O
they haven’t got him yet,
Who? De Wet.
He’s
a slippery old vet
Who
evades the British net
Is De Wet;
And
he has them guessing yet,
Has De Wet.
Rough
and ready is De Wet,
You can bet;
Ready
for the social set,
Duke
or Earl or Tommy vet,
Is De Wet.
Hardest
problem they have met,
Bold De Wet.
Keeps
the British plans upset,
Does De Wet;
Keeps
‘em in a fume and fret
Lest
they sit down and “forget”,
Fleet De Wet.
Fight, You’ll
slip ‘em, whip ‘em yet,
Brave De Wet.
May
3, 1902
Christiaan
Rudolf de Wet (7 October 1854 –
3 February 1922) was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician. He
took part in the early battles of the Boer War of 1899 in Natal as
a commandant, later serving as a general under Piet Cronjé in the
west. His first successful action was the surprise attack on Sanna's Post near Bloemfontein,
which was followed a little later by the victory of Reddersburg. He came
to be regarded as the most formidable leader of the Boers in their guerrilla
warfare. Sometimes severely handled by the British, sometimes escaping only by
the narrowest of margins from the columns which attempted to surround him and
falling upon and annihilating isolated British posts, De Wet continued his
successful career to the end of the war, striking heavily where he could and
evading every attempt to bring him to bay. De Wet took an active part in the
peace negotiations of 1902, briefly (30 to 31 May) in the role of Acting State
President of the Orange Free State, when President Steyn had to leave
the negotiations due to illness. De Wet was one of the signatories of the Treaty
of Vereeniging. At the conclusion of the war he visited Europe with other Boer
generals. While in England the generals unsuccessfully sought a modification of
the peace terms concluded at Pretoria. De Wet wrote an account of his
campaigns, an English version of which appeared in November 1902 under the
title Three Years War.
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