Everything about Piet Retief totally explained
Pieter Retief (usually referred to as Piet Retief), was born about
1780 in the
Cape Colony,
South Africa, and died
6 February 1838 in what is now
Kwa-Zulu Natal. His family were
Boers of French
Huguenot ancestry, and Retief grew up on one of the vineyards established by French wine-making immigrants near
Stellenbosch.
Early Life
The progenitor of the Retief name in Southern Africa was a
French Huguenot refugee named François Retif, from
Mer, Loir-et-Cher near
Blois, France, who arrived in the Cape in 1689. "Retif" was one of the many French names whose spelling was slightly altered as the Huguenots joined and married into the more-established Dutch-speaking community.
After moving to the vicinity of
Grahamstown Retief, like other Boers, acquired wealth through livestock, but suffered repeated losses from
Xhosa raids in the period leading up to the 6th
Cape Frontier War. (However, apart from such losses, Retief was also a man in constant financial trouble. On more than one occasion, he lost money and other possessions mainly through gambling and land speculation. It is believed that he went bankrupt at least twice before he left the colony.) Such losses impelled many frontier farmers to become
Voortrekkers (literally
those who move forward) and to migrate to new lands in the north. Retief authored their '
manifesto', dated
22 January 1837, setting out their long-held grievances against the British government, which they felt had offered them no protection, no redress, and which had freed their
slaves with recompense to the owners hardly amounting to a quarter of their value. This was published in the
Grahamstown Journal on
2 February and
De Zuid-Afrikaan on
17 February just as the emigrant Boers started to leave their homesteads.
Great Trek
Retief's household departed in two wagons from his farm in the Winterberg District in early February of 1837 and joined a party of 30 other wagons. The pioneers crossed the
Orange River into independent territory. When several parties on the
Great Trek converged at the Vet River, Retief was elected "Governor of the United
Laagers" and head of "The Free Province of New Holland in South East Africa." This coalition was very short-lived and Retief became the lone leader of the group moving east.
On 5 October 1837 Retief established a camp near the
Drakensberg ridge and proceeded on horseback the next day to explore the region between the Drakensberg and
Port Natal, now known as
Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Upon receiving a positive impression of the region he started negotiations with the
Zulu chief,
Dingane, in November 1837. Retief led his own band over the
Drakensberg Mountains and convinced Voortrekker leaders
Maritz and
Potgieter to join him in January 1838. On a second visit to Dingane, the Zulu agreed to Boer settlement in Natal, provided that the Boer delegation recovered cattle stolen from him by the rival
Tlokwa tribe. This the Boers did, their reputation and rifles cowing the tribe into peacefully handing over the cattle.
Murder
Despite warnings, Retief left the
Tugela region on 28 January, 1838, in the belief that he could negotiate permanent boundaries for the Natal settlement with Dingane. The deed of cession of the
Tugela-
Umzimvubu region, although dated 4 February, 1838, was signed by Dingane on
6 February 1838. This Dingane did by imitating writing and with the two sides recording three witnesses each. Dingane then invited Retief's party to witness a special performance by his soldiers. However, upon a signal given by Dingane, the Zulus overwhelmed Retief's party of 70 and their Coloured servants, taking all captive.
Retief, his son, men, and servants, about a hundred people in total, were taken to
Kwa Matiwane Hill at and murdered. Their bodies were left on the hillside to be devoured by wild animals, as was Dingane's custom with his enemies. Dingane then gave orders for the Voortrekker laagers to be attacked, which plunged the migrant movement into serious disarray. Eventually, the Retief party's remains were recovered and buried on
21 December 1838, by members of the "victory commando" led by
Andries Pretorius, following the decisive Voortrekker victory at
Blood River.
Also recovered was the undamaged deed of cession from Retief's leather purse, as later verified by a member of the "victory commando", E.F. Potgieter. An exact copy survives, but the original deed disappeared in transit to the Netherlands during the Anglo-Boer War. The site of the Retief grave was more or less forgotten until pointed out in 1896 by J.H. Hattingh, a surviving member of Pretorius's commando. A monument recording the names of the members of Retief's delegation was erected near the grave in 1922.
Legacy
The town of
Piet Retief was named after him as was (partially) the city of
Pietermaritzburg. (The "Maritz" part being named after
Gerrit Maritz, another Voortrekker leader.)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Piet Retief'.
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