Andries Hendrik Potgieter, known as Hendrik Potgieter (19 December 1792 – 16 December 1852) was a

Voortrekker The Great Trek (, ) was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial adminis ...

leader. He served as the first

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

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 ...

from 1840 and 1845 and also as the first head of state of

Zoutpansberg Zoutpansberg was the north-eastern division of the Transvaal, South Africa, encompassing an area of 25,654 square miles. The chief towns at the time were Pietersburg and Leydsdorp. It was divided into two districts (west and east) prior to the ...

from 1845 to 1852.

Beyond the Orange River

Potgieter and his party moved inland to the present Free State, where they signed a treaty with the leader of the

Barolong The Rolong (pronounced ) are a Tswana ethnic group native to Botswana and South Africa. Etymology The Rolong people's name originated from the clan's first ''kgosi'' (king, chief) Morolong, who lived around 1270–1280. The ancient word '' ...

, Moroka. The treaty stipulated that Potgieter would protect the Baralong against the Matabele raiders, in exchange for land. The tract of land was from the

Vet River The Vet River (, "fat river") is a westward-flowing tributary of the Vaal River in central South Africa. Its sources are between Marquard and Clocolan and the Vet River flows roughly northwestwards to meet the Vaal at the Bloemhof Dam near Hoopst ...

to 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 ...

. The Matabele leader,

Mzilikazi Mzilikazi Moselekatse, Khumalo ( 1790 – 9 September 1868) was a Southern African king who founded the Ndebele Kingdom now called Matebeleland which is now part of Zimbabwe. His name means "the great river of blood". He was born the son of M ...

, was threatened by the white incursion into what he saw as his sphere of influence, which led to the Matabele's attack on the Potgieter

laager A wagon fort, wagon fortress, wagenburg or corral, often referred to as circling the wagons, is a temporary fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, circle, or other shape and possibly joined with each other to produce an improvis ...

in October 1836, at Vegkop, near the present-day town of

Heilbron Heilbron is a town in the Free State (South African province), Free State province of South Africa which services the cattle, dairy, sorghum, sunflower and maize industries. Raw stock beneficiation occurs in leisure foods, dairy products and st ...

. The attack was beaten off, but the Matabele made off with most of the trekker oxen, crucial draught animals for the wagons. The combined trek groups of

Piet Retief Pieter Mauritz Retief (12 November 1780 – 6 February 1838) was a '' Voortrekker'' leader. Settling in 1814 in the frontier region of the Cape Colony, he later assumed command of punitive expeditions during the sixth Xhosa War. He became a s ...

and

Gerrit Maritz Gerhardus Marthinus (Gert or Gerrit) Maritz (1 March 1797 – 23 September 1838), was a Voortrekker pioneer and leader, wagon builder. Gerrit Maritz was the son of Salamo Stefanus Maritz and Maria Elizabeth Oosthuizen. He married Agnita Maria ...

came to Potgieter's rescue. Moroka also helped with oxen. His group joined up with Retief and Maritz at

Thaba Nchu Thaba 'Nchu, also known as Blesberg (''bald mountain'' in Afrikaans), is a town in Free State, South Africa, 63 km east of Bloemfontein and 17 km east of Botshabelo. The population is largely made up of Tswana and Sotho people. The to ...

, where they formed a Voortrekker government and decided to move to

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

. Potgieter was not in favour of this plan and stayed behind in the Free State.

Dingane campaign

In 1838, after

and his party were killed by

Dingane Dingane ka Senzangakhona Zulu (–29 January 1840), commonly referred to as Dingane, Dingarn or Dingaan, was a Zulu prince who became king of the Zulu Kingdom in 1828, after assassinating his half-brother Shaka Zulu. He set up his royal capita ...

, and other Voortrekker parties were attacked (

Weenen massacre The Weenen Massacre, also known as the Bloukrans Massacre, was a series of coordinated attacks by Zulu forces under Dingane, King Dingane on Voortrekker encampments in Natal, present-day South Africa, on 17–18 February 1838. Following the kill ...

