit and Tchengula on 30 October, in which the British attempted to drive the Boers away from the environs of Ladysmith, failed. By 2 November, the encirclement of the town was complete. The high hills along the northern, eastern, and south-eastern perimeter were occupied by the Transvaal commandos, while the western, south-western, and southern lines consisted of men from the Orange Free State. The Harrismith Boers occupied Middle Hill, a prominent feature almost due south of the town. Within the Boer encirclement lay the British troops in Ladysmith most of whom occupied prominent features within and adjacent to the town.


The battle of Platrand

From the beginning of the siege the Boers considered that Platrand, a long flat hill to the south of the town, was the key to the occupation of Ladysmith. Platrand reaching to 120 metres above the town, consists of three separate heights, viz., Caesar's Camp, Wagon Hill, and Wagon Point. In the early hours of 6 January 1900 the Boers attacked both the eastern and western extremities of Platrand. A vanguard of Free Staters, including 100 men of the Harrismith commando, launched the initial assault between Wagon Hill and Wagon Point. This force, which eventually totalled 800 men, was led by Combat-General C J de Villiers. The Boer attack carried forward and despite the arrival of reinforcements and the attempts to drive the Boers away, the British were unable to prevent them from establishing a foothold along the southern perimeter of Platrand. The British were forced back to the rearward (i.e. northern) slope of their defences. Heavy exchanges of rifle fire continued until daylight and although the British launched three separate charges with the bayonet, the Boers retained their positions on the foremost crest. By mid-morning, the intensity of firing diminished to such an extent that some soldiers were able to get food.

Shortly after midday some 20 Free Staters, led by Field-Cornets Jacob de Villiers and Zacharias de Jager, suddenly charged a gun emplacement. Both these men were shot dead. However, the Boers opened an intense rifle fire after responding to a British counter attack. Despite valiant British attempts to retake their former positions (in which two Victoria Crosses for gallantry were eventually awarded), it remained for a bayonet charge during a severe thunderstorm to eject the Boers from their positions.

Shortly after the commencement of the attack by the Free Staters, the Transvaal Boers launched an offensive on the eastern end of Caesar's Camp. Although they managed to capture one of the enemy's sangars they were unable to gain further ground. Despite the arrival of reinforcements, the British were unable to occupy their former positions, and it was only when the position of the Transvalers was made untenable by the evacuation of their Free State brethren that all Caesar's Camp was once again in British hands.

According to The Times History of the War in South Africa the British casualties were 175 men (of whom 17 were officers) killed or died of wounds, and 249 (including 28 officers) wounded.

The day after the battle the Boers were allowed to remove their dead for burial. The Boer losses according to Reverend J D Kestell in his book Through Shot and Flame were 68 killed, of which 22 were Free Staters, and 135 wounded. The Harrismith commando lost 35 men of whom 15 were killed. In no other battle during the entire war did they lose so many men. The bodies of Burghers De Villiers and De Jager were taken to Harrismith where they were buried with full military honours.

In an effort to relieve the siege of Ladysmith, General Redvers Buller directed the Natal Army to break through the Boer defensive line along the Tugela River. The attempts at Colenso (15 December 1899), Thabanyama and Spioenkop (20-24 January 1900) and Vaalkrans (5-7 February 1900) all ended in failure. Vaalkrans hill was the only battle in which the Harrismith commando (a token force of 40 men which included some from Winburg) took part. These men, together with other Free State commandos occupied the Brakfontein Heights and apart from a heavy but ineffectual rifle fire in the initial phase, had no further active part in the battle. Vaalkrans was occupied and then evacuated by the British. It was later in the month and near Colenso that Ladysmith was to be relieved by the Natal Army. In the battle of the Tugela Heights (14-27 February 1900) where the British were overwhelmingly superior in men and guns, the Boers evacuated their positions along the Tugela River and Ladysmith was relieved (28 February 1900). The commandos along the Tugela and around Ladysmith abandoned their positions and trekked away with all speed; the Transvalers to northern Natal and the Free Staters to the Drakensberg.

After the Free State Boers retired from Natal a large number of them were ordered to go to the western theatre of conflict in an endeavour to oppose Lord Roberts and his army from penetrating further into the Free State. General Sir John French relieved the siege of Kimberley on 15 February 1900 and General Cronjé surrendered with some 4 000 men at Paardeberg on 27 February 1900. Roberts entered Bloemfontein on 13 March 1900 and two months later annexed the Free State for the British Crown, renaming the territory the Orange River Colony.

The commandos of Harrismith, Vrede and Heilbron, who were subsequently called away, were assigned to the defence of the Drakensberg passes from Oliviershoek to De Beers. From Natal the army under Buller ascended the Drakensberg further to the north via Botha's Pass and Laing's Nek, and eventually advanced into the Transvaal. Meanwhile the Harrismith and Vrede men, after remaining inactive until mid-July, were ordered to proceed to Naauwpoort, a mountain pass in the lofty Rooiberge mountains near Bethlehem towards which a large British Force had been advancing.