) at the Bloukrans and

Bushman River The Bushman's River () is an east to north-easterly flowing tributary of the Tugela River, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg Mountain range, with its upper catchment in the Giant's Castle Game Reserve, ...

s, Potgieter and another leader, Pieter Lafras Uys assembled a military force. To prevent schism and discord, the new Voortrekker leader in Natal, Maritz, diplomatically pronounced that both Uys and Potgieter were to be in command. However, a struggle between the hot-headed Uys and Potgieter ensued. The divided force was lured into an ambush by the

Zulus Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They originated from Nguni communities who took p ...

at Italeni, and both Uys and his son Dirkie, were killed. The surrounded and outnumbered force fled. Potgieter was criticised for his actions, and the force was called "Die Vlugkommado" or Flight Commando. He was further accused, unjustly, of causing the death of Uys by deliberately leading the force into the ambush. He left Natal for good soon afterwards and moved to the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

Transvaal settlements

Potgieter subsequently went on to found Potchefstroom (named after him), by the banks of the Mooi River, and served as its first head of state of the Potchefstroom Republic between 1840 and 1845. Later, in 1845, he also founded

Ohrigstad Ohrigstad (Afrikaans for ''Ohrig city''), formerly Andries Ohrig Stad, is a small town to the north of Lydenburg in the Limpopo province, South Africa. History A fort was established by a group of Voortrekkers under the leadership of Andries He ...

(originally named Andries-Ohrigstad after Potgieter himself and George Ohrig) as a trading station. Owing to a

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

outbreak, the town had to be abandoned. The inhabitants, including Potgieter, moved to the

Soutpansberg The Soutpansberg (formerly Zoutpansberg), meaning "Salt Pan Mountain" in Afrikaans, is a Mountain range, range of mountains in far northern South Africa. It is located in Vhembe District Municipality, Vhembe District, Limpopo. It is named for t ...

area, where he founded the town Zoutpansbergdorp (which means 'Salt Pan Mountain Town'), later renamed Schoemansdal. After the 1842 annexation of Natal by Britain, many Natal Trekkers moved to the Free State and the Transvaal. These newcomers and their leader, Andries Pretorius, refused to accept the authority of Potgieter, and a power struggle developed. War was averted, and in 1848 a peace treaty was signed in

Rustenburg Rustenburg (; , Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a town at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West (South African province), North West province, South Africa (549 ...

In 1852 after the sand river convention with king Moshoeshoe the Boers had access to the Transvaal, In 1852 Hendrik Potgieter led a

Boer Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...

expedition against Transvaal Ndebele chief Mankopane Mapela Langa which was fatal for the Boers and saw them leave mokopane for zoutpansburg they would later return to mokopane during 1800s and amended their issues with the local kings Masebe iii Langa and Mokopane ii Kekana with the help of

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 ...

who negotiated a peace treaty with Mankopane & Mokopane in 1869. The missionaries and the Boers would go on to establish mokopane. In 1907 the city was renamed potigieterus in honor of the battles between the locals and Boers. In 1852 again Hendrick led another commando against King Sekwati’s forces. The Boers besieged the Pedi stronghold, hoping they would run out of food and water. But they managed to maintain themselves by sending young warriors to steal through the Boer lines at night. On the twenty-fourth day, the Boers departed with the Pedi cattle. Potgieter died on 16 December 1852 in Zoutpansbergdorp. A number of African chiefs who held him in very high regard came to pay their respects before his death. He was elected to

Volksraad The Volksraad was a people's assembly or legislature in Dutch or Afrikaans speaking government. Assembly South Africa * Volksraad (South African Republic) (1840–1902) * Volksraad (Natalia Republic), a similar assembly that existed in the Natalia ...

, and served several times as the Chairman of Volksraad. Image:Voortrekker Monument May 2006, IMG 3008.jpg, A frieze in the

Voortrekker Monument The Voortrekker Monument is located just south of Pretoria in South Africa. The granite structure is located on a hilltop, and was raised to commemorate the Voortrekkers who left the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854. It was designed by the ar ...

depicting a wounded voortrekker in Potgieter's Vegkop laager Image:Paardekraalmonument, oosplaket, Krugersdorp.jpg, A plaque on the 1890

Paardekraal Monument The Paardekraal Monument is situated in Krugersdorp, South Africa. The monument commemorates the original site of vow made by Transvaal Boers on 13 December 1880, prior to the armed rebellion known as First Boer War, when they vowed to regain the ...

that records Potgieter's arrival in Transvaal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potgieter, Andries Hendrik 1792 births 1852 deaths People from the Eastern Cape Afrikaner people Members of the Volksraad of the South African Republic South African people of Dutch descent Cape Colony people History of KwaZulu-Natal Great Trek South African Republic politicians

Beyond the Orange River

Dingane campaign

Transvaal settlements

See also

References