From early April 1900 the advance of the 8th Division of 8 000 men under Lt Gen Sir Leslie Rundle, started from Springfontein and proceeded via Dewetsdorp and Thabanchu to a line linking Winburg, Clocolan and then on to a front joining Biddulphsberg, Hammonia and Ficksburg. Rundle's movements were in accordance with instructions received from the British Commander-in-Chief, Lord Roberts, who foresaw the probability of a Boer invasion of the south-eastern Free State. Not only would such an invasion materially threaten the line of communication and supply along the railway, but it would also force the redeployment of troops from the front, which would seriously interfere with the campaign. Rather than afford pitched battles with the possibility of being surrounded, the Boers retired before the advancing British.

The terrain towards which the Boers retired was the shape of a horseshoe some 120 kilometres long, formed by the Witteberge range of mountains, which extends from Commando Nek opposite Ficksburg to the north, and the Rooiberge range which continues in a south-easterly then easterly direction, terminating at Golden Gate. To the south of these mountains flows the Caledon River, separating the Free State from Lesotho (then called Basutoland). The principal passes in these mountains are Commando Nek, Retief Nek, Slabbert and Naauwpoort, while less conspicuous are the gaps such as Witnek, Nelspoort, Bamboeshoek and Golden Gate. Within the enclosure are deep valleys through which flow the Brandwater, the Little Caledon and Caledon rivers. In this mountainous region, known as the Brandwater Basin, some 8 400 Boers, including their leaders President M T Steyn and Commandants Christiaan de Wet and Marthinus Prinsloo, were encircled by 16 000 British troops.

The country before Naauwpoort Nek was occupied by elements of the Bethlehem, Vrede and Harrismith commandos. Two British columns swept down from Bethlehem. The Boers, after offering considerable resistance on 26 July, withdrew through the pass and advanced eastward towards Golden Gate. Realising that the Boers could escape, the British endeavoured to guard both Naauwpoort and Golden Gate but arrived too late. Only slight opposition was encountered, the Boers having escaped, heading northwards towards Harrismith.

Once Retief's Nek and Slabbert's Nek had been captured, Rundle was able to move through Commando Nek, abandoned by the Boers, and march to Fouriesburg, which was captured without opposition and where 115 British captives were released. An hour after his arrival Gen Hunter and some of his force entered the town from the north.

On 28 July General Hunter, with contingents including those from Rundle's force, advanced eastwards to Slaapkrans. An infantry assault was launched on the heights before nightfall. Little progress was made and the Boers retired piecemeal up the valley of the Little Caledon River; Slaapkrans fell into British hands at midnight. The casualties for the day amounted to 34 men of whom 4 had been killed.

On 29 July three Boer emissaries rode into British lines and were told to inform their commander, Prinsloo, to surrender. By now a British force of some 20 000 men was encamped near Slaapkrans. On behalf of the Boers, Marthinus Prinsloo agreed to surrender; the main Boer headquarters being appropriately named 'Verliesfontein'. The formal surrender took place on the morning of 30 July 1900 on a flat-topped hill, known today as Surrender Hill, which is on the farm Boerland some 4 kilometres from Slaapkrans. In all, 986 men came forward to lay down their arms. Other commandos delayed. On 31 July, more Boers surrendered near Slaapkrans. On the same day, a large number laid down their arms at Golden Gate. In all 4 314 men and three guns were taken into British hands. The captured Boers were conducted to Fouriesburg by an escort of the Imperial Yeomanry of the 8th Division and then on to Winburg where they were entrained.


Boers filing past during the surrender in the Brandwater Basin

According to official records, Leibbrandt, aged 46 and from the farm Quaggasfontein in the Winburg district, was taken P.O.W. at Fouriesburg on 30 July 1900. In the Vorm B he completed he claimed to have been taken prisoner in October 1901, at an unspecified location. It is to be remembered that Boer combatants were only allowed to apply for their medals after 1921 – perhaps the passage of time had blurred his memory. The League of Veterans forms he completed are probably nearer to the truth – in them he stated that he had laid down his weapon (surrendered) in August 1900, whilst serving under Kommandant Haasbroek.

Sent to Diyatalawa in Ceylon, Leibbrandt was in good company there as many of his brethren from the eastern Orange Free State were incarcerated in the huts in the camp.

Having been repatriated to South Africa after the conclusion of the Anglo Boer War, he moved to Naboomspruit in the Transvaal – it was from this address that he applied for his medal. He passed away in the town on 23 May 1943 at the grand old age of 93 years 10 months and 18 days. Cause of death was Coronary Thrombosis. He was a retired grain and cattle farmer. His residential address at the time of his passing was 7th St. Naboomspruit, District Potgietersus.